Using Copernicus Sentinel Measurements to Monitor COVID-19 Impact on the Environment

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, many countries worldwide implemented a series of social distancing and containment measures as an attempt to limit its spread. Those measures have led to a significant slowing down of economic activities, drastic drops in road and air traffic, and strong reductions of industrial activities in nonessential sectors, which in turn affected atmospheric emissions and air quality worldwide. Concentrations of short-lived pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, are indicators of changes in economic slowdowns and are comparable to changes in emissions. Nitrogen oxides are mainly produced by human activity and the combustion of (fossil) fuels, such as road traffic, ships, power plants and other industrial facilities. Nitrogen Dioxide can have a significant impact on human health, both directly and indirectly through the formation of ozone and small particles. The Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite nitrogen dioxide concentrations measurements have been used to investigate COVID-19 impact on air quality from space. Global maps of Copernicus Sentinel-5P tropospheric Nitrogen Dioxide measurements have been included - together with other Sentinel measurements - into an on-line tool (dashboard) to provide investigations/results about changes to the Earth environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to the public: race.esa.int.