Spatiotemporal Patterns of COVID-19 Impact on Human Activities and Environment in Mainland China Using Nighttime Light and Air Quality Data
Spatiotemporal Patterns of COVID-19 Impact on Human Activities and Environment in Mainland China Using Nighttime Light and Air Quality Data
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DOI：
10.3390/rs12101576
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发表时间：
2020-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
5
通讯作者：
Yang, Chaowei
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Liu, Qian;Sha, Dexuan;Yang, Chaowei
突如其来的新型冠状病毒疫情给人们的日常生活、工作及周边环境带来了巨大的变化。研究这些变化对于决策者实施经济损失评估和刺激方案、城市重新开放、环境恢复力和医疗资源安排等政策非常重要。为了分析COVID-19对人们生活、活动和自然环境的影响，本文调查了中国大陆在大流行之前和期间的夜间光辐射（NTL）和空气质量指数（AQI）的时空特征。计算了中国大陆地区的月平均NTL辐射亮度以及日平均和月平均AQI，并比较了疫情前和疫情期间的情况。结果表明，隔离期间NTL月平均亮度比隔离前明显降低。本研究将NTL分为三类：居住区、交通和公共设施和商业中心，NTL辐射范围分别为5-20、20-40和大于40（nW中心点cm（-2）中心点sr（-1））。我们发现，在大多数省份，关闭后居民区的NTL检测像素数（NOP）增加，商业中心减少，而交通和公共设施通常保持不变。更具体地说，我们在武汉考察了这些因素，武汉是最早报告确诊病例的地方，也是最早采取隔离措施的地方。与商业中心相关的像素的观察和分析被观察到具有较低的NTL辐射值，指示调光行为，而住宅区像素在锁定开始后记录了增加的亮度水平。该研究还发现，2020年1月至3月，中国大陆的日均空气质量指数呈显著下降趋势，与2020年1月相比，大多数省份在2月和3月期间的空气更清洁。综上所述，COVID-19的爆发和传播通过加强实施封锁和隔离政策对人们的日常生活和活动范围产生了至关重要的影响。另一方面，中国内地的空气质量随着非必要工业及汽车使用量的减少而有所改善。此证据显示中国政府已执行非常严格的检疫政策以应对疫情。控制COVID-19传播的果断反应为世界其他地区提供了参考。
The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought drastic changes to people's daily lives, work, and the surrounding environment. Investigations into these changes are very important for decision makers to implement policies on economic loss assessments and stimulation packages, city reopening, resilience of the environment, and arrangement of medical resources. In order to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on people's lives, activities, and the natural environment, this paper investigates the spatial and temporal characteristics of Nighttime Light (NTL) radiance and Air Quality Index (AQI) before and during the pandemic in mainland China. The monthly mean NTL radiance, and daily and monthly mean AQI are calculated over mainland China and compared before and during the pandemic. Our results show that the monthly average NTL brightness is much lower during the quarantine period than before. This study categorizes NTL into three classes: residential area, transportation, and public facilities and commercial centers, with NTL radiance ranges of 5-20, 20-40 and greater than 40 (nW center dot cm(-2)center dot sr(-1)), respectively. We found that the Number of Pixels (NOP) with NTL detection increased in the residential area and decreased in the commercial centers for most of the provinces after the shutdown, while transportation and public facilities generally stayed the same. More specifically, we examined these factors in Wuhan, where the first confirmed cases were reported, and where the earliest quarantine measures were taken. Observations and analysis of pixels associated with commercial centers were observed to have lower NTL radiance values, indicating a dimming behavior, while residential area pixels recorded increased levels of brightness after the beginning of the lockdown. The study also discovered a significant decreasing trend in the daily average AQI for mainland China from January to March 2020, with cleaner air in most provinces during February and March, compared to January 2020. In conclusion, the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 has had a crucial impact on people's daily lives and activity ranges through the increased implementation of lockdown and quarantine policies. On the other hand, the air quality of mainland China has improved with the reduction in non-essential industries and motor vehicle usage. This evidence demonstrates that the Chinese government has executed very stringent quarantine policies to deal with the pandemic. The decisive response to control the spread of COVID-19 provides a reference for other parts of the world.