Air quality comparison · Afghanistan, 640 km apart
Herāt vs Kabul Air quality index (AQI) today
Herāt has cleaner air than Kabul right now: AQI 4 (Good) against 151 (Unhealthy).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Herāt averaged AQI 48 against 56, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Kabul has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Herāt4Kabul151
Head to head
Herāt vs Kabul at a glance
Herāt is ahead on 4 of 5 measures, and Kabul on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Herāt | Kabul | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 4 (better) | 151 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 1 (better) | 58 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 48 (better) | 56 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 3.0% | 10.4% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 84.8K (better) | 93.0K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Herāt and Kabul right now?
Herāt has cleaner air than Kabul right now: AQI 4 (Good) against 151 (Unhealthy). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Kabul's PM2.5 is about 3.9× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
HerātKabul
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).
Herāt: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Kabul: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Shabqadar and Peshawar. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 245 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, Herāt averaged AQI 48 against 56, 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
- Herāt4Kabul2
- Average AQI
- Herāt48Kabul56
- Worst day, AQI
- Herāt57Kabul65
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Herāt | Kabul |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 48 | 62 |
| Nov 6 | 57 | 62 |
| Nov 7 | 54 | 45 |
| Nov 8 | 49 | 51 |
| Nov 9 | 56 | 52 |
| Nov 10 | 26 | 65 |
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 Herāt and Kabul today?
Herāt (AQI 4, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Kabul (AQI 151, Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Exercise outdoors
- Herāt
- A good day to be active outside.
- Kabul
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it.
Windows
- Herāt
- Open them to air the house.
- Kabul
- Keep them closed.
Masks
- Herāt
- Not needed.
- Kabul
- Wear an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Herāt
- Not needed.
- Kabul
- Run one.
Against everywhere else
How do Herāt and Kabul compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Herāt's air is cleaner than 99% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Kabul's is cleaner than 11%. Within Afghanistan, that is 100% and 0% of its 11 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Herāt
- Beats 99%
- Kabul
- Beats 11%
More tree cover than…
- Herāt
- Beats 6%
- Kabul
- Beats 22%
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.
Herāt
2018: satellite photo from June 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Kabul
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Herāt or Kabul?
Kabul has more tree cover: 10.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 3.0% around Herāt, or about 32,673 trees against 9,425.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Herāt | Kabul | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 9.4K | 32.7K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 84.8K (better) | 93.0K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 207K kg | 719K kg (better) |
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
Herāt vs Kabul: your questions answered
Is Herāt cleaner than Kabul?
On air quality, yes, right now: Herāt reads AQI 4 against 151, a gap of 147 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, Herāt averaged AQI 48 against 56, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Herāt and Kabul today?
In Herāt, at AQI 4: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Kabul, at AQI 151: Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Which has more trees, Herāt or Kabul?
Kabul has more tree cover: 10.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 3.0% around Herāt, or about 32,673 trees against 9,425. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Herāt and Kabul need?
Herāt needs about 84,823 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Kabul about 92,991 to reach 40%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Herāt and Kabul 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 Herāt vs Kabul 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 13, 2026 and Sep 12, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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