Air quality comparison · Peru, 861 km apart
Lima vs Piura Air quality index (AQI) today
Lima has cleaner air than Piura right now: AQI 26 (Good) against 36 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Piura averaged AQI 26 against 57, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Piura has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Lima26Piura36
Head to head
Lima vs Piura at a glance
Piura is ahead on 3 of 5 measures, and Lima on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Lima | Piura | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 26 (better) | 36 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 4.7 (better) | 5.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 57 | 26 (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 1.1% | 3.4% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 90.2K | 83.6K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Lima and Piura right now?
Lima has cleaner air than Piura right now: AQI 26 (Good) against 36 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Lima is read from a nearby ground station and Piura is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
LimaPiura
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).
Lima: Ground station · Quebrada Verde, Pachacamac, 24.5 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Sebastian Guillen Chavez.
Piura: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Piura averaged AQI 26 against 57, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 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
- Lima0Piura6
- Average AQI
- Lima57Piura26
- Worst day, AQI
- Lima60Piura29
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Lima | Piura |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 52 | 29 |
| Nov 6 | 58 | 22 |
| Nov 7 | 58 | 27 |
| Nov 8 | 58 | 24 |
| Nov 9 | 60 | 26 |
| Nov 10 | 55 | 26 |
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 Lima and Piura 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 Lima and Piura compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Lima's air is cleaner than 84% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Piura's is cleaner than 73%. Within Peru, that is 65% and 40% of its 21 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Lima
- Beats 84%
- Piura
- Beats 73%
More tree cover than…
- Lima
- Beats 2%
- Piura
- Beats 7%
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.
Lima
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Piura
2018: satellite photo from September 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Lima or Piura?
Piura has more tree cover: 3.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.1% around Lima, or about 10,681 trees against 3,435.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Lima | Piura | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 3.4K | 10.7K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 90.2K | 83.6K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 75.6K kg | 235K 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
Lima vs Piura: your questions answered
Is Lima cleaner than Piura?
On air quality, yes, right now: Lima reads AQI 26 against 36, a gap of 10 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Piura averaged AQI 26 against 57, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Lima and Piura today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Lima reads AQI 26 and Piura reads AQI 36.
Which has more trees, Lima or Piura?
Piura has more tree cover: 3.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.1% around Lima, or about 10,681 trees against 3,435. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Lima and Piura need?
Lima needs about 90,247 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Piura about 83,566 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Lima and Piura 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. Lima is read from a nearby ground station and Piura 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 Lima vs Piura 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 (Jul 25, 2026 and Sep 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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