Articles | Volume 25, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025
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

Related authors

Long-term satellite trends of European lower-tropospheric ozone from 1996–2017
Matilda A. Pimlott, Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Wuhu Feng, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3717,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3717, 2024
Short summary
Investigation of the impact of satellite vertical sensitivity on long-term retrieved lower-tropospheric ozone trends
Richard J. Pope, Fiona M. O'Connor, Mohit Dalvi, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Brice Barret, Eric Le Flochmoen, Anne Boynard, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Matilda A. Pimlott, Sandip S. Dhomse, Christian Retscher, Catherine Wespes, and Richard Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9177–9195, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9177-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9177-2024, 2024
Short summary
Quantifying the tropospheric ozone radiative effect and its temporal evolution in the satellite era
Richard J. Pope, Alexandru Rap, Matilda A. Pimlott, Brice Barret, Eric Le Flochmoen, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Lucy J. Ventress, Anne Boynard, Christian Retscher, Wuhu Feng, Richard Rigby, Sandip S. Dhomse, Catherine Wespes, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3613–3626, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3613-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3613-2024, 2024
Short summary
Quantifying effects of long-range transport of NO2 over Delhi using back trajectories and satellite data
Ailish M. Graham, Richard J. Pope, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Sandip S. Dhomse, Matilda Pimlott, Wuhu Feng, Vikas Singh, Ying Chen, Oliver Wild, Ranjeet Sokhi, and Gufran Beig
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 789–806, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-789-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-789-2024, 2024
Short summary
Investigation of spatial and temporal variability in lower tropospheric ozone from RAL Space UV–Vis satellite products
Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Matilda A. Pimlott, Sandip S. Dhomse, Christian Retscher, and Richard Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14933–14947, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14933-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14933-2023, 2023
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Air quality trends and regimes in South Korea inferred from 2015–2023 surface and satellite observations
Yujin J. Oak, Daniel J. Jacob, Drew C. Pendergrass, Ruijun Dang, Nadia K. Colombi, Heesung Chong, Seoyoung Lee, Su Keun Kuk, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3233–3252, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3233-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3233-2025, 2025
Short summary
What can we learn about tropospheric OH from satellite observations of methane?
Elise Penn, Daniel J. Jacob, Zichong Chen, James D. East, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Lori Bruhwiler, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Yuzhong Zhang, and John Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2947–2965, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2947-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2947-2025, 2025
Short summary
Identifying missing sources and reducing NOx emissions uncertainty over China using daily satellite data and a mass-conserving method
Lingxiao Lu, Jason Blake Cohen, Kai Qin, Xiaolu Li, and Qin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2291–2309, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2291-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2291-2025, 2025
Short summary
Feasibility of robust estimates of ozone production rates using a synergy of satellite observations, ground-based remote sensing, and models
Amir H. Souri, Gonzalo González Abad, Glenn M. Wolfe, Tijl Verhoelst, Corinne Vigouroux, Gaia Pinardi, Steven Compernolle, Bavo Langerock, Bryan N. Duncan, and Matthew S. Johnson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2061–2086, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2061-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2061-2025, 2025
Short summary
Upper-tropospheric pollutants observed by MIPAS: geographic and seasonal variations
Norbert Glatthor, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Sylvia Kellmann, and Andrea Linden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1175–1208, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1175-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1175-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Bouarar, I., Gaubert, B., Brasseur, G. P., Steinbrecht, W., Doumbia, T., Tilmes, S., Liu, Y., Stavrakou, T., Deroubaix, A., Darras, S., Granier, C., Lacey, F., Müller, J-L., Shi, X., Elguindi, N., and Wang., T.: Ozone Anomalies in the Free Troposphere During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094204, 2021. 
Callies, J., Corpaccioli, E., Eisinger, M., Hahne, A., and Lefebvre, A.: GOME-2-Metop's second-generation sensor for operational ozone monitoring, ESA Bulletin, 102, 28–36, https://www.esa.int/esapub/bulletin/bullet102/Callies102.pdf (last access: 1 May 2020), 2000. 
Chang, K. L., Cooper, O. R., Gaudel, A., Allaart, M., Ancellet, G., Clark, H., Godin-Beekmann, S., Leblanc, T., Van Malderen, R., Nédélec, P., Petropavlovskikh, I., Steinbrecht, W., Stübi, R., Tarasick, D. W., and Torres, C.: Impact of the COVID-19 Economic Downturn on Tropospheric Ozone Trends: An Uncertainty Weighted Data Synthesis for Quantifying Regional Anomalies Above Western North America and Europe, AGU Adv., 3, 2, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000542, 2022. 
Chipperfield, M. P.: New version of the TOMCAT/SLIMCAT off-line chemical transport model: Intercomparison of stratospheric tracer experiments, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 132, 1179–1203, https://doi.org/10.1256/qj.05.51, 2006. 
Clark, H., Bennouna, Y., Tsivlidou, M., Wolff, P., Sauvage, B., Barret, B., Le Flochmoën, E., Blot, R., Boulanger, D., Cousin, J.-M., Nédélec, P., Petzold, A., and Thouret, V.: The effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on the composition of the troposphere as seen by In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) at Frankfurt, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16237–16256, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16237-2021, 2021. 
Download
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 O3 flux into the troposphere.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint