Pamplona vs Donostia / San Sebastián
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.
Donostia / San Sebastián has more tree cover — 47.4% against 25.9%.
Pamplona has cleaner air right now — AQI 28 against 53.
- Tree cover gap
- 21.5 points
- Donostia / San Sebastián is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 25 AQI
- Pamplona is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 49.5K
- Donostia / San Sebastián has more standing.
Spain
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
25.9%
47.4%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
28 · Good
53 · Moderate
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
81.4K
131K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
12.9K
0
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
1.8M kg
2.9M 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. Donostia / San Sebastián is read from nearby ground stations and Pamplona is modelled — worth knowing, since the two are not quite like for like.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
6.7 µg/m³
13 µg/m³
PM10
Coarser particles — dust, pollen, road grit.
9.4 µg/m³
21 µg/m³
Nitrogen dioxide
Mostly traffic and combustion.
9.8 µg/m³
17 µg/m³
Ozone
Forms in sunlight; peaks on hot, still afternoons.
59 µg/m³
31 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 | Pamplona | Donostia / San Sebastián |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sept | 31 | 31 |
| 23 Sept | 32 | 34 |
| 24 Sept | 36 | 40 |
| 25 Sept | 38 | 45 |
| 26 Sept | 38 | 39 |
| 27 Sept | 35 | 36 |
| 28 Sept | 30 | 38 |
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. Donostia / San Sebastián leads here at 47.4%.
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: Pamplona reads 28 (good) and Donostia / San Sebastián reads 53 (moderate) right now.
Frequently asked
Pamplona and Donostia / San Sebastián, answered
Which has more trees, Pamplona or Donostia / San Sebastián?
Donostia / San Sebastián, with roughly 130,893 trees inside its 2 km radius against 81,367. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Donostia / San Sebastián has the denser canopy at 47.4%.
Which has better air quality, Pamplona or Donostia / San Sebastián?
Pamplona right now, at AQI 28 against 53 — a gap of 25 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?
Pamplona needs about 12,881 more to reach its canopy target, and Donostia / San Sebastián 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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