The COVID pandemic caused unforeseen disruptions in human activity, including an economic recession in the United States – but also, a clear increase in air quality in several regions. The paper took a look at Earth Observation data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Suomi-NPP and NO2 measurements from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument TROPOMI) along with monthly averaged cell phone derived mobility data in order to examine and describe the economic and environmental impacts of the pandemic.
The paper focuses on specific metropolitan areas in the continental US – namely LA, Chicago and Washington, DC, from February to April 2020, when these ultrapopulated areas were affected heavily by lockdowns. The data analysis revealed easily observable major impacts:
- the air quality improved (NO2 and PM2.5 concentration dropped)
- economic activity reduced, reflecting on impact on GDP, poverty levels and unemployment.
The authors propose using a similar approach as the lockdowns continue for local policy-making, allowing for developing policies and strategies that take into account the demographic data.
The main takeaway from the study is that while lockdowns do help stop the transmission of the disease, they also result in provable reduction to mobility and economic activity (and have a positive effect on air quality). The mobility insight could be used to model areas of higher risk for virus transmission – thus build safe reopening plans which allow both to fight the disease and at the same time, return to economic activity.
The paper concludes to note that further research is underway to explore correlations between the EO data and various economic indicators.
Source:
Straka W III, Kondragunta S, Wei Z, Zhang H, Miller SD, Watts A. Examining the Economic and Environmental Impacts of COVID-19 Using Earth Observation Data. Remote Sensing. 2021; 13(1):5. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13010005