Macau vs Tin Shui Wai
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.
Tin Shui Wai has more tree cover — 37.4% against 15.5%.
Tin Shui Wai has cleaner air right now — AQI 64 against 67.
- Tree cover gap
- 21.9 points
- Tin Shui Wai is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 3 AQI
- Tin Shui Wai is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 77.3K
- Tin Shui Wai has more standing.
Macao
Hong Kong
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
15.5%
37.4%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
67 · Moderate
64 · Moderate
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
38.1K
115K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
35.7K
0
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
839K kg
2.5M 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 modelled, with no ground station close enough to either.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
15.5 µg/m³
18.4 µg/m³
PM10
Coarser particles — dust, pollen, road grit.
19.7 µg/m³
22.6 µg/m³
Nitrogen dioxide
Mostly traffic and combustion.
6.8 µg/m³
19.4 µg/m³
Ozone
Forms in sunlight; peaks on hot, still afternoons.
164 µg/m³
138 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 | Macau | Tin Shui Wai |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sept | 125 | 127 |
| 23 Sept | 126 | 105 |
| 24 Sept | 99 | 94 |
| 25 Sept | 89 | 99 |
| 26 Sept | 83 | 102 |
| 27 Sept | 64 | 69 |
| 28 Sept | 42 | 53 |
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. Tin Shui Wai leads here at 37.4%.
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: Macau reads 67 (moderate) and Tin Shui Wai reads 64 (moderate) right now.
Frequently asked
Macau and Tin Shui Wai, answered
Which has more trees, Macau or Tin Shui Wai?
Tin Shui Wai, with roughly 115,381 trees inside its 2 km radius against 38,128. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Tin Shui Wai has the denser canopy at 37.4%.
Which has better air quality, Macau or Tin Shui Wai?
Tin Shui Wai right now, at AQI 64 against 67 — a gap of 3 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?
Macau needs about 35,668 more to reach its canopy target, and Tin Shui Wai 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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