Air quality comparison · Haiti, 82 km apart
Dessalines vs Port-de-Paix Air quality index (AQI) today
Port-de-Paix has cleaner air than Dessalines right now: AQI 51 (Moderate) against 122 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Port-de-Paix averaged AQI 48 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Port-de-Paix has lost more forest since 2001. Dessalines has more tree cover.
Haiti
AQI 122
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 43.5 µg/m³2.9× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 02:00 local
Haiti
AQI 51
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 9.4 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 16:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Dessalines122Port-de-Paix51
Head to head
Dessalines vs Port-de-Paix at a glance
Port-de-Paix is ahead on 3 of 6 measures, and Dessalines on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Dessalines | Port-de-Paix | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 122 | 51 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 43.5 | 9.4 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 60 | 48 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 270 ha (better) | 342 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 44.2% (better) | 37.9% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Dessalines and Port-de-Paix right now?
Port-de-Paix has cleaner air than Dessalines right now: AQI 51 (Moderate) against 122 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Dessalines's PM2.5 is about 2.9× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
DessalinesPort-de-Paix
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Dessalines: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Port-de-Paix: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Port-de-Paix averaged AQI 48 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Dessalines0Port-de-Paix6
- Average AQI
- Dessalines60Port-de-Paix48
- Worst day, AQI
- Dessalines75Port-de-Paix53
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Dessalines | Port-de-Paix |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 75 | 48 |
| Nov 6 | 57 | 37 |
| Nov 7 | 55 | 52 |
| Nov 8 | 52 | 50 |
| Nov 9 | 56 | 50 |
| Nov 10 | 63 | 53 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Dessalines and Port-de-Paix today?
Dessalines (AQI 122, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Port-de-Paix (AQI 51, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Dessalines
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
- Port-de-Paix
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Dessalines
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
- Port-de-Paix
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Dessalines
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
- Port-de-Paix
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Dessalines
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
- Port-de-Paix
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Dessalines and Port-de-Paix compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Dessalines's air is cleaner than 15% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Port-de-Paix's is cleaner than 61%. Within Haiti, that is 20% and 90% of its 11 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Dessalines
- Beats 15%
- Port-de-Paix
- Beats 61%
More tree cover than…
- Dessalines
- Beats 88%
- Port-de-Paix
- Beats 81%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Dessalines or Port-de-Paix?
Port-de-Paix has lost more: about 342 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 270 ha around Dessalines. 336 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2004, with 43 ha lost.
Worst year: 2011, with 47 ha lost.
| Dessalines | Port-de-Paix | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 270 ha (better) | 342 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 5.5% | 5.1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 215 ha (better) | 336 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (80%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (93%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Dessalines
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Port-de-Paix
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Dessalines or Port-de-Paix?
Dessalines has more tree cover: 44.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 37.9% around Port-de-Paix, or about 138,164 trees against 81,084.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Dessalines | Port-de-Paix | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 138K (better) | 81.1K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 3.0M kg (better) | 1.8M kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Dessalines vs Port-de-Paix: your questions answered
Is Port-de-Paix cleaner than Dessalines?
On air quality, yes, right now: Port-de-Paix reads AQI 51 against 122, a gap of 71 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Port-de-Paix averaged AQI 48 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Dessalines and Port-de-Paix today?
In Dessalines, at AQI 122: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. In Port-de-Paix, at AQI 51: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Dessalines or Port-de-Paix?
Port-de-Paix has lost more: about 342 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 270 ha around Dessalines. 336 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Dessalines or Port-de-Paix?
Dessalines has more tree cover: 44.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 37.9% around Port-de-Paix, or about 138,164 trees against 81,084. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Dessalines and Port-de-Paix need?
Dessalines needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Port-de-Paix about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Dessalines and Port-de-Paix measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Dessalines vs Port-de-Paix comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 19, 2026 and Sep 17, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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