Abstract
Abstract. Scientific evidence has demonstrated that deterioration of ambient air quality has increased the number of deaths worldwide by appointing air pollution among the most pressing sustainability concerns. In this context, the continuous monitoring of air quality and the modelling of complex air pollution patterns is critical to protect population and ecosystems health. Availability of air quality observations has terrifically improved in the last decades allowing – nowadays – for extensive spatial and temporal resolved analysis at both global and local scale. Satellite remote sensing is mostly accountable for this data availability and is promising to foster air quality monitoring in support of traditional ground sensors measurements. In view of the above, this study compares observations from the Sentinel-5P mission of the European Copernicus Programme (the most recent Earth Observation platform providing open measurements of atmospheric constituents) with traditional ground measurements to investigate their space and time correlations across the Lombardy region (Northern Italy). The correlation analysis focused on nitrogen dioxide. The use of data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed for a parallel exploration of the lockdown effects on nitrogen dioxide emissions. Results show a marked decrease in nitrogen dioxide concentrations during the lockdown and an overall strong positive correlation between satellite and ground sensors observations. These experiments are preparatory for future activities that will focus on the development of satellite-based air quality local prediction models, aiming at improving the granularity of the ground-based information available for air quality monitoring and exposure modelling.
Highlights
Atmospheric pollution has been largely recognized by the scientific community as a primary threat to human health and ecosystems and represents a pressing sustainability concern, directly connected to many Sustainable Development Goals (e.g. 3.9 and 11.6) (Rafaj et al, 2018)
3.3.1 COVID-19 lockdown effect on NO2 A reduction of about 17.5% was observed through the comparison of daily average N O2 concentrations between the COVID-19 lockdown period (March 9 - May 18, 2020) and the same period of the previous year (Figure 2)
The sharp decrease of N O2 emissions reflects the massive reduction of industrial and transport activities imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the region
Summary
Atmospheric pollution has been largely recognized by the scientific community as a primary threat to human health and ecosystems and represents a pressing sustainability concern, directly connected to many Sustainable Development Goals (e.g. 3.9 and 11.6) (Rafaj et al, 2018). Most of the air pollutants and greenhouse gases have increased their presence in the lower atmosphere during the last decades as a directed result of the growth of core production and consumption systems such as road transport, power plants, industry, farming, and households (Duque et al, 2016) In this context, the continuous improvement of air quality monitoring methods and techniques features a critical aspect to protect population and ecosystems health. The periods include the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Italy This choice allowed a parallel exploration of the lockdown effects on air quality and provided insights into correlations between ground and satellite observations under an anomalous emissions scenario.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
