Disentangling the Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdowns on Urban NO From Natural Variability

Overview

Journal Geophys Res Lett

Date 2020 Sep 9

PMID 32904906

Citations 65

Authors

Daniel L Goldberg

Susan C Anenberg

Debora Griffin

Chris A McLinden

Zifeng Lu

David G Streets

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

TROPOMI satellite data show substantial drops in nitrogen dioxide (NO) during COVID-19 physical distancing. To attribute NO changes to NO emissions changes over short timescales, one must account for meteorology. We find that meteorological patterns were especially favorable for low NO in much of the United States in spring 2020, complicating comparisons with spring 2019. Meteorological variations between years can cause column NO differences of ~15% over monthly timescales. After accounting for solar angle and meteorological considerations, we calculate that NO drops ranged between 9.2% and 43.4% among 20 cities in North America, with a median of 21.6%. Of the studied cities, largest NO drops (>30%) were in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Toronto, and smallest drops (<12%) were in Miami, Minneapolis, and Dallas. These normalized NO changes can be used to highlight locations with greater activity changes and better understand the sources contributing to adverse air quality in each city.

Citing Articles

Impact of Reduced Anthropogenic Emissions Associated With COVID-19 Lockdown on PM Concentration and Canopy Urban Heat Island in Canada.

Ashraf S, Pausata F, Leroyer S, Stevens R, Munoz-Alpizar R Geohealth. 2025; 9(2):e2023GH000975.

PMID: 39897438 PMC: 11786188. DOI: 10.1029/2023GH000975.

Informing Near-Airport Satellite NO Retrievals Using Pandora Sky-Scanning Observations.

Mouat A, Spinei E, Kaiser J ACS EST Air. 2024; 1(12):1617-1628.

PMID: 39698105 PMC: 11650605. DOI: 10.1021/acsestair.4c00158.

Influence of Oil and Gas End-Use on Summertime Particulate Matter and Ozone Pollution in the Eastern US.

Vohra K, Marais E, Achakulwisut P, Lu G, Kelly J, Harkins C Environ Sci Technol. 2024; 58(44):19736-19747.

PMID: 39417565 PMC: 11542890. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c10032.

Predicting tropospheric nitrogen dioxide column density in South African municipalities using socio-environmental variables and Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression.

Hlatshwayo S, Tesfamichael S, Kganyago M PLoS One. 2024; 19(8):e0308484.

PMID: 39116086 PMC: 11309388. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308484.

Understanding Air Quality Changes after Implementation of Mitigation Measures during a Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Literature in the United States.

McElroy S, Vaidyanathan A Aerosol Air Qual Res. 2024; 22(11).

PMID: 39100887 PMC: 11296729. DOI: 10.4209/aaqr.220047.

References

McLinden C, Fioletov V, Krotkov N, Li C, Boersma K, Adams C . A Decade of Change in NO2 and SO2 over the Canadian Oil Sands As Seen from Space. Environ Sci Technol. 2015; 50(1):331-7. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b04985. View

Russell A, Valin L, Bucsela E, Wenig M, Cohen R . Space-based constraints on spatial and temporal patterns of NO(x) emissions in California, 2005-2008. Environ Sci Technol. 2010; 44(9):3608-15. DOI: 10.1021/es903451j. View

Geddes J, Martin R, Boys B, van Donkelaar A . Long-Term Trends Worldwide in Ambient NO2 Concentrations Inferred from Satellite Observations. Environ Health Perspect. 2015; 124(3):281-9. PMC: 4786989. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1409567. View

Abel D, Holloway T, Kladar R, Meier P, Ahl D, Harkey M . Response of Power Plant Emissions to Ambient Temperature in the Eastern United States. Environ Sci Technol. 2017; 51(10):5838-5846. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b06201. View

Beirle S, Borger C, Dorner S, Li A, Hu Z, Liu F . Pinpointing nitrogen oxide emissions from space. Sci Adv. 2019; 5(11):eaax9800. PMC: 6853767. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax9800. View

Choi S, Lamsal L, Follette-Cook M, Joiner J, Krotkov N, Swartz W . Assessment of NO observations during DISCOVER-AQ and KORUS-AQ field campaigns. Atmos Meas Tech. 2020; 13(5). PMC: 7362396. DOI: 10.5194/amt-13-2523-2020. View

Liu F, Page A, Strode S, Yoshida Y, Choi S, Zheng B . Abrupt decline in tropospheric nitrogen dioxide over China after the outbreak of COVID-19. Sci Adv. 2020; 6(28):eabc2992. PMC: 7455481. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc2992. View

Stavrakou T, Muller J, Bauwens M, Boersma K, van Geffen J . Satellite evidence for changes in the NO weekly cycle over large cities. Sci Rep. 2020; 10(1):10066. PMC: 7308373. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66891-0. View

Griffin D, McLinden C, Boersma F, Bourassa A, Dammers E, Degenstein D . High resolution mapping of nitrogen dioxide with TROPOMI: First results and validation over the Canadian oil sands. Geophys Res Lett. 2021; 46(2):1049-1060. PMC: 8051066. DOI: 10.1029/2018GL081095. View

10.

Goldberg D, Anenberg S, Kerr G, Mohegh A, Lu Z, Streets D . TROPOMI NO in the United States: A Detailed Look at the Annual Averages, Weekly Cycles, Effects of Temperature, and Correlation With Surface NO Concentrations. Earths Future. 2021; 9(4):e2020EF001665. PMC: 8047911. DOI: 10.1029/2020EF001665. View

11.

Laughner J, Cohen R . Direct observation of changing NO lifetime in North American cities. Science. 2019; 366(6466):723-727. PMC: 7301961. DOI: 10.1126/science.aax6832. View

12.

Beirle S, Boersma K, Platt U, Lawrence M, Wagner T . Megacity emissions and lifetimes of nitrogen oxides probed from space. Science. 2011; 333(6050):1737-9. DOI: 10.1126/science.1207824. View

13.

Goldberg D, Lu Z, Streets D, de Foy B, Griffin D, McLinden C . Enhanced Capabilities of TROPOMI NO: Estimating NO from North American Cities and Power Plants. Environ Sci Technol. 2019; 53(21):12594-12601. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b04488. View

14.

Goldberg D, Anenberg S, Griffin D, McLinden C, Lu Z, Streets D . Disentangling the Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdowns on Urban NO From Natural Variability. Geophys Res Lett. 2020; 47(17):e2020GL089269. PMC: 7461033. DOI: 10.1029/2020GL089269. View

15.

Goldberg D, Lu Z, Oda T, Lamsal L, Liu F, Griffin D . Exploiting OMI NO satellite observations to infer fossil-fuel CO emissions from U.S. megacities. Sci Total Environ. 2019; 695:133805. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133805. View