Researchers Use Planet Data to Investigate Pollution in Beijing During COVID-19 Crisis
Planet imagery showing the difference between a smoggy day and a day without smog in Beijing © 2020, Planet Labs Inc. All Rights Reserved.
StoriesThe Satellites for Climate Action initiative— powered by Planet, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the state of California—has helped enable researchers to examine surprising information about power plant emissions. China has been experiencing the lowest recorded air pollution levels over the last month, due in part to limited transportation, closed factories and construction sites related to the rapidly spreading coronavirus. But some parts of Beijing have still been steeped in smog and air pollution. Curious as to the cause, researchers at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air used Planet imagery to investigate. They discovered that the majority of steel mills and power plants have continued operation, including a large coal power plant and several steel mills in Tangshan, a city neighboring Beijing with the largest steel industry on the planet. In fact, the blast furnace operating rates in that area matched what they did last year at the same time. [caption id="attachment_144703" align="aligncenter" width="2180"]
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