- 1Institute of Physics, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
- 2Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
- 3German Remote Sensing Data Center, German Aerospace Center, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is an established indicator of air quality, as it is produced in every process in which fossil fuels are burnt. Air quality is closely linked to economic growth if this is predominantly based on fossil fuels.
It is produced in all the overarching sectors that make up the gross domestic product, namely agriculture, known as the "primary sector", energy and industrial production, known as the "secondary sector", and finally the "tertiary sector", which includes all forms of transport. NO₂ in the troposphere has a lifetime of only about 1-2 days. Therefore, the NO₂ distribution can be used to draw relatively good conclusions about the location of the emission sources and economic activity can be tracked.
We focus in our study on the influence of remote working practices on tropospheric NO₂ vertical column densities over northern Italy, including the Milan metropolitan area. The analysis is based on daily observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard the Aura satellite, covering the period from 2004 to 2023.
A comparison between gross domestic product (GDP) trends and changes in NO₂ variability indicates that periods of reduced economic activity—most notably after 2019 during the COVID-19 pandemic—are characterized by a weakening of shorter-term oscillations (2–5 days) relative to lower-frequency variability at weekly (7-day) timescales. This shift can be partly attributed to changes in commuting behavior associated with reduced working hours and the increased prevalence of remote work. Widespread lockdown measures forced much of the global workforce to transition to remote work. In many regions, these practices remained more prevalent than before the pandemic.
Overall, our findings demonstrate that anthropogenic NO₂ pollution responds sensitively to changes in commuting patterns, with implications for air quality, public health, and ecosystem health.
How to cite: Engert, R., Bichler, R., and Bittner, M.: Investigating the influence of remote working conditions on tropospheric NO2 vertical column density over northern Italy observed by Aura/OMI, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-10027, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-10027, 2026.
