Disentangling the Impact of the COVID‐19 Lockdowns on Urban NO 2 From Natural Variability
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Abstract
Abstract TROPOMI satellite data show substantial drops in nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) during COVID‐19 physical distancing. To attribute NO 2 changes to NO x emissions changes over short timescales, one must account for meteorology. We find that meteorological patterns were especially favorable for low NO 2 in much of the United States in spring 2020, complicating comparisons with spring 2019. Meteorological variations between years can cause column NO 2 differences of ~15% over monthly timescales. After accounting for solar angle and meteorological considerations, we calculate that NO 2 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 2 drops (>30%) were in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Toronto, and smallest drops (<12%) were in Miami, Minneapolis, and Dallas. These normalized NO 2 changes can be used to highlight locations with greater activity changes and better understand the sources contributing to adverse air quality in each city.
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NO2 is often used as a barometer of economic stagnation or recovery in various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is often used as a barometer of economic stagnation or recovery in various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.343”
From Technologies and perspectives for achieving carbon neutrality (2021) · cites this paper as [343]
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Technologies and perspectives for achieving carbon neutrality
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- Authors
- Goldberg, D. L., Anenberg, S. C., Griffin, D., McLinden, C. A., Lu, Z., & Streets, D. G.
- Affiliations
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- George Washington University (US)
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA)
- Energy Systems Division Argonne National Laboratory Lemont IL USA
- Corresponding author
- Goldberg, Daniel L.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2020-09-05
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 17
- Pages
- e2020GL089269-e2020GL089269
- ISSN
- 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-8007
- PMC
- PMC7461033
- OpenAlex
- W3075013849
- Cited by
- 289
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 108 · 2020: 13
- FWCI
- 22.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Geophysical Research Letters (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Office of Fossil Energy
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC19K0193)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › COVID-19 impact on air quality
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
- Keywords
- COVID-19 lockdown, nitrogen dioxide, NOx emissions, urban air quality, weather variability, social distancing, sun angle, emission attribution, urban air pollution
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