Air quality and its impact on climate change in major urban areas across Cairo and Moscow cities

Background and objective: Air pollution and its negative effects on human health have become a major issue around the world, especially in developing countries. Air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and aerosols, in addition, they have consequences on health, cause damage to vegetation and contribute to global climate change. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively monitor air pollutants and make appropriate management decisions to solve this issue. Remote sensing methods, especially Sentinel-۵, the latest European Space Agency project (in cooperation with the Netherlands), which enables the recording of images in different spectral bands using the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor, are recognized as a useful tool.  A tool for monitoring all kinds of air pollutantsMaterials and methods: In this study, the most significant air contaminants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and aerosol were monitored using Sentinel-۵ satellite images for Cairo and Moscow cities in ۲۰۲۲. A large number of level ۳ images, collected from Google Earth Engine, were used in this research. Results and conclusion: The results show that due to urban development, an increase in vehicles, and increasing industrial growth, air quality in both cities is in poor condition. The decline in air quality has had a direct impact on climate change in these cities. The most important meteorological effect of climate change is on temperature. According to the results, although Moscow is located in a region with a favorable climate, high LST and rising ground temperatures in recent years can be associated with increased concentrations of air pollutants. In Cairo, the air pollution index was also at an inappropriate level, and the amount of particulate matter in this city is significantly higher than in Moscow, which can be due to the deserts around the city.

Keywords:

air pollution , Climate Change , GEE , Land surface warming , Time Series Analysis