Earth  ID: 4810

Reductions in Pollution Associated with Decreased Fossil Fuel Use Resulting from COVID-19 Mitigation

Over the past several weeks, the United States has seen significant reductions in air pollution over its major metropolitan areas. Similar reductions in air pollution have been observed in other regions of the world.
These recent improvements in air quality have come at a high cost, as communities grapple with widespread lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders as a result of the spread of COVID-19. One air pollutant, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), is primarily emitted from burning fossil fuels (diesel, gasoline, coal), coming out of our tailpipes when driving cars and smokestacks when generating electricity. Therefore, changes in NO2 levels can be used as an indicator of changes in human activity. However, care must be taken when processing and interpreting satellite NO2 data as the quantity observed by the satellite is not exactly the same as the NO2 abundance at ground level. NO2 levels are influenced by dynamical and chemical processes in the atmosphere. For instance, atmospheric NO2 levels can vary day-to-day due to changes in the weather, which influences both the lifetime of NO2 molecules as well as the dispersal of the molecules by the wind. It is also important to note that satellites that observe NO2 cannot see through clouds, so all data shown is for days with low amounts of cloudiness. If processed and interpreted carefully, NO2 levels observed from space serve as an effective proxy for NO2 levels at Earth's surface.

NASA's air quality group is also monitoring other air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2). Major anthropogenic activities that emit SO2 include electricity generation, oil and gas extraction, and metal smelting. SO2 is emitted during electricity generation if the coal burned has sulfur impurities that are not removed (or not “scrubbed”) from the plant’s exhaust stacks.

For more information on what pollutants NASA satellites observe, visit the NASA Air Quality website.
 

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Visualization Credits

Trent L. Schindler (USRA): Lead Visualizer
Bryan Duncan (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist
Joanna Joiner (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Lok Lamsal (USRA): Scientist
Bryan Duncan (NASA/GSFC): Lead Writer
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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Data Used:
Terra and Aqua/MODIS/Blue Marble: Next Generation also referred to as: BMNG
Credit:
The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).
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:
DLESE >> Atmospheric science
DLESE >> Environmental science
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Air Quality
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Air Quality >> Nitrogen Oxides
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Chemistry/Nitrogen Compounds >> Nitrogen
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Chemistry/Nitrogen Compounds >> Nitrogen Dioxide
SVS >> Aura
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