Air quality comparison · Uganda, 277 km apart
Gulu vs Njeru Air quality index (AQI) today
Gulu has cleaner air than Njeru right now: AQI 33 (Good) against 79 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Gulu averaged AQI 59 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Njeru has lost more forest since 2001. Gulu has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Gulu33Njeru79
Head to head
Gulu vs Njeru at a glance
Gulu is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Njeru on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Gulu | Njeru | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 33 (better) | 79 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.7 (better) | 26.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 59 (better) | 73 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 333 ha (better) | 1,250 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 38.1% (better) | 35.2% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Gulu and Njeru right now?
Gulu has cleaner air than Njeru right now: AQI 33 (Good) against 79 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Njeru'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.
GuluNjeru
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).
Gulu: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Njeru: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 65 km, e.g. Mukono and Kampala. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 65 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Gulu averaged AQI 59 against 73, 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
- Gulu5Njeru1
- Average AQI
- Gulu59Njeru73
- Worst day, AQI
- Gulu64Njeru89
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Gulu | Njeru |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 63 | 60 |
| Nov 5 | 53 | 78 |
| Nov 6 | 64 | 80 |
| Nov 7 | 63 | 81 |
| Nov 8 | 60 | 60 |
| Nov 9 | 59 | 65 |
| Nov 10 | 51 | 89 |
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 Gulu and Njeru today?
Gulu (AQI 33, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Njeru (AQI 79, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Gulu
- A good day to be active outside.
- Njeru
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Gulu
- Open them to air the house.
- Njeru
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Gulu
- Not needed.
- Njeru
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Gulu
- Not needed.
- Njeru
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Gulu and Njeru compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Gulu's air is cleaner than 76% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Njeru's is cleaner than 31%. Within Uganda, that is 100% and 44% of its 19 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Gulu
- Beats 76%
- Njeru
- Beats 31%
More tree cover than…
- Gulu
- Beats 81%
- Njeru
- Beats 77%
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, Gulu or Njeru?
Njeru has lost more: about 1,250 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 333 ha around Gulu. 1,080 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: 2009, with 47 ha lost.
Worst year: 2020, with 190 ha lost.
| Gulu | Njeru | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 333 ha (better) | 1,250 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 5.2% (better) | 9.6% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 308 ha (better) | 1,080 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (83%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (75%) |
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.
Gulu
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Njeru
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Gulu or Njeru?
Gulu has more tree cover: 38.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 35.2% around Njeru, or about 119,695 trees against 100,189.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Gulu | Njeru | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 120K (better) | 100K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.6M kg (better) | 2.2M 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
Gulu vs Njeru: your questions answered
Is Gulu cleaner than Njeru?
On air quality, yes, right now: Gulu reads AQI 33 against 79, a gap of 46 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, Gulu averaged AQI 59 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Gulu and Njeru today?
In Gulu, at AQI 33: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Njeru, at AQI 79: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Gulu or Njeru?
Njeru has lost more: about 1,250 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 333 ha around Gulu. 1,080 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Gulu or Njeru?
Gulu has more tree cover: 38.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 35.2% around Njeru, or about 119,695 trees against 100,189. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Gulu and Njeru need?
Gulu needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Njeru about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Gulu and Njeru 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 Gulu vs Njeru 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 (Aug 31, 2026 and Sep 7, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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