Environment and Ecology Research Vol. 11(1), pp. 8 - 27
DOI: 10.13189/eer.2023.110102
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Mapping Changes in Particulate Pollution and Plant Health in the Indian Sub-continent during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hamza Arman Lateef ^1,*, Ayodele Agboola ², Alexis Patanarut ^1
1 Department of Chemistry, George Mason University, Virginia, United States
² Verisk Extreme Event Solutions, GIS Analyst, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

ABSTRACT

Particulate matter (PM) air pollution is ranked the 13^th leading cause of mortality across the globe. Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to assess the potential beneficial impact on air quality and possibly biologic outcomes. The main objectives of this project were to utilize NASA satellite-derived data and: 1) Observe changes in PM_2.5 across the four countries before the outbreak of COVID-19 and through the observed case peak months in 2020 and 2021; 2) Examine changes in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during, around, and subsequent to COVID-19 peak months; 3) Evaluate changes in precipitation and land surface temperature as other potential contributors to changes in plant health. Remote sensing datasets included "Aerosol Optical Thickness" to measure air pollution, and "Normalized Difference Vegetation Index" to examine vegetation health. We found that PM_2.5 concentration substantially decreased in some areas of the sub-continent, during the peak months, while NDVI improved. While accompanying precipitation and land surface temperature may account for some of the changes in NDVI, they alone cannot explain the improvement in plant health during shutdowns. Thus, at least some of the decreased plant stress may be attributed to lower emission of atmospheric pollutants, including PM_2.5.

KEYWORDS
Air Pollution, PM_2.5, NDVI, COVID 19, India sub-continent, GIS Analysis, Land Surface Temperature

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Hamza Arman Lateef , Ayodele Agboola , Alexis Patanarut , "Mapping Changes in Particulate Pollution and Plant Health in the Indian Sub-continent during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Environment and Ecology Research, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 8 - 27, 2023. DOI: 10.13189/eer.2023.110102.

(b). APA Format:
Hamza Arman Lateef , Ayodele Agboola , Alexis Patanarut (2023). Mapping Changes in Particulate Pollution and Plant Health in the Indian Sub-continent during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Environment and Ecology Research, 11(1), 8 - 27. DOI: 10.13189/eer.2023.110102.