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. 2020 Jun 16;47(11):e2020GL087978.
doi: 10.1029/2020GL087978. Epub 2020 Jun 5.

Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak on NO2 Pollution Assessed Using TROPOMI and OMI Observations

M Bauwens  1 , S Compernolle  1 , T Stavrakou  1 , J-F Müller  1 , J van Gent  1 , H Eskes  2 , P F Levelt  2   3 , R van der A  2 , J P Veefkind  2 , J Vlietinck  1 , H Yu  1 , C Zehner  4
Affiliations

Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak on NO2 Pollution Assessed Using TROPOMI and OMI Observations

M Bauwens et al. Geophys Res Lett. .

Abstract

Spaceborne NO2 column observations from two high-resolution instruments, Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on board Sentinel-5 Precursor and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on Aura, reveal unprecedented NO2 decreases over China, South Korea, western Europe, and the United States as a result of public health measures enforced to contain the coronavirus disease outbreak (Covid-19) in January-April 2020. The average NO2 column drop over all Chinese cities amounts to -40% relative to the same period in 2019 and reaches up to a factor of ~2 at heavily hit cities, for example, Wuhan, Jinan, while the decreases in western Europe and the United States are also significant (-20% to -38%). In contrast with this, although Iran is also strongly affected by the disease, the observations do not show evidence of lower emissions, reflecting more limited health measures.

Keywords: air quality; coronavirus outbreak; emissions; lockdown; satellite NO2.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
TROPOMI NO2 columns over China (a) before and (b–e) after the lockdowns (shown by padlocks) due to Covid‐19. For comparison, columns over the same time periods are shown for 2019. The week of Chinese new year holiday is indicated by the red lantern shown inset panels (b) and (h). The New Year holiday covers 4–10 February in 2019 and 24–30 January in 2020 (exceptionally extended to 2 February because of Covid‐19). Partial loosening of the restrictions is suggested by the smaller padlock in panel (e). Gray areas indicate no valid data.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Spaceborne NO2 columns within a 100 km radius around Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai (blue symbols for 2018–2019 and red symbols for 2019–2020) and 14‐day running averages (colored lines). (a) TROPOMI. (b) OMI, including climatological columns (2005–2019) and their range (green).
Figure 3
Figure 3
TROPOMI NO2 columns over Italy (a) before and (b–d) during the lockdown in 2020 and over the same time periods for 2019. Note that 2020 is a leap year. The week of Carnival holidays (Table S1) is indicated by masks in panels (b) and (g). Gray areas indicate no valid data.
Figure 4
Figure 4
TROPOMI NO2 columns over northeastern United States before and after the lockdowns in 2020 (a, b) and for the same periods in 2019 (c, d).
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