An assessment of NO(2) atmospheric air pollution over three cities in South Africa during 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

To contain the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, several governments around the world imposed national lockdowns including that of South Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate and give an overview of nitrogen dioxide column levels during the year 2020 over three South African cities (Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town) using AURA OMI derived measurements, the HYSPLIT model, complemented with NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Our findings were that in 2020, all the cities recorded their daily maximum mean NO(2) column levels during the winter season at 14.1 × 10(15) molecules per cm(2), 3.1 × 10(15) molecules per cm(2) and 1.7 × 10(15) molecules per cm(2) for Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town respectively. Across all seasons, Cape Town recorded the lowest seasonal mean at 0.6 × 10(15) molecules per cm(2) (summer 2020) while the highest seasonal mean was recorded over Johannesburg at 9 × 10(15) molecules cm(2) (winter 2020). Furthermore, an interannual comparison analysis indicated that during summer, there were increases of 6%, 1% and 30% for Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town respectively. During winter, Johannesburg saw an increase of 19% while a 2% increase was recorded in Durban with Cape town recording a 16% decrease in NO(2) column levels. The study also recorded that Cape Town and Durban were mainly influenced by long-range transport air masses originating from the South Atlantic Ocean, South America, Antarctica and the Indian Ocean particularly during the summer and autumn seasons possibly leading to the formation of marine nitrate aerosols.