Air quality comparison · Uganda, 305 km apart
Mbarara vs Njeru Air quality index (AQI) today
Mbarara has cleaner air than Njeru right now: AQI 57 (Moderate) against 79 (Moderate).
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, Njeru averaged AQI 76 against 81, and it was the cleaner of the two on 2 of those days. Njeru has lost more forest since 2001. Njeru has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Mbarara57Njeru79
Head to head
Mbarara vs Njeru at a glance
Mbarara and Njeru are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Mbarara | Njeru | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 57 (better) | 79 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 12.4 (better) | 26.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 81 | 76 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 799 ha (better) | 1,250 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 26.2% | 35.2% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 11.9K | 0 (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Mbarara and Njeru right now?
Mbarara has cleaner air than Njeru right now: AQI 57 (Moderate) against 79 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Njeru's PM2.5 is about 1.7× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Mbarara is read from a nearby ground station and Njeru is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
MbararaNjeru
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).
Mbarara: Ground station · airqo_g5448, 1.1 km away · median of 12 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirQo.
Njeru: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 65 km, e.g. Mukono and Kampala. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 65 km, 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, Njeru averaged AQI 76 against 81, and it was the cleaner of the two on 2 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
- Mbarara4Njeru2
- Average AQI
- Mbarara81Njeru76
- Worst day, AQI
- Mbarara111Njeru89
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Mbarara | Njeru |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 56 | 78 |
| Nov 6 | 76 | 80 |
| Nov 7 | 103 | 81 |
| Nov 8 | 111 | 60 |
| Nov 9 | 64 | 65 |
| Nov 10 | 75 | 89 |
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 Mbarara and Njeru today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Mbarara and Njeru compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Mbarara's air is cleaner than 51% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Njeru's is cleaner than 31%. Within Uganda, that is 94% and 44% of its 19 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Mbarara
- Beats 51%
- Njeru
- Beats 31%
More tree cover than…
- Mbarara
- Beats 60%
- Njeru
- Beats 77%
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, Mbarara or Njeru?
Njeru has lost more: about 1,250 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 799 ha around Mbarara. 1,080 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: 2005, with 72 ha lost.
Worst year: 2020, with 190 ha lost.
| Mbarara | Njeru | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 799 ha (better) | 1,250 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 20% | 9.6% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 568 ha (better) | 1,080 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (64%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (75%) |
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.
Mbarara
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Njeru
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Mbarara or Njeru?
Njeru has more tree cover: 35.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 26.2% around Mbarara, or about 100,189 trees against 82,310.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Mbarara | Njeru | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 82.3K | 100K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 11.9K | 0 (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.8M 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
Mbarara vs Njeru: your questions answered
Is Mbarara cleaner than Njeru?
On air quality, yes, right now: Mbarara reads AQI 57 against 79, a gap of 22 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, Njeru averaged AQI 76 against 81, and it was the cleaner of the two on 2 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Mbarara and Njeru today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Mbarara reads AQI 57 and Njeru reads AQI 79.
Which has lost more forest, Mbarara or Njeru?
Njeru has lost more: about 1,250 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 799 ha around Mbarara. 1,080 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Mbarara or Njeru?
Njeru has more tree cover: 35.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 26.2% around Mbarara, or about 100,189 trees against 82,310. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Mbarara and Njeru need?
Mbarara needs about 11,938 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Njeru about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Mbarara and Njeru 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. Mbarara is read from a nearby ground station and Njeru 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 Mbarara vs Njeru 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 8, 2026 and Sep 7, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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