NASA Satellite Measurements Show Global-Scale Reductions in Free Tropospheric Ozone in 2020 and Again in 2021 During COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: NASA satellite measurements show that ozone reductions throughout the Northern Hemisphere (NH) free troposphere reported for spring-summer 2020 during the COronaVIrus Disease 2019 pandemic have occurred again in spring-summer 2021. The satellite measurements show that tropospheric column ozone (TCO) (mostly representative of the free troposphere) for 20°N-60°N during spring-summer for both 2020 and 2021 averaged ∼3 Dobson Units (DU) (or ∼7%-8%) below normal. These ozone reductions in 2020 and 2021 were the lowest in the 2005-2021 record. We also include satellite measurements of tropospheric NO₂ that exhibit reductions of ∼10%-20% in the NH in early spring-to-summer 2020 and 2021, suggesting that reduced pollution was the main cause for the low anomalies in NH TCO in 2020 and 20

SUBMITTER: Ziemke JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9538536 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature