Improvement in air quality and its impact on land surface temperature in major urban areas across India during the first lockdown of the pandemic

The SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and the enforced lockdown have reduced the use of surface and air transportation. This study investigates the impact of the lockdown restrictions in India on atmospheric composition, using Sentinel–5Ps retrievals of tropospheric NO2 concentration and ground-station measurements of NO2 and PM2.5 between March–May in 2019 and 2020. Detailed analysis of the changes to atmospheric composition are carried out over six major urban areas (i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad) by comparing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and land surface temperature (LST) measurements in the lockdown year 2020 and pre-lockdown (2015–2019). Satellite-based data showed that NO2 concentration reduced by 18% (Kolkata), 29% (Hyderabad), 32–34% (Chennai, Mumbai, and Bangalore), and 43% (Delhi). Surface-based concentrations of NO2, PM2.5, and AOD also substantially dropped by 32–74%, 10–42%, and 8–34%, respectively over these major cities during the lockdown period and co-located with the intensity of anthropogenic activity. Only a smaller fraction of the reduction of pollutants was associated with meteorological variability. A substantial negative anomaly was found for LST both in the day (−0.16 °C to −1 °C) and night (−0.63 °C to −2.1 °C) across select all cities, which was also consistent with air temperature measurements. The decreases in LST could be associated with a reduction in pollutants, greenhouse gases and water vapor content. Improvement in air quality with lower urban temperatures due to lockdown may be a temporary effect, but it provides a crucial connection among human activities, air pollution, aerosols, radiative flux, and temperature. The lockdown for a shorter-period showed a significant improvement in environmental quality and provides a strong evidence base for larger scale policy implementation to improve air quality. •NO2, PM2.5, and AOD substantially dropped in 2020 due to the lockdown in India.•An increase in atmospheric water vapor content by 10–20% was observed.•A large-scale negative LST anomaly (0.16–1°C in day-time and 0.63–2.1 °C in night-time) was seen during lockdowns.•The lockdown has temporary implications on improvement in environmental quality.