City report · Indonesia
Merauke Air quality today
Air quality in Merauke currently reads AQI 46 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 46
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 7.6
- tree cover
- 34.4%
- trees in this area
- 108K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Merauke, Merauke Regency, South Papua, Indonesia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 8, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Merauke · AQI 46 (Good)
Merauke's tree count comes to 107,963 trees across 12.56 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Merauke today: AQI 46, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 19:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
7.6
PM10
9.6
NO₂
0.8
O₃
26.0
SO₂
0.7
CO
202.0
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Merauke's daily AQI at 96 on average, from 70 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 168 on Nov 5.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Indonesia's ISPU
Where Merauke stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Merauke: Healthy tree cover
34.4% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.56 km² of land.
Trees in this area
107,963
Target trees
107,963
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Merauke lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Merauke has lost about 759 hectares of forest (about 1,100 football pitches): 11% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from November 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km north of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 759 haabout 1,100 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 11%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 695 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2011, when about 128 hectares of forest were lost.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 35 ha | 5 ha | 41 ha |
| 2002 | 15 ha | 4 ha | 19 ha |
| 2003 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2004 | 22 ha | 2 ha | 24 ha |
| 2005 | 4 ha | 2 ha | 6 ha |
| 2006 | 52 ha | 2 ha | 54 ha |
| 2007 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 15 ha |
| 2008 | 32 ha | 3 ha | 34 ha |
| 2009 | 38 ha | 9 ha | 47 ha |
| 2010 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2011 | 125 ha | 3 ha | 128 ha |
| 2012 | 57 ha | 6 ha | 63 ha |
| 2013 | 16 ha | 2 ha | 18 ha |
| 2014 | 17 ha | under 1 ha | 18 ha |
| 2015 | 20 ha | 2 ha | 22 ha |
| 2016 | 13 ha | 6 ha | 19 ha |
| 2017 | 25 ha | 2 ha | 26 ha |
| 2018 | 66 ha | 4 ha | 70 ha |
| 2019 | 26 ha | 5 ha | 31 ha |
| 2020 | 29 ha | 1 ha | 30 ha |
| 2021 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2022 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2023 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2024 | 44 ha | under 1 ha | 44 ha |
| 2025 | 18 ha | 5 ha | 22 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Merauke?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good82% · 625 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good9.2% · 70 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back4% · 31 ha
Also: wildfires, unknown causes.
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
- 3,910 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 3,770 ha
- Overall change
- −145 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Merauke shrank from about 3,910 hectares to 3,770 hectares, a net loss of about 145 hectares (−3.7%). New forest grew on about 296 hectares, but 441 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 Merauke
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Mount Hagen514.1 km
Papua New Guinea
- Tree cover
- 53%
- Air quality
- 26
- Timika586.4 km
Indonesia
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 76
- Jayapura664.3 km
Indonesia
- Tree cover
- 60%
- Air quality
- 26
- Port Moresby748.7 km
Papua New Guinea
- Tree cover
- 22%
- Air quality
- 27
- Lae752.7 km
Papua New Guinea
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 15
- Popondetta860.9 km
Papua New Guinea
- Tree cover
- 62%
- Air quality
- 42
Build your own
Compare Merauke with anywhere
This place
Merauke
Use this data
Put Merauke's numbers on your site
Free to embed. Updates itself as the measurement refreshes.
Frequently asked
Questions about Merauke
What is the air quality (AQI) in Merauke right now?
The latest reading for Merauke shows an AQI of 46 (Good), observed Nov 11, 19:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Merauke today?
At AQI 46 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Merauke been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Merauke's daily AQI at 96 on average, from 70 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 168 on Nov 5. On 3 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Merauke's AQI the same as Indonesia's ISPU?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Indonesia's official index is the ISPU (Indeks Standar Pencemar Udara), published by the environment ministry from its own monitoring stations. Its bands are 0–50 Baik (good), 51–100 Sedang (moderate), 101–200 Tidak Sehat (unhealthy), 201–300 Sangat Tidak Sehat (very unhealthy) and over 300 Berbahaya (hazardous). The two indexes use different breakpoints and averaging times, so the same air can score differently on each.
How much forest has the area around Merauke lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Merauke has lost about 759 hectares of forest (about 1,100 football pitches): 11% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Merauke shrank from about 3,910 hectares to 3,770 hectares, a net loss of about 145 hectares (−3.7%). New forest grew on about 296 hectares, but 441 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Merauke?
Merauke has an estimated 107,963 trees across the 12.56 km² of land measured — 34.4% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Merauke need?
Merauke has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Merauke's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. 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 Merauke; 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