Helsinki vs Lahti
Tree cover and air quality for both, measured the same way: Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km radius from each city centre, and the live US EPA air quality index. Same radius and same index, so the two numbers compare directly.
Lahti has more tree cover — 61.2% against 29.4%.
Helsinki has cleaner air right now — AQI 18 against 19.
- Tree cover gap
- 31.8 points
- Lahti is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 1 AQI
- Helsinki is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 107K
- Lahti has more standing.
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
29.4%
61.2%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
18 · Good
19 · Good
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
73.1K
180K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
1.5K
0
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
1.6M kg
4.0M kg
Air quality in detail
What each city is breathing
Concentrations in µg/m³, measured at the same moment as the index above. Lower is better in every row. Both are read from nearby ground stations.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
1.9 µg/m³
3.4 µg/m³
PM10
Coarser particles — dust, pollen, road grit.
5.8 µg/m³
6.4 µg/m³
Nitrogen dioxide
Mostly traffic and combustion.
17.3 µg/m³
7.7 µg/m³
Ozone
Forms in sunlight; peaks on hot, still afternoons.
38.3 µg/m³
39.3 µg/m³
The last week, day by day
A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon. The week says whether it was the weather or the place.
| Day | Helsinki | Lahti |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sept | 22 | 23 |
| 23 Sept | 20 | 19 |
| 24 Sept | 21 | 20 |
| 25 Sept | 22 | 21 |
| 26 Sept | 23 | 22 |
| 27 Sept | 28 | 27 |
| 28 Sept | 25 | 20 |
Reading these numbers
What is actually being measured
Tree cover
The share of ground under canopy inside a 2 km radius of each city centre, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It is a measurement of that circle, not of the whole municipality — which is exactly what makes the two comparable, since city boundaries are drawn to wildly different rules around the world. Lahti leads here at 61.2%.
Air quality index
The live US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations — ground stations where a city has them nearby, and a model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so this is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place: Helsinki reads 18 (good) and Lahti reads 19 (good) right now.
Frequently asked
Helsinki and Lahti, answered
Which has more trees, Helsinki or Lahti?
Lahti, with roughly 179,576 trees inside its 2 km radius against 73,059. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Lahti has the denser canopy at 61.2%.
Which has better air quality, Helsinki or Lahti?
Helsinki right now, at AQI 18 against 19 — a gap of 1 points. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day.
How many more trees does each city need?
Helsinki needs about 1,491 more to reach its canopy target, and Lahti about 0. The target is the same share of ground for both, so the figures are directly comparable.
Are these two measured the same way?
Yes — that is the point of the page. Identical radius, identical satellite source at 10 m detail, and the same US EPA index for air. Nothing here is adjusted for population, city limits or climate, so the numbers describe the same-sized circle of ground in each place.
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