Abstract

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide imposed lockdown measures in early 2020, resulting in notable reductions in air pollutant emissions. The changes in air quality during the pandemic have been investigated in numerous studies via satellite observations. Nevertheless, no relevant research has been gathered using Chinese satellite instruments, because the poor spectral quality makes it extremely difficult to retrieve data from the spectra of the Environmental Trace Gases Monitoring Instrument (EMI), the first Chinese satellite-based ultraviolet–visible spectrometer monitoring air pollutants. However, through a series of remote sensing algorithm optimizations from spectral calibration to retrieval, we successfully retrieved global gaseous pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and formaldehyde (HCHO), from EMI during the pandemic. The abrupt drop in NO2 successfully captured the time for each city when effective measures were implemented to prevent the spread of the pandemic, for example, in January 2020 in Chinese cities, February in Seoul, and March in Tokyo and various cities across Europe and America. Furthermore, significant decreases in HCHO in Wuhan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Seoul indicated that the majority of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions were anthropogenic. Contrastingly, the lack of evident reduction in Beijing and New Delhi suggested dominant natural sources of VOCs. By comparing the relative variation of NO2 to gross domestic product (GDP), we found that the COVID-19 pandemic had more influence on the secondary industry in China, while on the primary and tertiary industries in Korea and the countries across Europe and America.

The changes of global gaseous pollutants during the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 were retrieved from Chinese ultraviolet–visible hyperspectral satellite instrument through a series of remote sensing algorithm optimizations.

Details

Title
First Chinese ultraviolet–visible hyperspectral satellite instrument implicating global air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020
Author
Liu, Cheng 1 ; Hu Qihou 2 ; Zhang, Chengxin 3 ; Xia Congzi 4 ; Yin Hao 2 ; Su Wenjing 5 ; Wang, Xiaohan 3 ; Xu, Yizhou 3 ; Zhang, Zhiguo 3 

 University of Science and Technology of China, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, Hefei, China (GRID:grid.59053.3a) (ISNI:0000000121679639); Key Laboratory of Environmental Optics and Technology, Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China (GRID:grid.467841.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 1806 7158); Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China (GRID:grid.458454.c) (ISNI:0000 0004 1806 6411); Key Laboratory of Precision Scientific Instrumentation of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (GRID:grid.59053.3a) (ISNI:0000000121679639) 
 Key Laboratory of Environmental Optics and Technology, Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China (GRID:grid.467841.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 1806 7158) 
 University of Science and Technology of China, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, Hefei, China (GRID:grid.59053.3a) (ISNI:0000000121679639) 
 School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (GRID:grid.59053.3a) (ISNI:0000000121679639) 
 University of Science and Technology of China, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hefei, China (GRID:grid.59053.3a) (ISNI:0000000121679639) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
e-ISSN
20477538
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2624800124
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.