Air quality comparison · Turkey, 87 km apart
Elazığ vs Malatya Air quality index (AQI) today
Elazığ has cleaner air than Malatya right now: AQI 52 (Moderate) against 62 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Elazığ averaged AQI 40 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Malatya has lost more forest since 2001. Elazığ has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Elazığ52Malatya62
Head to head
Elazığ vs Malatya at a glance
Elazığ is ahead on 6 of 6 measures, and Malatya on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Elazığ | Malatya | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 52 (better) | 62 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 9.8 (better) | 14.4 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 40 (better) | 42 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | under 1 ha (better) | 32 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 9.3% (better) | 5.1% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 65.0K (better) | 78.2K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Elazığ and Malatya right now?
Elazığ has cleaner air than Malatya right now: AQI 52 (Moderate) against 62 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Elazığ is read from a nearby ground station and Malatya is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
ElazığMalatya
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).
Elazığ: Ground station · Elazig, Turkey, 1 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Turkey National Air Quality Monitoring Network (Ulusal Hava Kalitesi İzleme Ağı).
Malatya: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 105 km, e.g. Adıyaman and Elâzığ. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Elazığ averaged AQI 40 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Elazığ4Malatya2
- Average AQI
- Elazığ40Malatya42
- Worst day, AQI
- Elazığ53Malatya54
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Elazığ | Malatya |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 53 | 54 |
| Nov 6 | 52 | 48 |
| Nov 7 | 32 | 42 |
| Nov 8 | 23 | 27 |
| Nov 9 | 26 | 29 |
| Nov 10 | 52 | 51 |
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 Elazığ and Malatya today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Elazığ and Malatya compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Elazığ's air is cleaner than 58% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Malatya's is cleaner than 45%. Within Turkey, that is 94% and 84% of its 95 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Elazığ
- Beats 58%
- Malatya
- Beats 45%
More tree cover than…
- Elazığ
- Beats 19%
- Malatya
- Beats 10%
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, Elazığ or Malatya?
Malatya has lost more: about 32 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Elazığ. 30 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: 2008, with under 1 ha lost.
Worst year: 2010, with 4 ha lost.
| Elazığ | Malatya | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | under 1 ha (better) | 32 ha |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | under 1 ha (better) | 30 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Not classified | Towns and roads (71%) |
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.
Elazığ
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Malatya
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Elazığ or Malatya?
Elazığ has more tree cover: 9.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.1% around Malatya, or about 29,217 trees against 16,022.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Elazığ | Malatya | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 29.2K (better) | 16.0K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 65.0K (better) | 78.2K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 643K kg (better) | 352K 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
Elazığ vs Malatya: your questions answered
Is Elazığ cleaner than Malatya?
On air quality, yes, right now: Elazığ reads AQI 52 against 62, a gap of 10 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, Elazığ averaged AQI 40 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Elazığ and Malatya today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Elazığ reads AQI 52 and Malatya reads AQI 62.
Which has lost more forest, Elazığ or Malatya?
Malatya has lost more: about 32 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Elazığ. 30 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Elazığ or Malatya?
Elazığ has more tree cover: 9.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.1% around Malatya, or about 29,217 trees against 16,022. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Elazığ and Malatya need?
Elazığ needs about 65,031 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Malatya about 78,226 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Elazığ and Malatya 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. Elazığ is read from a nearby ground station and Malatya is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Elazığ vs Malatya 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 23, 2026 and Sep 23, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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