Monitoring spatiotemporal changes of NO2 using TROPOMI and sentinel-5 images for Dhaka city and its surrounding areas of Bangladesh

Discernable air pollution occurs in most developing countries due to rapid urbanization which can be parameterized by air, humidity, population density, temperature, contaminants, exorbitant fossil fuel consumption, and inadequate transportation. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), one of the most widely recognized air pollutants, has a detrimental impact on human health explicitly or implicitly and considerably influences on atmospheric composition.

In this study, NO2 intensity was analyzed from 2018 with aiming to monitor spatiotemporal changes in Dhaka and its surrounding areas with the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor data. Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite data was used in the Google Earth Engine platform to get the result.

The results revealed a strong relationship (R2=0.9478) between the NO2 concentration and high population density and the temporal variation is higher during the pre-monsoon than throughout the post-monsoon. The reason behind is the lack of sunlight and the difficulty to break down the NO2, which causes the removal of NO2 from the atmosphere to proceed more slowly. In contrast, Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) are also impacted by the high concentration which is remains in the built-up area.

This research mainly considered that how NO2 concentration measured from satellite images with temporal variation within a year and what factors strongly influence raising NO2 levels. This model can be used for policy-making to take proper initiatives to reduce NO2 concentrations. The result showed significant uses of TROPOMI with relating population density and LULC in Dhaka and its surrounding areas of Bangladesh.