City report · Sơn La Province, Vietnam
Sơn La Air quality today
Air quality in Sơn La currently reads AQI 24 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 24
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 4.1
- tree cover
- 62.0%
- trees in this area
- 195K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around To Hieu, Son La, Vietnam (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Sơn La · AQI 24 (Good)
Sơn La's tree count comes to 194,779 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Sơn La today: AQI 24, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 10 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 10 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Vinh Phuc and Phuc Yen
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
4.1
PM10
7.7
NO₂
1.2
O₃
92.0
SO₂
2.7
CO
219.0
- 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 Sơn La's daily AQI at 33 on average, from 19 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 71 on Nov 5.
Where Sơn La stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Sơn La: Healthy tree cover
62.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
194,779
Target trees
194,779
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Sơn La lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sơn La has lost about 2,120 hectares of forest (about 3,000 football pitches): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (77%) 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 south of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2,120 haabout 3,000 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 14%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,620 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is slowing down: about 35 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 76 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2010, when about 452 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 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2002 | 9 ha | 3 ha | 13 ha |
| 2003 | 123 ha | 5 ha | 128 ha |
| 2004 | 21 ha | under 1 ha | 21 ha |
| 2005 | 73 ha | 11 ha | 84 ha |
| 2006 | 248 ha | 33 ha | 281 ha |
| 2007 | 45 ha | 16 ha | 61 ha |
| 2008 | 22 ha | 22 ha | 44 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2010 | 336 ha | 116 ha | 452 ha |
| 2011 | 164 ha | 25 ha | 189 ha |
| 2012 | 54 ha | 10 ha | 65 ha |
| 2013 | 43 ha | 19 ha | 62 ha |
| 2014 | 30 ha | 19 ha | 50 ha |
| 2015 | 59 ha | 44 ha | 103 ha |
| 2016 | 40 ha | 27 ha | 67 ha |
| 2017 | 46 ha | 17 ha | 63 ha |
| 2018 | 40 ha | 11 ha | 50 ha |
| 2019 | 51 ha | 41 ha | 91 ha |
| 2020 | 84 ha | 23 ha | 107 ha |
| 2021 | 18 ha | 15 ha | 33 ha |
| 2022 | 31 ha | 14 ha | 45 ha |
| 2023 | 53 ha | 18 ha | 70 ha |
| 2024 | 13 ha | 4 ha | 17 ha |
| 2025 | 8 ha | 3 ha | 10 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Sơn La?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good75% · 1,580 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back23% · 494 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good1.8% · 37 ha
Also: logging, 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
- 21,500 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 22,500 ha
- Overall change
- +1,050 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sơn La grew from about 21,500 hectares to 22,500 hectares, a net gain of about 1,050 hectares (+4.9%). New forest grew on about 2,770 hectares, while 1,720 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 Sơn La
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Thị Trấn Thuận Châu26.8 km
Vietnam
- Tree cover
- 83%
- Air quality
- 31
- Yên Bái111.8 km
Vietnam
- Tree cover
- 66%
- Air quality
- 58
- Lào Cai129.1 km
Vietnam
- Tree cover
- 56%
- Air quality
- 41
- Tuyên Quang144.9 km
Vietnam
- Tree cover
- 56%
- Air quality
- 32
- Việt Trì153.6 km
Vietnam
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 112
- Ba Vì154.2 km
Vietnam
- Tree cover
- 96%
- Air quality
- 29
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Frequently asked
Questions about Sơn La
What is the air quality (AQI) in Sơn La right now?
The latest reading for Sơn La shows an AQI of 24 (Good), observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 10 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Sơn La today?
At AQI 24 (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 Sơn La been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sơn La's daily AQI at 33 on average, from 19 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 71 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Sơn La lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sơn La has lost about 2,120 hectares of forest (about 3,000 football pitches): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (77%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is slowing down: about 35 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 76 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sơn La grew from about 21,500 hectares to 22,500 hectares, a net gain of about 1,050 hectares (+4.9%). New forest grew on about 2,770 hectares, while 1,720 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Sơn La?
Sơn La has an estimated 194,779 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 62.0% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Sơn La need?
Sơn La has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Sơn La'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 To Hieu; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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