Atmospheric Formaldehyde Monitored by TROPOMI Satellite Instrument throughout 2020 over São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

We aimed to study the daily formaldehyde (HCHO) columns over urban and forested areas in São Paulo State, Brazil, from rhe TROPOMI spectrometer onboard the Sentinel-5P satellite during 2020. Nineteen specific areas were defined in four regions: 3 areas in each of two preserved Atlantic Forests (PEMD and PETAR), 3 in a sugarcane growing region (NERG) and 10 in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP), among which 2 areas are in the Morro Grande reserve, which is a significant remnant of Atlantic Forest outside the densely urbanized area of MASP. An analysis of variance and Tukey’s test showed that the mean annual columns over the Morro Grande reserve (1.69±1.05×10−4 mol/m² and 1.73±1.07×10−4 mol/m²) presented greater statistical similarity with the forest and rural areas of the state (<1.70×10−4 mol/m²) than with MASP (>2.00×10−4 mol/m²), indicating few effects from megacity anthropogenic emissions. Case studies addressing selected days in 2020 showed that fires in and around the state were related to episodes of maximum density of HCHO columns. The results showed significant seasonality, with lower concentrations during summer (wet season) and higher concentrations during winter and spring (dry and transition dry–wet seasons).