City report · Odisha, India
Rourkela Air quality today
Air quality in Rourkela currently reads AQI 167 (Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Air quality right now
AQI 167
Unhealthy
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 78.2
- tree cover
- 42.8%
- trees in this area
- 134K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Udit Nagar, Rourkela, Odisha, India (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 23, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Rourkela · AQI 167 (Unhealthy)
Rourkela's tree count comes to 134,326 trees across 12.56 km² of land, already at or above the 40% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Rourkela today: AQI 167, Unhealthy
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 21:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Fertilizer Township, Rourkela - OSPCB, 3.9 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
PM2.5
78.2
PM10
141.9
NO₂
27.3
O₃
2.8
SO₂
19.7
CO
1.1
Data: OpenAQ · CPCB, Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India (GODL-India)
- Outdoor exercise
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it
- Windows
- Keep them closed
- Mask
- Wear an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Rourkela's daily AQI at 164 on average, from 149 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 192 on Nov 5.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from India's AQI (CPCB) · The full guide
Where Rourkela stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Rourkela: Healthy tree cover
42.8% tree cover against a 40% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.56 km² of land.
Trees in this area
134,326
Target trees
134,326
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Rourkela lost?
Almost no forest has been lost around Rourkela since 2001: less than 1 hectare of the 465 hectares there in 2000.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 4,490 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 4,910 ha
- Overall change
- +412 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Rourkela grew from about 4,490 hectares to 4,910 hectares, a net gain of about 412 hectares (+9.2%). New forest grew on about 496 hectares, while 83 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Rourkela
What is the air quality (AQI) in Rourkela right now?
The latest reading for Rourkela shows an AQI of 167 (Unhealthy), measured Nov 11, 21:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Fertilizer Township, Rourkela - OSPCB, 3.9 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Rourkela today?
At AQI 167 (Unhealthy): everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it. Windows: keep them closed. Masks: wear an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Rourkela been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Rourkela's daily AQI at 164 on average, from 149 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 192 on Nov 5. On 7 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Rourkela'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 Rourkela lost since 2001?
Almost no forest has been lost around Rourkela since 2001: less than 1 hectare of the 465 hectares there in 2000. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Rourkela grew from about 4,490 hectares to 4,910 hectares, a net gain of about 412 hectares (+9.2%). New forest grew on about 496 hectares, while 83 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Rourkela?
Rourkela has an estimated 134,326 trees across the 12.56 km² of land measured — 42.8% tree cover, already past the 40% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Rourkela need?
Rourkela has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Rourkela's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Udit Nagar, 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 Udit Nagar; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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