Air quality comparison · Brazil, 449 km apart
Porto Velho vs Rio Branco Air quality index (AQI) today
Rio Branco has cleaner air than Porto Velho right now: AQI 54 (Moderate) against 100 (Moderate).
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, Rio Branco averaged AQI 49 against 65, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Porto Velho has lost more forest since 2001. Rio Branco has more tree cover.
Brazil
AQI 100
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 35.2 µg/m³2.3× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 15:00 local
Brazil
AQI 54
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 10.8 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 00:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Porto Velho100Rio Branco54
Head to head
Porto Velho vs Rio Branco at a glance
Rio Branco is ahead on 6 of 6 measures, and Porto Velho on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Porto Velho | Rio Branco | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 100 | 54 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 35.2 | 10.8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 65 | 49 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 3,980 ha | 3,200 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 19.8% | 27.5% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 25.4K | 7.8K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Porto Velho and Rio Branco right now?
Rio Branco has cleaner air than Porto Velho right now: AQI 54 (Moderate) against 100 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Porto Velho's PM2.5 is about 2.3× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Porto Velho is read from a nearby ground station and Rio Branco is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Porto VelhoRio Branco
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).
Porto Velho: Ground station · Porto Velho - Brux, 3.8 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, AIrWatch.
Rio Branco: 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, Rio Branco averaged AQI 49 against 65, 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
- Porto Velho0Rio Branco6
- Average AQI
- Porto Velho65Rio Branco49
- Worst day, AQI
- Porto Velho71Rio Branco66
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Porto Velho | Rio Branco |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 70 | 66 |
| Nov 6 | 65 | 60 |
| Nov 7 | 69 | 56 |
| Nov 8 | 71 | 48 |
| Nov 9 | 52 | 26 |
| Nov 10 | 64 | 39 |
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 Porto Velho and Rio Branco 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 Porto Velho and Rio Branco compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Porto Velho's air is cleaner than 22% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Rio Branco's is cleaner than 56%. Within Brazil, that is 2% and 19% of its 304 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Porto Velho
- Beats 22%
- Rio Branco
- Beats 56%
More tree cover than…
- Porto Velho
- Beats 46%
- Rio Branco
- Beats 63%
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, Porto Velho or Rio Branco?
Porto Velho has lost more: about 3,980 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 3,200 ha around Rio Branco. 3,470 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: 2010, with 623 ha lost.
Worst year: 2005, with 462 ha lost.
| Porto Velho | Rio Branco | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 3,980 ha | 3,200 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 28% (better) | 29% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 3,470 ha | 3,200 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (73%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (83%) |
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.
Porto Velho
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
Rio Branco
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km southwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Porto Velho or Rio Branco?
Rio Branco has more tree cover: 27.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 19.8% around Porto Velho, or about 86,307 trees against 49,327.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Porto Velho | Rio Branco | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 49.3K | 86.3K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 25.4K | 7.8K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.1M 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
Porto Velho vs Rio Branco: your questions answered
Is Rio Branco cleaner than Porto Velho?
On air quality, yes, right now: Rio Branco reads AQI 54 against 100, a gap of 46 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, Rio Branco averaged AQI 49 against 65, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Porto Velho and Rio Branco today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Porto Velho reads AQI 100 and Rio Branco reads AQI 54.
Which has lost more forest, Porto Velho or Rio Branco?
Porto Velho has lost more: about 3,980 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 3,200 ha around Rio Branco. 3,470 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Porto Velho or Rio Branco?
Rio Branco has more tree cover: 27.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 19.8% around Porto Velho, or about 86,307 trees against 49,327. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Porto Velho and Rio Branco need?
Porto Velho needs about 25,411 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Rio Branco about 7,846 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Porto Velho and Rio Branco 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. Porto Velho is read from a nearby ground station and Rio Branco 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 Porto Velho vs Rio Branco 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 (Nov 8, 2026 and Oct 7, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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