Satellite reveals 10-day mean and spatially explicit variations in China’s CO 2 emissions during and after COVID-19 lockdown. Changes in CO 2 emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic have been estimated from indicators on activities like transportation and electricity generation. Here, we instead use satellite observations together with bottom-up information to track the daily dynamics of CO 2 emissions during the pandemic. Unlike activity data, our observation-based analysis deploys independent measurement of pollutant concentrations in the atmosphere to correct misrepresentation in the bottom-up data and can provide more detailed insights into spatially explicit changes. Specifically, we use TROPOMI observations of NO 2 to deduce 10-day moving averages of NO x and CO 2 emissions over China, differentiating emissions by sector and province. Between January and April 2020, China’s CO 2 emissions fell by 11.5% compared to the same period in 2019, but emissions have since rebounded to pre-pandemic levels before the coronavirus outbreak at the beginning of January 2020 owing to the fast economic recovery in provinces where industrial activity is concentrated.
【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus, pandemic, lockdown, COVID-19 pandemic, Variation, activity, China, outbreak, information, change, Concentration, Analysis, changes, observation, average, emission, satellite, independent, reveal, explicit, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19 pandemic, estimate, emission,