Air quality comparison · Sudan, 363 km apart
El Obeid vs Khartoum Air quality index (AQI) today
El Obeid has cleaner air than Khartoum right now: AQI 106 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 124 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, El Obeid averaged AQI 100 against 109, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. El Obeid has more tree cover.
Sudan
AQI 106
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 31.7 µg/m³2.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 10:00 local
Sudan
AQI 124
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 46.2 µg/m³3.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 09:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
El Obeid106Khartoum124
Head to head
El Obeid vs Khartoum at a glance
El Obeid is ahead on 5 of 5 measures, and Khartoum on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| El Obeid | Khartoum | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 106 (better) | 124 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 31.7 (better) | 46.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 100 (better) | 109 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 3.9% (better) | 1.1% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 97.7K (better) | 107K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in El Obeid and Khartoum right now?
El Obeid has cleaner air than Khartoum right now: AQI 106 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 124 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
El Obeid's PM2.5 is about 2.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Khartoum's PM2.5 is about 3.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
El ObeidKhartoum
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).
El Obeid: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Khartoum: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, El Obeid averaged AQI 100 against 109, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- El Obeid5Khartoum1
- Average AQI
- El Obeid100Khartoum109
- Worst day, AQI
- El Obeid120Khartoum132
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | El Obeid | Khartoum |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 72 | 87 |
| Nov 6 | 80 | 75 |
| Nov 7 | 116 | 132 |
| Nov 8 | 120 | 120 |
| Nov 9 | 100 | 110 |
| Nov 10 | 94 | 120 |
| Nov 11 | 115 | 122 |
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 El Obeid and Khartoum today?
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Both are in the same EPA band today (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do El Obeid and Khartoum compare with the rest of the world?
Right now El Obeid's air is cleaner than 20% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Khartoum's is cleaner than 15%. Within Sudan, that is 20% and 10% of its 21 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- El Obeid
- Beats 20%
- Khartoum
- Beats 15%
More tree cover than…
- El Obeid
- Beats 8%
- Khartoum
- Beats 2%
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.
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.
El Obeid
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Khartoum
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, El Obeid or Khartoum?
El Obeid has more tree cover: 3.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.1% around Khartoum, or about 12,252 trees against 3,456.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| El Obeid | Khartoum | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 12.3K (better) | 3.5K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 97.7K (better) | 107K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 270K kg (better) | 76.0K 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
El Obeid vs Khartoum: your questions answered
Is El Obeid cleaner than Khartoum?
On air quality, yes, right now: El Obeid reads AQI 106 against 124, a gap of 18 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, El Obeid averaged AQI 100 against 109, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in El Obeid and Khartoum today?
The advice is the same for both today. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. El Obeid reads AQI 106 and Khartoum reads AQI 124.
Which has more trees, El Obeid or Khartoum?
El Obeid has more tree cover: 3.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.1% around Khartoum, or about 12,252 trees against 3,456. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do El Obeid and Khartoum need?
El Obeid needs about 97,704 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Khartoum about 106,500 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are El Obeid and Khartoum 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 El Obeid vs Khartoum 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 16, 2026 and Sep 8, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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