City report · Kerala, India
Palakkad Air quality today
Air quality in Palakkad currently reads AQI 110 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Air quality right now
AQI 110
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 37.7
- tree cover
- 47.6%
- trees in this area
- 150K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Santhi Nagar, Sultanpet, Palakkad, Keralam, India (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 29, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Palakkad · AQI 110 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Palakkad's tree count comes to 149,540 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Palakkad today: AQI 110, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 03:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 85 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 85 km, e.g. Thrissur and Malappuram
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
37.7
PM10
51.9
NO₂
16.6
O₃
57.0
SO₂
10.1
CO
392.0
- 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 Palakkad's daily AQI at 83 on average, from 57 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 147 on Nov 10.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from India's AQI (CPCB) · The full guide
Where Palakkad stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Palakkad: Healthy tree cover
47.6% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
149,540
Target trees
149,540
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Palakkad lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Palakkad has lost about 238 hectares of forest (about 330 football pitches): 7.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (91%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 238 haabout 330 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 7.2%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 216 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2019, when about 35 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 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2002 | 5 ha | 3 ha | 7 ha |
| 2003 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2004 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2005 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2006 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2007 | 8 ha | 2 ha | 10 ha |
| 2008 | 6 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2009 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | 19 ha | 3 ha | 22 ha |
| 2012 | 8 ha | 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2013 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2014 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2017 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2018 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2019 | 34 ha | under 1 ha | 35 ha |
| 2020 | 18 ha | under 1 ha | 19 ha |
| 2021 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2022 | 12 ha | under 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2023 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 16 ha |
| 2024 | 27 ha | under 1 ha | 27 ha |
| 2025 | 13 ha | 2 ha | 15 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Palakkad?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good87% · 207 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good4% · 10 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown9% · 21 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
- 13,400 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 13,700 ha
- Overall change
- +318 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Palakkad grew from about 13,400 hectares to 13,700 hectares, a net gain of about 318 hectares (+2.4%). New forest grew on about 536 hectares, while 218 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 Palakkad
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Coimbatore42.8 km
India
- Tree cover
- 25%
- Air quality
- 99
- Thrissur55.6 km
India
- Tree cover
- 53%
- Air quality
- 92
- Malappuram69.3 km
India
- Tree cover
- 83%
- Air quality
- 173
- Ooty71.3 km
India
- Tree cover
- 45%
- Air quality
- 66
- Ponnāni79.6 km
India
- Tree cover
- 83%
- Air quality
- 79
- Tiruppur85.5 km
India
- Tree cover
- 12%
- Air quality
- 105
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Frequently asked
Questions about Palakkad
What is the air quality (AQI) in Palakkad right now?
The latest reading for Palakkad shows an AQI of 110 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), observed Nov 11, 03:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 85 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Palakkad today?
At AQI 110 (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 Palakkad been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Palakkad's daily AQI at 83 on average, from 57 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 147 on Nov 10. On 2 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Palakkad'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 Palakkad lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Palakkad has lost about 238 hectares of forest (about 330 football pitches): 7.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (91%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Palakkad grew from about 13,400 hectares to 13,700 hectares, a net gain of about 318 hectares (+2.4%). New forest grew on about 536 hectares, while 218 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Palakkad?
Palakkad has an estimated 149,540 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 47.6% tree cover, already past the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Palakkad need?
Palakkad has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Palakkad'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 Santhi Nagar; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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