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Reductions of NO 2 detected from space during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Author(s) -
Mijling B.,
van der A R. J.,
Boersma K. F.,
Van Roozendael M.,
De Smedt I.,
Kelder H. M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2009gl038943
Subject(s) - beijing , environmental science , air quality index , meteorology , satellite , troposphere , pollution , emission inventory , climatology , atmospheric sciences , geography , china , physics , geology , ecology , archaeology , astronomy , biology
During the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing (from 8 August to 17 September), local authorities enforced strong measures to reduce air pollution during the events. To evaluate the direct effect of these measures, we use the tropospheric NO 2 column observations from the satellite instruments GOME‐2 and OMI. We interpret these data against simulations from the regional chemistry transport model CHIMERE, based on a 2006 emission inventory, and find a reduction of NO 2 concentrations of approximately 60% above Beijing during the Olympic period. The air quality measures were especially effective in the Beijing area, but also noticeable in surrounding cities of Tianjin (30% reduction) and Shijiazhuang (20% reduction).