Air quality comparison · Armenia, 39 km apart
Hrazdan vs Vanadzor Air quality index (AQI) today
Vanadzor has cleaner air than Hrazdan right now: AQI 41 (Good) against 49 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Vanadzor averaged AQI 15 against 16, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Vanadzor has lost more forest since 2001. Vanadzor has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Hrazdan49Vanadzor41
Head to head
Hrazdan vs Vanadzor at a glance
Vanadzor is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Hrazdan on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Hrazdan | Vanadzor | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 49 | 41 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 8.8 | 7.5 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 16 | 15 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 8 ha (better) | 43 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 16.8% | 31.9% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 39.1K | 0 (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Hrazdan and Vanadzor right now?
Vanadzor has cleaner air than Hrazdan right now: AQI 41 (Good) against 49 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Hrazdan is read from a nearby ground station and Vanadzor is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
HrazdanVanadzor
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).
Hrazdan: Ground station · Kechi House - Tsaghkadzor, 4 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Altair Sheikh.
Vanadzor: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 125 km, e.g. Rustavi and Tbilisi. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 125 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, Vanadzor averaged AQI 15 against 16, 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
- Hrazdan1Vanadzor5
- Average AQI
- Hrazdan16Vanadzor15
- Worst day, AQI
- Hrazdan23Vanadzor30
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Hrazdan | Vanadzor |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 6 | 18 | 14 |
| Nov 7 | 14 | 11 |
| Nov 8 | 13 | 9 |
| Nov 9 | 11 | 9 |
| Nov 10 | 19 | 18 |
| Nov 11 | 23 | 30 |
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 Hrazdan and Vanadzor 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 Hrazdan and Vanadzor compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Hrazdan's air is cleaner than 62% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Vanadzor's is cleaner than 68%. Within Armenia, that is 50% and 75% of its 5 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Hrazdan
- Beats 62%
- Vanadzor
- Beats 68%
More tree cover than…
- Hrazdan
- Beats 39%
- Vanadzor
- Beats 72%
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, Hrazdan or Vanadzor?
Vanadzor has lost more: about 43 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 8 ha around Hrazdan. under 1 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: 2012, with 3 ha lost.
Worst year: 2009, with 13 ha lost.
| Hrazdan | Vanadzor | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 8 ha (better) | 43 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | under 1% (better) | under 1% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 3 ha | under 1 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (34%) | Logging (66%) |
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.
Hrazdan
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Vanadzor
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Hrazdan or Vanadzor?
Vanadzor has more tree cover: 31.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.8% around Hrazdan, or about 100,217 trees against 49,718.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Hrazdan | Vanadzor | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 49.7K | 100K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 39.1K | 0 (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.1M kg | 2.2M 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
Hrazdan vs Vanadzor: your questions answered
Is Vanadzor cleaner than Hrazdan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Vanadzor reads AQI 41 against 49, a gap of 8 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, Vanadzor averaged AQI 15 against 16, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Hrazdan and Vanadzor today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Hrazdan reads AQI 49 and Vanadzor reads AQI 41.
Which has lost more forest, Hrazdan or Vanadzor?
Vanadzor has lost more: about 43 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 8 ha around Hrazdan. under 1 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Hrazdan or Vanadzor?
Vanadzor has more tree cover: 31.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.8% around Hrazdan, or about 100,217 trees against 49,718. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Hrazdan and Vanadzor need?
Hrazdan needs about 39,064 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Vanadzor about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 39 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Hrazdan and Vanadzor 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. Hrazdan is read from a nearby ground station and Vanadzor is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Hrazdan vs Vanadzor 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 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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