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Greenness in City of Tshwane

October 2026: much greener than a normal October in City of Tshwane (0.39 on the greenness scale; normal is 0.27). The satellite saw 99% of the area.

The greenness score (NDVI) is how green the land looks from space, from about 0 (bare ground, rock, water) to about 0.9 (dense green growth). It follows rain, season, crops and fire. A month’s figure is the mean over the whole place where the satellite saw the ground (clouds hide some).

October 2026

The newest month seen over at least half the place. Digital Earth Africa publishes a month a few weeks after it ends.

The last twelve months against normal

November: NDVI 0.48, normal 0.35NDecember: NDVI 0.54, normal 0.43DJanuary: NDVI 0.59, normal 0.49JFebruary: NDVI 0.56, normal 0.50FMarch: NDVI 0.53, normal 0.49MApril: NDVI 0.49, normal 0.45AMay: NDVI 0.47, normal 0.38MJune: NDVI 0.37, normal 0.32JJuly: NDVI 0.31, normal 0.26JAugust: NDVI 0.29, normal 0.24ASeptember: NDVI 0.32, normal 0.23SOctober: NDVI 0.39, normal 0.27O
Greenness each month, November 2025 to October 2026. Bars: mean NDVI. Lines: the 1984 to 2020 normal for the month.
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Greenness each month, November 2025 to October 2026.: every figure
When or whatFigure
NovemberNDVI 0.48, normal 0.35
DecemberNDVI 0.54, normal 0.43
JanuaryNDVI 0.59, normal 0.49
FebruaryNDVI 0.56, normal 0.50
MarchNDVI 0.53, normal 0.49
AprilNDVI 0.49, normal 0.45
MayNDVI 0.47, normal 0.38
JuneNDVI 0.37, normal 0.32
JulyNDVI 0.31, normal 0.26
AugustNDVI 0.29, normal 0.24
SeptemberNDVI 0.32, normal 0.23
OctoberNDVI 0.39, normal 0.27
MonthGreennessNormalAgainst normalSeenSecond reading
November 20250.480.35+1.59 well above normal98%0.42
December 20250.540.43+1.17 well above normal98%0.47
January 20260.590.49+1.30 well above normal99%0.52
February 20260.560.50+0.84 above normal99%0.51
March 20260.530.49+0.50 above normal98%0.50
April 20260.490.45+0.46 near normal96%0.49
May 20260.470.38+1.00 well above normal99%0.46
June 20260.370.32+0.99 above normal99%0.37
July 20260.310.26+1.22 well above normal98%0.30
August 20260.290.24+1.55 well above normal99%0.28
September 20260.320.23+2.76 well above normal99%0.30
October 20260.390.27+2.15 well above normal99%0.37

Pale bars: seen over less than half the place, so less sure. The second reading is from a coarser European satellite product; it reads a little lower as a rule.

Every year since 2017

2017: +0.42 (12 months)172018: +0.11 (12 months)182019: −0.03 (12 months)192020: +0.37 (12 months)202021: +0.17 (12 months)212022: +1.02 (12 months)222023: +0.58 (12 months)232024: +0.17 (12 months)242025: +1.34 (12 months)252026: +1.28 (10 months)26
Greenness against normal, each year from 2017 to 2026. Up: greener than normal for the time of year. Down: less green. In standard deviations of the month’s 1984 to 2020 normal.
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Greenness against normal, each year from 2017 to 2026.: every figure
When or whatFigure
2017+0.42 (12 months)
2018+0.11 (12 months)
2019−0.03 (12 months)
2020+0.37 (12 months)
2021+0.17 (12 months)
2022+1.02 (12 months)
2023+0.58 (12 months)
2024+0.17 (12 months)
2025+1.34 (12 months)
2026+1.28 (10 months)
YearGreennessAgainst normalMonths
20260.43+1.2810
20250.45+1.3412
20240.38+0.1712
20230.41+0.5812
20220.43+1.0212
20210.39+0.1712
20200.40+0.3712
20190.37−0.0312
20180.37+0.1112
20170.39+0.4212

Greenest against normal: 2025 (+1.34). Least green: 2019 (−0.03). Our monthly record starts in January 2017; the normal reaches back to 1984. A year’s figure is the mean of its months seen over half the place.

A normal year here (1984 to 2020)

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
NDVI0.490.500.490.450.380.320.260.240.230.270.350.43

Each ward

Places in each ward: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Everything we hold for City of Tshwane, on one page

Source

Measured from space: not a crop or grazing assessment.

How we worked this out

Two readings: Digital Earth Africa (Landsat and Sentinel-2, 30 m) and, as a check, Copernicus’s 300 m NDVI. Ward by ward they move together (median correlation 0.98). From 2022 Digital Earth Africa reads about 0.01 NDVI further above CLMS than it did in 2018 to 2021, so part of a recent “above normal” may be the sensors rather than the land; CLMS, read on its own, shows the same greener years (2022, 2025 and 2026).

The normal for each month is Digital Earth Africa’s 1984 to 2020 average from Landsat. Above or below normal is measured in standard deviations of that month over those years: half a standard deviation or more is “above” or “below”, one or more “well above” or “well below”.

What we changed: we averaged Digital Earth Africa’s monthly NDVI over each 2026 ward at 240 m (its own 8 by 8 averages of the 30 m pixels) and wards up to municipalities, districts and provinces by area; CLMS’s three 10-day NDVI images a month averaged the same way.

NDVI Anomaly and NDVI Climatology, Digital Earth Africa (CC BY 4.0), modified; Landsat imagery courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey; contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2017 to 2026. Second reading: generated using European Union’s Copernicus Land Monitoring Service information (NDVI 300 m, version 3), modified.

Dataset: greenness by ward, release of 12 November 2026.

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