The containment and closure policies adopted in attempts to contain the spread of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have impacted nearly every aspect of our lives including the environment we live in. These influences may be observed when evaluating changes in pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is an important indicator for economic, industrial, and other anthropogenic activities. We utilized a data-driven approach to analyze the relationship between tropospheric NO2 and COVID-19 mitigation measures by clustering regions based on pollution levels rather than constraining the study units by predetermined administrative boundaries as pollution knows no borders. Specifically, three clusters were discovered signifying mild, moderate, and poor pollution levels. The most severely polluted cluster saw significant reductions in tropospheric NO2, coinciding with lockdown periods. Based on the clustering results, qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted at global and regional levels to investigate the spatiotemporal changes. In addition, panel regression analysis was utilized to quantify the impact of policy measures on the NO2 reduction. This study found that a 23.58 score increase in the stringency index (ranging from 0 to 100) can significantly reduce the NO2 TVCD by 3.2% (p < 0.05) in the poor cluster in 2020, which corresponds to a 13.1% maximum reduction with the most stringent containment and closure policies implemented. In addition, the policy measures of workplace closures and close public transport can significantly decrease the tropospheric NO2 in the poor cluster by 6.7% (p < 0.1) and 4.5% (p < 0.1), respectively. An additional heterogeneity analysis found that areas with higher incomes, CO2 emissions, and fossil fuel consumption have larger NO2 TVCD reductions regarding workplace closures and public transport closures.
