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Airleaf

Mocuba vs Pemba

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.

Pemba has more tree cover — 5.7% against 4.7%.

Pemba has cleaner air right now — AQI 32 against 64.

Tree cover gap
1.0 points
Pemba is ahead.
Air quality gap
32 AQI
Pemba is cleaner.
Trees between them
1.0K
Pemba has more standing.
Mocuba

Mozambique

Pemba

Mozambique

Tree cover

Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.

4.7%

5.7%

Air quality index

US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.

64 · Moderate

32 · Good

Trees standing

Estimated from the measured canopy area.

13.8K

14.8K

Trees still needed

To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.

74.4K

63.2K

CO₂ absorbed each year

By the trees already standing.

304K kg

326K 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.

18.2 µg/m³

7.6 µg/m³

PM10

Coarser particles — dust, pollen, road grit.

21.8 µg/m³

11.2 µg/m³

Nitrogen dioxide

Mostly traffic and combustion.

1.1 µg/m³

0.4 µg/m³

Ozone

Forms in sunlight; peaks on hot, still afternoons.

80 µg/m³

53 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.

MocubaPemba· daily US EPA index, last 7 days
0387522 Sept25 Sept28 Sept
Daily air quality index for Mocuba and Pemba
DayMocubaPemba
22 Sept5626
23 Sept6743
24 Sept5243
25 Sept4839
26 Sept7050
27 Sept6628
28 Sept6926

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. Pemba leads here at 5.7%.

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: Mocuba reads 64 (moderate) and Pemba reads 32 (good) right now.

Frequently asked

Mocuba and Pemba, answered

Which has more trees, Mocuba or Pemba?

Pemba, with roughly 14,827 trees inside its 2 km radius against 13,820. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Pemba has the denser canopy at 5.7%.

Which has better air quality, Mocuba or Pemba?

Pemba right now, at AQI 32 against 64 — a gap of 32 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?

Mocuba needs about 74,395 more to reach its canopy target, and Pemba about 63,210. 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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