Air quality comparison · Ethiopia, 685 km apart
Gonder vs Jijiga Air quality index (AQI) today
Gonder has cleaner air than Jijiga right now: AQI 49 (Good) against 78 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Gonder averaged AQI 57 against 59, and it was the cleaner of the two on 2 of those days. Gonder has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Gonder49Jijiga78
Head to head
Gonder vs Jijiga at a glance
Gonder is ahead on 5 of 5 measures, and Jijiga on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Gonder | Jijiga | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 49 (better) | 78 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 7.9 (better) | 25 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 57 (better) | 59 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 19.9% (better) | 2.5% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 31.7K (better) | 86.4K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Gonder and Jijiga right now?
Gonder has cleaner air than Jijiga right now: AQI 49 (Good) against 78 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Jijiga's PM2.5 is about 1.7× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
GonderJijiga
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).
Gonder: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Jijiga: 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, Gonder averaged AQI 57 against 59, and it was the cleaner of the two on 2 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
- Gonder2Jijiga4
- Average AQI
- Gonder57Jijiga59
- Worst day, AQI
- Gonder63Jijiga76
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Gonder | Jijiga |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 59 | 54 |
| Nov 6 | 59 | 50 |
| Nov 7 | 63 | 55 |
| Nov 8 | 62 | 57 |
| Nov 9 | 62 | 62 |
| Nov 10 | 52 | 62 |
| Nov 11 | 39 | 76 |
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 Gonder and Jijiga today?
Gonder (AQI 49, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Jijiga (AQI 78, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Gonder
- A good day to be active outside.
- Jijiga
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Gonder
- Open them to air the house.
- Jijiga
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Gonder
- Not needed.
- Jijiga
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Gonder
- Not needed.
- Jijiga
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Gonder and Jijiga compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Gonder's air is cleaner than 62% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Jijiga's is cleaner than 31%. Within Ethiopia, that is 66% and 14% of its 30 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Gonder
- Beats 62%
- Jijiga
- Beats 31%
More tree cover than…
- Gonder
- Beats 47%
- Jijiga
- Beats 5%
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.
Gonder
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Jijiga
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Gonder or Jijiga?
Gonder has more tree cover: 19.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.5% around Jijiga, or about 62,518 trees against 7,854.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Gonder | Jijiga | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 62.5K (better) | 7.9K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 31.7K (better) | 86.4K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.4M kg (better) | 173K 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
Gonder vs Jijiga: your questions answered
Is Gonder cleaner than Jijiga?
On air quality, yes, right now: Gonder reads AQI 49 against 78, a gap of 29 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, Gonder averaged AQI 57 against 59, and it was the cleaner of the two on 2 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Gonder and Jijiga today?
In Gonder, at AQI 49: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Jijiga, at AQI 78: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has more trees, Gonder or Jijiga?
Gonder has more tree cover: 19.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.5% around Jijiga, or about 62,518 trees against 7,854. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Gonder and Jijiga need?
Gonder needs about 31,730 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Jijiga about 86,394 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Gonder and Jijiga 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 Gonder vs Jijiga 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 14, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Gonder with somewhere else
This place
Gonder