Large reductions in satellite-derived and modelled European lower-tropospheric ozone during and  after the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022)

Pimlott, Matilda A.; Pope, Richard J.; Kerridge, Brian J.; Siddans, Richard; Latter, Barry G.; Ventress, Lucy J.; Feng, Wuhu; Chipperfield, Martyn P.

doi:10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 8

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report Phase II (TOAR-II) Community...

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 8

Research article

|

23 Apr 2025

Research article |

| 23 Apr 2025

Large reductions in satellite-derived and modelled European lower-tropospheric ozone during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022)

Matilda A. Pimlott, Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Lucy J. Ventress, Wuhu Feng, and Martyn P. Chipperfield

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Views and downloads (calculated since 20 Sep 2024)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Sep 2024	166	18	50	234
Oct 2024	106	30	140	276
Nov 2024	150	60	106	316
Dec 2024	52	20	104	176
Jan 2025	66	46	98	210
Feb 2025	64	12	150	226
Mar 2025	44	14	242	300
Apr 2025	239	44	191	474
May 2025	197	25	195	417
Jun 2025	113	31	81	225
Jul 2025	127	42	0	169
Aug 2025	194	15	3	212
Sep 2025	439	53	5	497
Oct 2025	73	35	0	108
Nov 2025	99	29	4	132
Dec 2025	151	46	10	207
Jan 2026	175	31	22	228
Feb 2026	113	32	12	157
Mar 2026	89	49	12	150
Apr 2026	92	45	12	149
May 2026	72	10	3	85

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 20 Sep 2024)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Sep 2024	166	18	50	234
Oct 2024	106	30	140	276
Nov 2024	150	60	106	316
Dec 2024	52	20	104	176
Jan 2025	66	46	98	210
Feb 2025	64	12	150	226
Mar 2025	44	14	242	300
Apr 2025	239	44	191	474
May 2025	197	25	195	417
Jun 2025	113	31	81	225
Jul 2025	127	42	0	169
Aug 2025	194	15	3	212
Sep 2025	439	53	5	497
Oct 2025	73	35	0	108
Nov 2025	99	29	4	132
Dec 2025	151	46	10	207
Jan 2026	175	31	22	228
Feb 2026	113	32	12	157
Mar 2026	89	49	12	150
Apr 2026	92	45	12	149
May 2026	72	10	3	85

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Short summary

Globally, lockdowns were implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19, leading to a decrease in emissions of key air pollutants. Here, we use novel satellite data and a chemistry model to investigate the impact of the pandemic on tropospheric ozone (O₃), a key pollutant, in 2020. Overall, we found substantial decreases of up to 20 %, two-thirds of which came from emission reductions, while one-third was due to a decrease in the stratospheric O₃flux into the troposphere.