COVID-19 Impact on Air Quality in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova

This publication provides insights from the monitoring of the air quality and the impact of COVID-19 on the air quality in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

One of the main findings of the study was that, while the lockdown in the spring of 2020 caused a serious economic downturn and led to cleaner air in some regions, the overall change in air pollution data was not considerable.

Using Earth Observation (EO) data to complement traditional monitoring systems and citizen-led initiatives, the study sheds new light on the impact of COVID-19 on air quality and emissions due to transport and industry, allowing to improve the environmental policy and innovative solutions in software, health, data modelling and smart notification systems.

The report is a joint study by UNDP and the European Space Agency (ESA).