Assessing the impact of Corona-virus-19 on nitrogen dioxide levels over
southern Ontario, Canada
Abstract
A lockdown was implemented in Canada mid-March 2020 to limit the spread
of COVID-19. In the wake of this, declines in nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
were observed from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). A
method is presented to quantify how much of this decrease is due to the
lockdown itself as opposed to variability in meteorology and satellite
sampling. The operational air quality forecast model, GEM-MACH, was used
with TROPOMI to determine expected NO2 columns that represents what
TROPOMI would have observed for a non-COVID scenario. Decreases in NO2
due to the lockdown were seen across southern Ontario, with an average
40% in Toronto and even larger declines in the city center. Natural and
satellite sampling variability accounted for as much as 20-30%. A model
run using a lockdown emissions scenario were found to be consistent with
TROPOMI suggesting the prescribed declines in transportation and
industry emissions are reasonable.