Air quality comparison · Ecuador, 145 km apart
Esmeraldas vs Santo Domingo de los Colorados Air quality index (AQI) today
Santo Domingo de los Colorados has cleaner air than Esmeraldas right now: AQI 8 (Good) against 29 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Esmeraldas averaged AQI 17 against 18, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days. Santo Domingo de los Colorados has lost more forest since 2001. Esmeraldas has more tree cover.
Ecuador
AQI 29
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 5.3 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 10:00 local
Ecuador
AQI 8
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 04:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Esmeraldas29Santo Domingo de los Colorados8
Head to head
Esmeraldas vs Santo Domingo de los Colorados at a glance
Esmeraldas is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Santo Domingo de los Colorados on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Esmeraldas | Santo Domingo de los Colorados | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 29 | 8 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.3 | 1 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 17 (better) | 18 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,090 ha (better) | 1,690 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 36.1% (better) | 15.4% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 45.9K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo de los Colorados right now?
Santo Domingo de los Colorados has cleaner air than Esmeraldas right now: AQI 8 (Good) against 29 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
EsmeraldasSanto Domingo de los Colorados
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).
Esmeraldas: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Santo Domingo de los Colorados: 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?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Esmeraldas averaged AQI 17 against 18, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 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
- Esmeraldas3Santo Domingo de los Colorados3
- Average AQI
- Esmeraldas17Santo Domingo de los Colorados18
- Worst day, AQI
- Esmeraldas26Santo Domingo de los Colorados23
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Esmeraldas | Santo Domingo de los Colorados |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 9 | 7 |
| Nov 6 | 16 | 21 |
| Nov 7 | 9 | 23 |
| Nov 8 | 14 | 18 |
| Nov 9 | 25 | 18 |
| Nov 10 | 26 | 18 |
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 Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo de los Colorados today?
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Both are in the same EPA band today (Good), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
A good day to be active outside.
Windows
Open them to air the house.
Masks
Not needed.
Air purifier
Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo de los Colorados compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Esmeraldas's air is cleaner than 80% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Santo Domingo de los Colorados's is cleaner than 98%. Within Ecuador, that is 0% and 100% of its 16 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Esmeraldas
- Beats 80%
- Santo Domingo de los Colorados
- Beats 98%
More tree cover than…
- Esmeraldas
- Beats 78%
- Santo Domingo de los Colorados
- Beats 35%
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, Esmeraldas or Santo Domingo de los Colorados?
Santo Domingo de los Colorados has lost more: about 1,690 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,090 ha around Esmeraldas. 1,680 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 175 ha lost.
Worst year: 2004, with 551 ha lost.
| Esmeraldas | Santo Domingo de los Colorados | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,090 ha (better) | 1,690 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 7.3% (better) | 7.9% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1,060 ha (better) | 1,680 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (88%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (85%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch Esmeraldas 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.
Esmeraldas
2019: satellite photo from April 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Esmeraldas or Santo Domingo de los Colorados?
Esmeraldas has more tree cover: 36.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.4% around Santo Domingo de los Colorados, or about 108,875 trees against 48,381.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Esmeraldas | Santo Domingo de los Colorados | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 109K (better) | 48.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 45.9K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.4M kg (better) | 1.1M 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
Esmeraldas vs Santo Domingo de los Colorados: your questions answered
Is Santo Domingo de los Colorados cleaner than Esmeraldas?
On air quality, yes, right now: Santo Domingo de los Colorados reads AQI 8 against 29, a gap of 21 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Esmeraldas averaged AQI 17 against 18, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo de los Colorados today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Esmeraldas reads AQI 29 and Santo Domingo de los Colorados reads AQI 8.
Which has lost more forest, Esmeraldas or Santo Domingo de los Colorados?
Santo Domingo de los Colorados has lost more: about 1,690 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,090 ha around Esmeraldas. 1,680 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Esmeraldas or Santo Domingo de los Colorados?
Esmeraldas has more tree cover: 36.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.4% around Santo Domingo de los Colorados, or about 108,875 trees against 48,381. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo de los Colorados need?
Esmeraldas needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Santo Domingo de los Colorados about 45,867 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo de los Colorados 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 Esmeraldas vs Santo Domingo de los Colorados 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 (May 8, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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