City report · Tamil Nadu, India
Ambattur Air quality today
Air quality in Ambattur currently reads AQI 118 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 118
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 42.4
- tree cover
- 23.1%
- trees in this area
- 70.4K
- more trees needed
- 36.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Twp Colony, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600058, India (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 6, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Ambattur · AQI 118 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Ambattur's tree count comes to 70,394 trees across 12.19 km² of land, 12 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 36,263 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Ambattur today: AQI 118, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 19:45 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Arumbakkam, Chennai - TNPCB, 6.4 km away
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
42.4
PM10
74.7
NO₂
25.4
O₃
—
SO₂
4.2
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · CPCB, Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India (GODL-India)
- Outdoor exercise
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise
- Windows
- Close them to keep the outside air out
- Mask
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one, especially in bedrooms
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Ambattur's daily AQI at 94 on average, from 58 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 152 on Nov 9.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from India's AQI (CPCB) · The full guide
Where Ambattur stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Ambattur: Below target
23.1% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.19 km² of land.
Trees in this area
70,394
Target trees
106,657
More trees needed
36,263
CO₂ if planted / yr
797.8 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Ambattur lost?
There was very little forest around Ambattur in 2000, about 11 hectares, and about 1 hectare of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Ambattur?
- Towns and roadscleared for good100% · 1 ha
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 1,300 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,540 ha
- Overall change
- +236 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Ambattur grew from about 1,300 hectares to 1,540 hectares, a net gain of about 236 hectares (+18%). New forest grew on about 255 hectares, while 19 hectares were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Ambattur
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Chennai12.7 km
India
- Tree cover
- 22%
- Air quality
- 160
- Pallāvaram14.5 km
India
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 118
- Tiruvottiyūr16.6 km
India
- Tree cover
- 23%
- Air quality
- 163
- Kanchipuram57.9 km
India
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 123
- Rānipet91.8 km
India
- Tree cover
- 39%
- Air quality
- 138
- Tirupati100.0 km
India
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 153
Build your own
Compare Ambattur with anywhere
This place
Ambattur
Use this data
Put Ambattur's numbers on your site
Free to embed. Updates itself as the measurement refreshes.
Frequently asked
Questions about Ambattur
What is the air quality (AQI) in Ambattur right now?
The latest reading for Ambattur shows an AQI of 118 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 19:45 local time by the Arumbakkam, Chennai - TNPCB ground monitoring station, 6.4 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Ambattur today?
At AQI 118 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise. Windows: close them to keep the outside air out. Masks: sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Ambattur been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Ambattur's daily AQI at 94 on average, from 58 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 152 on Nov 9. On 2 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Ambattur's AQI the same as India's AQI (CPCB)?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. India's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) publishes the National Air Quality Index on its own scale: 0–50 good, 51–100 satisfactory, 101–200 moderate, 201–300 poor, 301–400 very poor and 401–500 severe. The two scales don't line up. At moderate fine-particle levels the US scale reads higher: 55 µg/m³ of PM2.5 is 149 on the US AQI but about 92, "satisfactory", on India's. In heavy smog India's reads higher: 100 µg/m³ is 182 on the US AQI and about 232, "poor", on India's. CPCB also averages particles over 24 hours, so its figure moves more slowly than an hourly reading.
How much forest has the area around Ambattur lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Ambattur in 2000, about 11 hectares, and about 1 hectare of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Ambattur grew from about 1,300 hectares to 1,540 hectares, a net gain of about 236 hectares (+18%). New forest grew on about 255 hectares, while 19 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Ambattur?
Ambattur has an estimated 70,394 trees across the 12.19 km² of land measured — 23.1% tree cover, 12 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Ambattur need?
Ambattur needs roughly 36,263 more trees to close a 12-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 797.8 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Ambattur's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Twp Colony, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 2 km radius around Twp Colony; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
See your own area
What does your neighborhood look like?
Pick any point and radius to get the same air-quality and tree-cover breakdown.
Check my address