Air quality comparison · Angola, 340 km apart
Huambo vs Lubango Air quality index (AQI) today
Huambo has cleaner air than Lubango right now: AQI 27 (Good) against 54 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Lubango averaged AQI 47 against 50, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Huambo has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Huambo27Lubango54
Head to head
Huambo vs Lubango at a glance
Huambo is ahead on 4 of 5 measures, and Lubango on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Huambo | Lubango | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 27 (better) | 54 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 4.4 (better) | 10.5 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 50 | 47 (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 12.1% (better) | 6.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 56.2K (better) | 72.9K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Huambo and Lubango right now?
Huambo has cleaner air than Lubango right now: AQI 27 (Good) against 54 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Lubango is read from a nearby ground station and Huambo is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
HuamboLubango
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).
Huambo: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Lubango: Ground station · Centro Lubango, 600 m away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Evanilton Pires.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Lubango averaged AQI 47 against 50, 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
- Huambo2Lubango4
- Average AQI
- Huambo50Lubango47
- Worst day, AQI
- Huambo66Lubango52
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Huambo | Lubango |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 55 | 49 |
| Nov 5 | 66 | 52 |
| Nov 6 | 51 | 51 |
| Nov 7 | 35 | 41 |
| Nov 8 | 53 | 50 |
| Nov 9 | 44 | 45 |
| Nov 10 | 45 | 39 |
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 Huambo and Lubango today?
Huambo (AQI 27, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Lubango (AQI 54, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Huambo
- A good day to be active outside.
- Lubango
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Huambo
- Open them to air the house.
- Lubango
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Huambo
- Not needed.
- Lubango
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Huambo
- Not needed.
- Lubango
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Huambo and Lubango compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Huambo's air is cleaner than 83% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Lubango's is cleaner than 55%. Within Angola, that is 100% and 21% of its 35 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Huambo
- Beats 83%
- Lubango
- Beats 55%
More tree cover than…
- Huambo
- Beats 27%
- Lubango
- Beats 14%
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.
Huambo
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Lubango
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Huambo or Lubango?
Huambo has more tree cover: 12.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 6.8% around Lubango, or about 38,013 trees against 21,363.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Huambo | Lubango | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 38.0K (better) | 21.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 56.2K (better) | 72.9K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 836K kg (better) | 470K 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
Huambo vs Lubango: your questions answered
Is Huambo cleaner than Lubango?
On air quality, yes, right now: Huambo reads AQI 27 against 54, a gap of 27 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Lubango averaged AQI 47 against 50, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Huambo and Lubango today?
In Huambo, at AQI 27: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Lubango, at AQI 54: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has more trees, Huambo or Lubango?
Huambo has more tree cover: 12.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 6.8% around Lubango, or about 38,013 trees against 21,363. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Huambo and Lubango need?
Huambo needs about 56,235 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Lubango about 72,885 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Huambo and Lubango 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. Lubango is read from a nearby ground station and Huambo 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 Huambo vs Lubango 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 (Oct 20, 2026 and Oct 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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