Air quality comparison · Russia, 1398 km apart
Novosibirsk vs Yekaterinburg Air quality index (AQI) today
Yekaterinburg has cleaner air than Novosibirsk right now: AQI 6 (Good) against 31 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Yekaterinburg averaged AQI 25 against 46, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Yekaterinburg has lost more forest since 2001. Yekaterinburg has more tree cover.
Russia
AQI 31
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 5.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 9, 21:00 local
Russia
AQI 6
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 16:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Novosibirsk31Yekaterinburg6
Head to head
Novosibirsk vs Yekaterinburg at a glance
Yekaterinburg is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Novosibirsk on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Novosibirsk | Yekaterinburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 31 | 6 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.7 | 1 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 46 | 25 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 239 ha (better) | 870 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 20.0% | 28.4% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 27.8K | 4.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg right now?
Yekaterinburg has cleaner air than Novosibirsk right now: AQI 6 (Good) against 31 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
NovosibirskYekaterinburg
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).
Novosibirsk: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Yekaterinburg: 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?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Yekaterinburg averaged AQI 25 against 46, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Novosibirsk1Yekaterinburg5
- Average AQI
- Novosibirsk46Yekaterinburg25
- Worst day, AQI
- Novosibirsk67Yekaterinburg56
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Novosibirsk | Yekaterinburg |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 47 | 56 |
| Nov 5 | 67 | 45 |
| Nov 6 | 57 | 9 |
| Nov 7 | 30 | 10 |
| Nov 8 | 28 | 17 |
| Nov 9 | 44 | 15 |
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 Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg 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 Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Novosibirsk's air is cleaner than 78% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Yekaterinburg's is cleaner than 98%. Within Russia, that is 37% and 81% of its 168 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Novosibirsk
- Beats 78%
- Yekaterinburg
- Beats 98%
More tree cover than…
- Novosibirsk
- Beats 47%
- Yekaterinburg
- Beats 65%
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, Novosibirsk or Yekaterinburg?
Yekaterinburg has lost more: about 870 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 239 ha around Novosibirsk. 716 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: 2008, with 23 ha lost.
Worst year: 2008, with 107 ha lost.
| Novosibirsk | Yekaterinburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 239 ha (better) | 870 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3.7% (better) | 7.5% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 220 ha (better) | 716 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (83%) | Towns and roads (68%) |
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.
Novosibirsk
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 4 km southwest of the city center.
Yekaterinburg
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Novosibirsk or Yekaterinburg?
Yekaterinburg has more tree cover: 28.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 20.0% around Novosibirsk, or about 86,098 trees against 55,543.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Novosibirsk | Yekaterinburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 55.5K | 86.1K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 27.8K | 4.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg | 1.9M 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
Novosibirsk vs Yekaterinburg: your questions answered
Is Yekaterinburg cleaner than Novosibirsk?
On air quality, yes, right now: Yekaterinburg reads AQI 6 against 31, a gap of 25 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Yekaterinburg averaged AQI 25 against 46, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Novosibirsk reads AQI 31 and Yekaterinburg reads AQI 6.
Which has lost more forest, Novosibirsk or Yekaterinburg?
Yekaterinburg has lost more: about 870 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 239 ha around Novosibirsk. 716 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Novosibirsk or Yekaterinburg?
Yekaterinburg has more tree cover: 28.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 20.0% around Novosibirsk, or about 86,098 trees against 55,543. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg need?
Novosibirsk needs about 27,772 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Yekaterinburg about 4,851 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg 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. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Novosibirsk vs Yekaterinburg 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 11, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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