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NOx Emissions Reduction and Rebound in China Due to the COVID-19 Crisis

Journal Article (2020)
Author(s)

J. Ding (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI))

R. J. van der A (Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI))

H.J. Eskes (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI))

B. Mijling (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI))

T. Stavrakou (Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB))

Jos Van Geffen (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI))

J. Veefkind (TU Delft - Atmospheric Remote Sensing)

Research Group
Atmospheric Remote Sensing
Copyright
© 2020 J. Ding, R.J. van der A, H.J. Eskes, B. Mijling, T. Stavrakou, J. H.G.M. van Geffen, j. Pepijn Veefkind
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089912
More Info
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Publication Year
2020
Language
English
Copyright
© 2020 J. Ding, R.J. van der A, H.J. Eskes, B. Mijling, T. Stavrakou, J. H.G.M. van Geffen, j. Pepijn Veefkind
Research Group
Atmospheric Remote Sensing
Issue number
19
Volume number
47
Pages (from-to)
1-9
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

During the COVID-19 lockdown (24 January–20 March) in China low air pollution levels were reported in the media as a consequence of reduced economic and social activities. Quantification of the pollution reduction is not straightforward due to effects of transport, meteorology, and chemistry. We have analyzed the NOx emission reductions calculated with an inverse algorithm applied to daily NO2 observations from TROPOMI onboard the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite. This method allows the quantification of emission reductions per city and the analysis of emissions of maritime transport and of the energy sector separately. The reductions we found are 20–50% for cities, about 40% for power plants, and 15–40% for maritime transport depending on the region. The reduction in both emissions and concentrations shows a similar timeline consisting of a sharp reduction (34–50%) around the Spring festival and a slow recovery from mid-February to mid-March.