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Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak on NO 2 Pollution Assessed Using TROPOMI and OMI Observations
Author(s) -
Bauwens M.,
Compernolle S.,
Stavrakou T.,
Müller J.F.,
Gent J.,
Eskes H.,
Levelt P. F.,
A R.,
Veefkind J. P.,
Vlietinck J.,
Yu H.,
Zehner C.
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl087978
Subject(s) - ozone monitoring instrument , outbreak , environmental science , covid-19 , air pollution , ozone , troposphere , china , pollution , geography , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , environmental health , climatology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , medicine , virology , geology , ecology , chemistry , organic chemistry , archaeology , pathology , biology
Spaceborne NO 2 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 NO 2 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 NO 2 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.