Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest Cities
Governments around the world took unprecedented measures, such as social distancing and the minimization of public/industrial activity, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This provided a unique chance to assess the relationships between key air pollutant emissions and track the reductions...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/6/975 |
| _version_ | 1797596171801198592 |
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| author | Anna Morozova Oleg Sizov Pavel Elagin Natalia Lobzhanidze Anatoly Fedash Marina Mironova |
| author_facet | Anna Morozova Oleg Sizov Pavel Elagin Natalia Lobzhanidze Anatoly Fedash Marina Mironova |
| author_sort | Anna Morozova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Governments around the world took unprecedented measures, such as social distancing and the minimization of public/industrial activity, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This provided a unique chance to assess the relationships between key air pollutant emissions and track the reductions in these emissions in various countries during the lockdown. This study considers atmospheric air pollution in the 78 largest Russian cities (with populations over 250,000) in March–June of 2019–2021. This is the first such study for the largest cities in Russia. The initial data were the TROPOMI measurements (Sentinel-5P satellite) of such pollutants as carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO), nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>), and sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>), which are the main anthropogenic pollutants. The data were downloaded from the Google Earth Engine’s cloud-based geospatial data platform. This provided L3-level information for subsequent analysis. The TROPOMI data indicated a decrease in the atmospheric content of the air pollutants in the largest Russian cities during the lockdown compared to the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods. The reduced economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic had the greatest impact on NO<sub>2</sub> concentrations. The average reduction was −30.7%, while the maximum reduction was found within Moscow city limits that existed before 01.07.2012 (−41% with respect to the 2019 level). For sulfur dioxide, the average decrease was only 7%, with a further drop in 2021 (almost 20% relative to 2019). For formaldehyde and carbon monoxide, there were no reductions during the 2020 lockdown period (99.4% and 100.9%, respectively, with respect to 2019). The identified impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown on NO<sub>2</sub>, SO<sub>2</sub>, HCHO, and CO NO<sub>2</sub> concentrations in major Russian cities generally followed the patterns observed in other industrialized cities in China, India, Turkey, and European countries. The COVID-19 pandemic had a local impact on NO<sub>2</sub> concentration reductions in major Russian cities. The differences leveled off over time, and the baseline pollution level for each pollutant was restored. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:47:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77c876554d4c42ff99faea2bd249421a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:47:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-77c876554d4c42ff99faea2bd249421a2023-11-18T09:14:29ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332023-06-0114697510.3390/atmos14060975Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest CitiesAnna Morozova0Oleg Sizov1Pavel Elagin2Natalia Lobzhanidze3Anatoly Fedash4Marina Mironova5Faculty of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, 119991 Moscow, RussiaFaculty of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, 119991 Moscow, RussiaInstitute of Ecology, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, 117198 Moscow, RussiaFaculty of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, 119991 Moscow, RussiaFaculty of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, 119991 Moscow, RussiaFaculty of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, 119991 Moscow, RussiaGovernments around the world took unprecedented measures, such as social distancing and the minimization of public/industrial activity, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This provided a unique chance to assess the relationships between key air pollutant emissions and track the reductions in these emissions in various countries during the lockdown. This study considers atmospheric air pollution in the 78 largest Russian cities (with populations over 250,000) in March–June of 2019–2021. This is the first such study for the largest cities in Russia. The initial data were the TROPOMI measurements (Sentinel-5P satellite) of such pollutants as carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO), nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>), and sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>), which are the main anthropogenic pollutants. The data were downloaded from the Google Earth Engine’s cloud-based geospatial data platform. This provided L3-level information for subsequent analysis. The TROPOMI data indicated a decrease in the atmospheric content of the air pollutants in the largest Russian cities during the lockdown compared to the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods. The reduced economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic had the greatest impact on NO<sub>2</sub> concentrations. The average reduction was −30.7%, while the maximum reduction was found within Moscow city limits that existed before 01.07.2012 (−41% with respect to the 2019 level). For sulfur dioxide, the average decrease was only 7%, with a further drop in 2021 (almost 20% relative to 2019). For formaldehyde and carbon monoxide, there were no reductions during the 2020 lockdown period (99.4% and 100.9%, respectively, with respect to 2019). The identified impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown on NO<sub>2</sub>, SO<sub>2</sub>, HCHO, and CO NO<sub>2</sub> concentrations in major Russian cities generally followed the patterns observed in other industrialized cities in China, India, Turkey, and European countries. The COVID-19 pandemic had a local impact on NO<sub>2</sub> concentration reductions in major Russian cities. The differences leveled off over time, and the baseline pollution level for each pollutant was restored.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/6/975regional air pollutionair qualitycityremote sensingTROPOMIGoogle Earth Engine |
| spellingShingle | Anna Morozova Oleg Sizov Pavel Elagin Natalia Lobzhanidze Anatoly Fedash Marina Mironova Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest Cities Atmosphere regional air pollution air quality city remote sensing TROPOMI Google Earth Engine |
| title | Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest Cities |
| title_full | Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest Cities |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest Cities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest Cities |
| title_short | Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest Cities |
| title_sort | evaluation of the impact of covid 19 restrictions on air pollution in russia s largest cities |
| topic | regional air pollution air quality city remote sensing TROPOMI Google Earth Engine |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/6/975 |
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