Air quality comparison · Indonesia, 1973 km apart
Medan vs Surabaya Air quality index (AQI) today
Surabaya has cleaner air than Medan right now: AQI 87 (Moderate) against 154 (Unhealthy).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Medan averaged AQI 97 against 114, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Medan has lost more forest since 2001. Medan has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Medan154Surabaya87
Head to head
Medan vs Surabaya at a glance
Surabaya is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Medan on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Medan | Surabaya | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 154 | 87 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 59.4 | 24.6 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 97 (better) | 114 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 505 ha | 26 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 15.7% (better) | 10.6% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 76.3K | 60.6K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Medan and Surabaya right now?
Surabaya has cleaner air than Medan right now: AQI 87 (Moderate) against 154 (Unhealthy). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Medan's PM2.5 is about 4.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Surabaya's PM2.5 is about 1.6× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Medan is read from a nearby ground station and Surabaya is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
MedanSurabaya
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).
Medan: Ground station · Medan, Indonesia, 20.4 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, BMKG | Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi dan Geofisika.
Surabaya: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Medan averaged AQI 97 against 114, 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
- Medan6Surabaya1
- Average AQI
- Medan97Surabaya114
- Worst day, AQI
- Medan111Surabaya137
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Medan | Surabaya |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 93 | 103 |
| Nov 6 | 103 | 116 |
| Nov 7 | 110 | 107 |
| Nov 8 | 104 | 105 |
| Nov 9 | 81 | 137 |
| Nov 10 | 111 | 113 |
| Nov 11 | 79 | 114 |
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 Medan and Surabaya today?
Medan (AQI 154, Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Surabaya (AQI 87, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Medan
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it.
- Surabaya
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Medan
- Keep them closed.
- Surabaya
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Medan
- Wear an N95 outdoors.
- Surabaya
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Medan
- Run one.
- Surabaya
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Medan and Surabaya compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Medan's air is cleaner than 10% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Surabaya's is cleaner than 28%. Within Indonesia, that is 15% and 52% of its 156 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Medan
- Beats 10%
- Surabaya
- Beats 28%
More tree cover than…
- Medan
- Beats 36%
- Surabaya
- Beats 23%
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, Medan or Surabaya?
Medan has lost more: about 505 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 26 ha around Surabaya. 499 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: 2014, with 149 ha lost.
Worst year: 2011, with 3 ha lost.
| Medan | Surabaya | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 505 ha | 26 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 22% | 2.8% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 499 ha | 13 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (50%) | Towns and roads (41%) |
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.
Medan
2021: satellite photo from February 2021 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Surabaya
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Medan or Surabaya?
Medan has more tree cover: 15.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.6% around Surabaya, or about 49,323 trees against 33,134.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Medan | Surabaya | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 49.3K (better) | 33.1K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 76.3K | 60.6K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.1M kg (better) | 729K 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
Medan vs Surabaya: your questions answered
Is Surabaya cleaner than Medan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Surabaya reads AQI 87 against 154, a gap of 67 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, Medan averaged AQI 97 against 114, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Medan and Surabaya today?
In Medan, at AQI 154: Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so. In Surabaya, at AQI 87: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Medan or Surabaya?
Medan has lost more: about 505 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 26 ha around Surabaya. 499 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Medan or Surabaya?
Medan has more tree cover: 15.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.6% around Surabaya, or about 49,323 trees against 33,134. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Medan and Surabaya need?
Medan needs about 76,341 more to reach its canopy target of 40%, and Surabaya about 60,642 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Medan and Surabaya 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. Medan is read from a nearby ground station and Surabaya 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 Medan vs Surabaya 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 9, 2026 and Sep 19, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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