Dubai vs Sohar
Tree cover and air quality for both, measured the same way: Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km radius from each city centre, and the live US EPA air quality index. Same radius and same index, so the two numbers compare directly.
Sohar has more tree cover — 15.5% against 0.9%.
Sohar has cleaner air right now — AQI 100 against 168.
- Tree cover gap
- 14.6 points
- Sohar is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 68 AQI
- Sohar is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 45.9K
- Sohar has more standing.
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
0.9%
15.5%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
168 · Unhealthy
100 · Moderate
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
2.8K
48.7K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
123K
45.6K
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
62.2K kg
1.1M kg
Air quality in detail
What each city is breathing
Concentrations in µg/m³, measured at the same moment as the index above. Lower is better in every row. Dubai is read from nearby ground stations and Sohar is modelled — worth knowing, since the two are not quite like for like.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
88.2 µg/m³
35.4 µg/m³
The last week, day by day
A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon. The week says whether it was the weather or the place.
| Day | Dubai | Sohar |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sept | 146 | 88 |
| 23 Sept | 154 | 102 |
| 24 Sept | 154 | 124 |
| 25 Sept | 158 | 106 |
| 26 Sept | 158 | 152 |
| 27 Sept | 166 | 123 |
| 28 Sept | 168 | 94 |
Reading these numbers
What is actually being measured
Tree cover
The share of ground under canopy inside a 2 km radius of each city centre, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It is a measurement of that circle, not of the whole municipality — which is exactly what makes the two comparable, since city boundaries are drawn to wildly different rules around the world. Sohar leads here at 15.5%.
Air quality index
The live US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations — ground stations where a city has them nearby, and a model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so this is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place: Dubai reads 168 (unhealthy) and Sohar reads 100 (moderate) right now.
Frequently asked
Dubai and Sohar, answered
Which has more trees, Dubai or Sohar?
Sohar, with roughly 48,695 trees inside its 2 km radius against 2,827. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Sohar has the denser canopy at 15.5%.
Which has better air quality, Dubai or Sohar?
Sohar right now, at AQI 100 against 168 — a gap of 68 points. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day.
How many more trees does each city need?
Dubai needs about 122,836 more to reach its canopy target, and Sohar about 45,553. The target is the same share of ground for both, so the figures are directly comparable.
Are these two measured the same way?
Yes — that is the point of the page. Identical radius, identical satellite source at 10 m detail, and the same US EPA index for air. Nothing here is adjusted for population, city limits or climate, so the numbers describe the same-sized circle of ground in each place.
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