Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Level Changes during the Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand
Abstract The first case of COVID-19 infection was confirmed in Thailand on January 13, 2020; since then, work from home and lockdown measures have slowed the spread of COVID-19. A more stringent, curfew regulation was imposed on April 3, 2020. Under these measures, the activities of businesses, tran...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Aerosol and Air Quality Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200440 |
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| author | Tin Ko Oo Noppol Arunrat Praeploy Kongsurakan Sukanya Sereenonchai Can Wang |
| author_facet | Tin Ko Oo Noppol Arunrat Praeploy Kongsurakan Sukanya Sereenonchai Can Wang |
| author_sort | Tin Ko Oo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The first case of COVID-19 infection was confirmed in Thailand on January 13, 2020; since then, work from home and lockdown measures have slowed the spread of COVID-19. A more stringent, curfew regulation was imposed on April 3, 2020. Under these measures, the activities of businesses, transportation, and industrial sectors were reduced or temporally closed. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the changes in the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) level in the whole of Thailand and specifically in the Bangkok metropolitan area. The concentrations of tropospheric NO2 were extracted from the Sentinel-5P satellite data. The Google Earth Engine JavaScript API was used to retrieve and calculate the NO2 data. Python was also used to extract NO2 values from the output raster data. The results showed that the level of NO2 increased by 47.4% during the COVID-19 pandemic in the whole of Thailand; NO2 declined by 4.8% in the Bangkok metropolitan area, but there was no significant difference compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. NO2 level during curfew regulation declined by 9.5% in the whole of Thailand and decreased by 20.1% in the Bangkok metropolitan area. After comparing the same time duration in 2019 and 2020 on a monthly basis, the results revealed that NO2 level in 2020 declined by 9.1% and 9.8% for the whole of Thailand and Bangkok metropolitan area, respectively. Our findings support that these measures can temporarily reduce NO2 levels. Once all sectors resume as normal, we concern that the NO2 emissions will rebound. Hence, the challenge after the COVID-19 pandemic is how to improve and protect our environment while restoring the economy, which is a crucial issue that policymakers should fully address. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a2d77eef844a4a7b8d204295b7e056e4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1680-8584 2071-1409 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerosol and Air Quality Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-a2d77eef844a4a7b8d204295b7e056e42025-02-09T12:19:45ZengSpringerAerosol and Air Quality Research1680-85842071-14092021-02-0121612710.4209/aaqr.200440Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Level Changes during the Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in ThailandTin Ko Oo0Noppol Arunrat1Praeploy Kongsurakan2Sukanya Sereenonchai3Can Wang4Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol UniversityFaculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol UniversityFaculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol UniversityFaculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol UniversityState Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (SKLESPC), School of Environment, Tsinghua UniversityAbstract The first case of COVID-19 infection was confirmed in Thailand on January 13, 2020; since then, work from home and lockdown measures have slowed the spread of COVID-19. A more stringent, curfew regulation was imposed on April 3, 2020. Under these measures, the activities of businesses, transportation, and industrial sectors were reduced or temporally closed. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the changes in the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) level in the whole of Thailand and specifically in the Bangkok metropolitan area. The concentrations of tropospheric NO2 were extracted from the Sentinel-5P satellite data. The Google Earth Engine JavaScript API was used to retrieve and calculate the NO2 data. Python was also used to extract NO2 values from the output raster data. The results showed that the level of NO2 increased by 47.4% during the COVID-19 pandemic in the whole of Thailand; NO2 declined by 4.8% in the Bangkok metropolitan area, but there was no significant difference compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. NO2 level during curfew regulation declined by 9.5% in the whole of Thailand and decreased by 20.1% in the Bangkok metropolitan area. After comparing the same time duration in 2019 and 2020 on a monthly basis, the results revealed that NO2 level in 2020 declined by 9.1% and 9.8% for the whole of Thailand and Bangkok metropolitan area, respectively. Our findings support that these measures can temporarily reduce NO2 levels. Once all sectors resume as normal, we concern that the NO2 emissions will rebound. Hence, the challenge after the COVID-19 pandemic is how to improve and protect our environment while restoring the economy, which is a crucial issue that policymakers should fully address.https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200440COVID-19 pandemicNitrogen dioxideSentinel-5pLockdownWork from homeCurfew |
| spellingShingle | Tin Ko Oo Noppol Arunrat Praeploy Kongsurakan Sukanya Sereenonchai Can Wang Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Level Changes during the Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand Aerosol and Air Quality Research COVID-19 pandemic Nitrogen dioxide Sentinel-5p Lockdown Work from home Curfew |
| title | Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Level Changes during the Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand |
| title_full | Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Level Changes during the Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand |
| title_fullStr | Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Level Changes during the Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Level Changes during the Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand |
| title_short | Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Level Changes during the Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand |
| title_sort | nitrogen dioxide no2 level changes during the control of covid 19 pandemic in thailand |
| topic | COVID-19 pandemic Nitrogen dioxide Sentinel-5p Lockdown Work from home Curfew |
| url | https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200440 |
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