City report · Tamil Nadu, India
Ooty Air quality today
Air quality in Ooty currently reads AQI 69 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 69
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 18.5
- tree cover
- 45.3%
- trees in this area
- 142K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 29, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Ooty · AQI 69 (Moderate)
Ooty's tree count comes to 141,603 trees across 12.51 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Ooty today: AQI 69, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 21:45 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Urban, Chamarajanagar - KSPCB, 21.8 km away
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
18.5
PM10
45.9
NO₂
22.7
O₃
15.6
SO₂
5.3
CO
0.5
Data: OpenAQ · CPCB, Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India (GODL-India)
- Outdoor exercise
- 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
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Ooty's daily AQI at 66 on average, from 39 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 126 on Nov 10.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from India's AQI (CPCB) · The full guide
Where Ooty stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Ooty: Healthy tree cover
45.3% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.51 km² of land.
Trees in this area
141,603
Target trees
141,603
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Ooty lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Ooty has lost about 1,310 hectares of forest (about 1,800 football pitches): 8.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (54%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1,310 haabout 1,800 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 8.2%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 714 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is speeding up: about 97 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 58 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2025, when about 152 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 | 5 ha | 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2002 | 14 ha | 8 ha | 22 ha |
| 2003 | 18 ha | 6 ha | 24 ha |
| 2004 | 11 ha | 32 ha | 44 ha |
| 2005 | 12 ha | 36 ha | 49 ha |
| 2006 | 16 ha | 13 ha | 29 ha |
| 2007 | 60 ha | 80 ha | 140 ha |
| 2008 | 18 ha | 7 ha | 26 ha |
| 2009 | 11 ha | 2 ha | 13 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | 33 ha | 15 ha | 49 ha |
| 2012 | 25 ha | 14 ha | 39 ha |
| 2013 | 13 ha | 2 ha | 15 ha |
| 2014 | 25 ha | 11 ha | 36 ha |
| 2015 | 45 ha | 5 ha | 50 ha |
| 2016 | 30 ha | 17 ha | 47 ha |
| 2017 | 26 ha | 9 ha | 35 ha |
| 2018 | 58 ha | 25 ha | 83 ha |
| 2019 | 38 ha | 38 ha | 76 ha |
| 2020 | 31 ha | 18 ha | 50 ha |
| 2021 | 19 ha | 15 ha | 34 ha |
| 2022 | 12 ha | 10 ha | 22 ha |
| 2023 | 50 ha | 90 ha | 139 ha |
| 2024 | 64 ha | 73 ha | 137 ha |
| 2025 | 81 ha | 71 ha | 152 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Ooty?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good52% · 680 ha
- Loggingcan grow back31% · 409 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back14% · 184 ha
Also: towns and roads, 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
- 23,800 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 23,700 ha
- Overall change
- −152 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Ooty stayed about the same size, at about 23,700 hectares: new forest grew on about 99 hectares, and about 251 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 Ooty
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Coimbatore54.1 km
India
- Tree cover
- 25%
- Air quality
- 99
- Palakkad71.3 km
India
- Tree cover
- 48%
- Air quality
- 110
- Malappuram78.6 km
India
- Tree cover
- 83%
- Air quality
- 173
- Tiruppur79.2 km
India
- Tree cover
- 12%
- Air quality
- 105
- Mysuru98.5 km
India
- Tree cover
- 37%
- Air quality
- 174
- Kozhikode101.4 km
India
- Tree cover
- 42%
- Air quality
- 76
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Frequently asked
Questions about Ooty
What is the air quality (AQI) in Ooty right now?
The latest reading for Ooty shows an AQI of 69 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 21:45 local time by the Urban, Chamarajanagar - KSPCB ground monitoring station, 21.8 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Ooty today?
At AQI 69 (Moderate): 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. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Ooty been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Ooty's daily AQI at 66 on average, from 39 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 126 on Nov 10. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Ooty'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 Ooty lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Ooty has lost about 1,310 hectares of forest (about 1,800 football pitches): 8.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (54%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is speeding up: about 97 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 58 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Ooty stayed about the same size, at about 23,700 hectares: new forest grew on about 99 hectares, and about 251 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Ooty?
Ooty has an estimated 141,603 trees across the 12.51 km² of land measured — 45.3% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Ooty need?
Ooty has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Ooty's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Ooty, 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 Ooty; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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