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Space-based observational constraints on NO2 air pollution inequality from diesel traffic in major U.S. cities
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2021
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Source: Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL094333
[PDF-2.98 MB]
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Journal Title:Geophysical Research Letters
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Description:Air pollution disproportionately burdens communities of color and lower-income communities in US cities. We have generally lacked city-wide concentration measurements that resolve the steep spatiotemporal gradients of primary pollutants required to describe intra-urban air pollution inequality. Here, we use observations from the recently launched TROPospheric Ozone Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) satellite sensor and physics-based oversampling to describe nitrogen dioxide (NO2) disparities with race, ethnicity, and income in 52 US cities (June 2018–February 2020). We report average US-urban census tract-level NO2 inequalities of 28 ± 2% (race-ethnicity and income combined), with many populous cities experiencing even greater inequalities. Using observations and inventories, we find diesel traffic is the dominant source of NO2 disparities, and that a 62% reduction in diesel emissions would decrease race-ethnicity and income inequalities by 37%. We add evidence that TROPOMI resolves tract-scale NO2 differences using relationships with urban segregation patterns and spatial variability in column-to-surface correlations.
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Source:Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL094333
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Rights Information:CC BY-NC-ND
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Compliance:Submitted
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