Indonesia · Aceh · 4 cities
Air quality in Aceh today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Lhokseumawe has the cleanest air of the 4 cities we track in Aceh (AQI 19, Good), and Subulussalam the worst (AQI 41, Good). Subulussalam has the most tree cover, at 75.8% — #1 of 155 cities measured in Indonesia.
Every city is measured the same way, over the same 2 km around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
Average right now
AQI 30
Good
- cities tracked
- 4
- average tree cover
- 40.6%
- Indonesia: 28.0%
- worst air now: Subulussalam
- 41
- cleanest air now: Lhokseumawe
- 19
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous, and it reads differently from Indonesia's ISPU. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Aceh · average AQI 30
Air quality today across Aceh, city by city
| Banda Aceh | 40Good | 33.0% | — | #46 of 155 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lhokseumawe | 19Good | 14.8% | 19.4K | #130 of 155 |
| Langsa | 21Good | 38.8% | — | #32 of 155 |
| Subulussalam | 41Good | 75.8% | — | #1 of 155 |
Air quality is the US AQI from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where available, otherwise the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, refreshed hourly. Tree cover is measured within 2 km of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery; the rank compares every city measured in Indonesia.
Is this 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.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Aceh lost?
Since 2001, Aceh has lost about 885,000 hectares of forest (about 8,900 km²): 18% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (86%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 885,000 haabout 8,900 km²
- Share of its forest
- 18%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 761,000 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 13,800 ha | 3,810 ha | 17,600 ha |
| 2002 | 8,000 ha | 2,570 ha | 10,600 ha |
| 2003 | 6,990 ha | 4,260 ha | 11,200 ha |
| 2004 | 15,800 ha | 1,850 ha | 17,700 ha |
| 2005 | 21,400 ha | 1,950 ha | 23,300 ha |
| 2006 | 18,000 ha | 2,280 ha | 20,200 ha |
| 2007 | 18,400 ha | 4,430 ha | 22,800 ha |
| 2008 | 31,700 ha | 3,000 ha | 34,700 ha |
| 2009 | 60,700 ha | 6,070 ha | 66,800 ha |
| 2010 | 35,200 ha | 3,360 ha | 38,600 ha |
| 2011 | 43,000 ha | 3,220 ha | 46,200 ha |
| 2012 | 44,700 ha | 3,160 ha | 47,900 ha |
| 2013 | 36,600 ha | 3,520 ha | 40,100 ha |
| 2014 | 50,800 ha | 6,360 ha | 57,100 ha |
| 2015 | 28,700 ha | 4,570 ha | 33,300 ha |
| 2016 | 41,500 ha | 7,430 ha | 48,900 ha |
| 2017 | 37,400 ha | 7,180 ha | 44,600 ha |
| 2018 | 37,700 ha | 7,020 ha | 44,700 ha |
| 2019 | 22,700 ha | 5,110 ha | 27,800 ha |
| 2020 | 24,600 ha | 5,070 ha | 29,600 ha |
| 2021 | 25,900 ha | 5,070 ha | 31,000 ha |
| 2022 | 24,600 ha | 4,150 ha | 28,700 ha |
| 2023 | 33,300 ha | 4,660 ha | 38,000 ha |
| 2024 | 37,200 ha | 7,640 ha | 44,800 ha |
| 2025 | 42,800 ha | 16,000 ha | 58,700 ha |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 40,200 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 39,100 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2009, when about 66,800 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Aceh?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good85% · 752,000 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back8.2% · 72,200 ha
- Loggingcan grow back3.4% · 30,400 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, mining and energy, wildfires, towns and roads, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
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. How it's measured
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