Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Urban Light Emissions: Ground and Satellite Comparison

Remote Sensing

Jonathan Bennie¹  Jaime Zamorano²  KevinJ. Gaston³  Antonio García⁴  José M. Vílchez⁴  Susana Martín-Ruiz⁴  Jose-Luis Ortiz⁴  Alicia Pelegrina⁴  Máximo Bustamante-Calabria⁴  Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel⁴ 

[1] Centre for Geography and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK;Departamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Instituto de Física de Partículas y del COSMOS (IPARCOS), Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain;Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK;Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Glorieta de la Astronomía, s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain;

关键词: artificial lighting;    light pollution;    night;    remote sensing;    urban;    aerosols;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs13020258

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

’Lockdown’ periods in response to COVID-19 have provided a unique opportunity to study the impacts of economic activity on environmental pollution (e.g., NO${}_2$, aerosols, noise, light). The effects on NO${}_2$ and aerosols have been very noticeable and readily demonstrated, but that on light pollution has proven challenging to determine. The main reason for this difficulty is that the primary source of nighttime satellite imagery of the earth is the SNPP-VIIRS/DNB instrument, which acquires data late at night after most human nocturnal activity has already occurred and much associated lighting has been turned off. Here, to analyze the effect of lockdown on urban light emissions, we use ground and satellite data for Granada, Spain, during the COVID-19 induced confinement of the city’s population from 14 March until 31 May 2020. We find a clear decrease in light pollution due both to a decrease in light emissions from the city and to a decrease in anthropogenic aerosol content in the atmosphere which resulted in less light being scattered. A clear correlation between the abundance of PM10 particles and sky brightness is observed, such that the more polluted the atmosphere the brighter the urban night sky. An empirical expression is determined that relates PM10 particle abundance and sky brightness at three different wavelength bands.

【 授权许可】

Unknown