A Review Of Perspectives From Earth Observation Data To Investigate The Effects Of COVID-19 On The Environment

Abstract

Background: Earth observation data has established themselves as extremely useful and very diverse domains for research associated with space, spatio-temporal components, and geography. Following the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) last December 2019 in China. This study aims to systematically review and synthetize perspectives from earth observation data to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on the environment. Material and Methods: A total of 41articles were first collected from four main digital databases including Web of Science, SCOPUS, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Google scholar. It will go on comprehensively review and synthesize applications of earth observation data in studies the COVID-19 impacts on environment. Specifically, the content is presented under three sub-sections; namely the use of earth observation data in (i) studies of impacts on water quality, (ii) studies of impacts on air quality, and (iii) studies of other impacts on the environment, respectively. Results: It was found that change in the intensity of air and water pollution after reduced anthropogenic activities around the world were captured by remote sensing – supplying concrete evidence that can help inform improved environmental policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the varied use of remote sensing techniques affirms the value of earth observation data to studies of infectious diseases to environment, especially in times of such large-scale disasters as the COVID-19 pandemic.