Earth
ID: 30403
Chinese government regulators had clearer skies and easier breathing in mind in the summer of 2008 when they temporarily shuttered some factories and banished many cars in a pre-Olympic sprint to clean up Beijing’s air. And that's what they got.
NASA Satellite Data Reveal Impact of Olympic Pollution Controls in Beijing, China
They were not necessarily planning for something else: an unprecedented experiment using satellites to measure the impact of air pollution controls. Taking advantage of the opportunity, NASA researchers have since analyzed data from NASA's Aura and Terra satellites that show how key pollutants responded to the Olympic restrictions.
The image on the left, an average of August 2005-07 nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels, shows high levels of pollution in Beijing and other areas of eastern China. In contrast, levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) plunged nearly 50 percent in and around Beijing in August 2008 (right image) after officials instituted strict traffic restrictions in preparation for the Olympic Games.
For More Information
Credits
Marit Jentoft-Nilsen: Project Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA
NASA
Science Paper:
Witte, J. C., Schoeberl, M. R., Douglass, A. R., Gleason, J. F., Krotkov, N. A., Gille, J. C., ... & Livesey, N. (2009). Satellite observations of changes in air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(17).
Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30403
Mission:
Aura
Data Used: Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Keywords:
SVS >> Pollution
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Air Quality
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Chemistry/Nitrogen Compounds >> Nitrogen Dioxide
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
Witte, J. C., Schoeberl, M. R., Douglass, A. R., Gleason, J. F., Krotkov, N. A., Gille, J. C., ... & Livesey, N. (2009). Satellite observations of changes in air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(17).
Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30403
Mission:
Aura
Data Used: Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Keywords:
SVS >> Pollution
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Air Quality
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Chemistry/Nitrogen Compounds >> Nitrogen Dioxide
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
