Quantifying the Impact of COVID-19 on Air Pollutant Emissions, Air Quality, and Climate Change

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 17820

Special Issue Editors

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Interests: air pollutant emissions; remote sensing of trace gases; chemistry transport model developments
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: regional air quality; pollution–meteorology interactions
Department of Chemistry, Carleton College, 1 North College Street, Northfield, MN 55057, USA
Interests: aerosol chemical composition; aerosol chemistry; single-particle measurement techniques
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Desert Research Institute, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV 89512, USA
Interests: air toxics; organic air pollutants; semi-volatile organic compounds; air sampling methods; organic pollutant analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed air pollutant emissions across the globe by altering human activities. We have adopted new lifestyles to contain the spread of the virus, which either directly or indirectly impact the magnitude and spatial patterns of air pollutant emissions from residential, transport, powerplant, and industry sources. The change of atmospheric constituents consequently affects ambient air quality and climate change.

We are calling for papers to quantify these changes, which are essential to understand their impact on human health and to validate our modeling capability and sensitivity of such events. Examples of potential topics include the following:

  1. Estimate air pollutant emission changes based on ground-based, airborne, and satellite observations, human activity indicators, governmental statistics, and other datasets;
  2. Quantify the spatiotemporal changes of air quality using various observations and air pollution models;
  3. Inferring the impact of changing atmospheric constituents on the weather and climate;
  4. Evaluate how these environmental responses will affect human health.

Dr. Ruixiong Zhang
Dr. Tzung May Fu
Dr. Deborah Gross
Dr. Andrey Khlystov
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • particulate matters
  • PM2.5
  • NOx
  • satellite retrievals
  • chemistry transport model
  • air pollution
  • human activity
  • emission inversion
  • emission inventory
  • air quality index
  • climate change.

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 5620 KiB  
Article
Long-Term COVID-19 Restrictions in Italy to Assess the Role of Seasonal Meteorological Conditions and Pollutant Emissions on Urban Air Quality
by Giovanni Gualtieri, Lorenzo Brilli, Federico Carotenuto, Carolina Vagnoli, Alessandro Zaldei and Beniamino Gioli
Atmosphere 2022, 13(7), 1156; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13071156 - 21 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1405
Abstract
A year-round air quality analysis was addressed over four Italian cities (Milan, Turin, Bologna, and Florence) following the outbreak of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. NO2, O3, PM2.5, and PM10 daily observations were compared with estimations [...] Read more.
A year-round air quality analysis was addressed over four Italian cities (Milan, Turin, Bologna, and Florence) following the outbreak of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. NO2, O3, PM2.5, and PM10 daily observations were compared with estimations of meteorological variables and observations of anthropogenic emission drivers as road traffic and heating systems. Three periods in 2020 were analysed: (i) the first (winter/spring) lockdown, (ii) the (spring/summer) partial relaxation period, and (iii) the second (autumn/winter) lockdown. During the first lockdown, only NO2 concentrations decreased systematically (and significantly, between −41.9 and −53.9%), mainly due to the drastic traffic reduction (−70 to −74%); PM2.5 varied between −21 and +18%, PM10 varied between −23 and +9%, and O3 increased (up to +17%). During the partly relaxation period, no air quality issues were observed. The second lockdown was particularly critical as, although road traffic significantly reduced (−30 to −44%), PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations dramatically increased (up to +87 and +123%, respectively), mostly due to remarkably unfavourable weather conditions. The latter was confirmed as the main driver of PM’s most critical concentrations, while strong limitations to anthropogenic activity—including traffic bans—have little effect when taken alone, even when applied for more than two months and involving a whole country. Full article
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18 pages, 5130 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Impacts of Human Activities on Air Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic through Case Analysis
by Xin Chi, Jie Hua, Shuyang Hua, Xiao Ren and Shuanghe Yang
Atmosphere 2022, 13(2), 181; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13020181 - 23 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2558
Abstract
COVID-19 is the latest of many pandemic affecting the world in the past few decades, and it has had a significant impact on the global environment. Some research has analysed the effects of the pandemic on air quality; however, very few studies have [...] Read more.
COVID-19 is the latest of many pandemic affecting the world in the past few decades, and it has had a significant impact on the global environment. Some research has analysed the effects of the pandemic on air quality; however, very few studies have employed relationship analytics. In order to analyse the potential relationship between pandemic-related information and air quality data from a more holistic and detailed point of view, we propose a methodology based on pure data analysis. Three types of data were collected, namely air quality index, pandemic-related events, and number of COVID cases. Data were collected from five cities—Wuhan, New York, Seoul, Melbourne, and Singapore—to further analyse the response of air quality index to COVID events, thus revealing how human activity influences air quality from a pandemic perspective. The results show that a potential connection does exist in most cases and provide more evidence showing that air pollution declined during the pandemic. However, the strength of this relationship may also be related to other factors, such as geography, politics, population density, and measures imposed by local authorities, etc. This study provides another perspective to assist stakeholders in improving environmental decision making. Full article
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17 pages, 3094 KiB  
Article
Assessment of COVID-19 Lockdown Impact on the Air Quality in Eastern Spain: PM and BTX in Urban, Suburban and Rural Sites Exposed to Different Emissions
by Milagros Ródenas, Rubén Soler, Esther Borrás, Teresa Vera, José Jaime Diéguez and Amalia Muñoz
Atmosphere 2022, 13(1), 97; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13010097 - 08 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1969
Abstract
In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread globally, and severe measures to control it were implemented. This study investigates the impact of the lockdown on the air quality of three provinces in the Valencia region, eastern Spain, in the years 2015–2020, focusing on [...] Read more.
In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread globally, and severe measures to control it were implemented. This study investigates the impact of the lockdown on the air quality of three provinces in the Valencia region, eastern Spain, in the years 2015–2020, focusing on particulate matter (PM). A thorough statistical analysis using different approaches is conducted. Hourly patterns are also assessed. In addition, the role of meteorological parameters on PM is explored. The results indicate an overall PM10 reduction of 16.5% when comparing the lockdown in 2020 and the 2015–2019 period, while PM2.5 increased by 3.1%. As expected, urban zones experienced higher reductions than suburban zones, which experienced a PM concentration increase. The impact of the drastic drops of benzene, toluene and xylene (77.4%, 58.0% and 61.8%, respectively) on the PM values observed in urban sites is discussed. Our study provides insights on the effect of activity changes over a wide region covering a variety of air quality stations, urban, suburban and rural, and different emission types. The results of this work are a valuable reference and suggest the need for considering different factors when establishing scientific air pollution control strategies. Full article
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23 pages, 5364 KiB  
Article
Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown Measures on the 2020 Columnar and Surface Air Pollution Parameters over South-Eastern Italy
by Salvatore Romano, Valentina Catanzaro and Fabio Paladini
Atmosphere 2021, 12(10), 1366; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12101366 - 19 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1902
Abstract
The combined use of Lecce-University AERONET-photometer measurements and PM2.5, PM10, NO2, CO, and SO2 concentrations from different sites of Apulia-Region Air-Quality Agency represents the peculiarity of this study, which evaluates the impact of COVID-19 lockdown (LD) measures on aerosol and [...] Read more.
The combined use of Lecce-University AERONET-photometer measurements and PM2.5, PM10, NO2, CO, and SO2 concentrations from different sites of Apulia-Region Air-Quality Agency represents the peculiarity of this study, which evaluates the impact of COVID-19 lockdown (LD) measures on aerosol and gaseous pollutants. Monthly-averaged columnar and surface parameters of the 2020-year were compared with corresponding monthly parameters of the ref-year obtained by averaging 2017, 2018, and 2019 measurements in order to evaluate LD measure impacts by Average Percent Departure (APD%). Photometer measurements showed that LD measures were likely responsible for the decrease in Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD). The APD% estimated between the 2020- and ref-year AOD (at 440 nm) was characterized by negative values from June to August, reaching the smallest mean value (−46%) in June. Moreover, the columnar aerosol load appeared less affected by continental urban/industrial particles than previous years in the summer of 2020. The PM-concentration-APD% calculated at ten sites was characterized by monthly trends similar to those of AOD-APD%. PM-APD% values varied from site to site and smaller values (up to −57% in June) were on average detected at urban/suburban sites than at background sites (up to −37%). The impact of LD measures on gaseous pollutants was observed from the onset of LD. Full article
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19 pages, 2723 KiB  
Article
Situation of Urban Mobility in Pakistan: Before, during, and after the COVID-19 Lockdown with Climatic Risk Perceptions
by Alishbah Syed, Jiquan Zhang, Md Moniruzzaman, Iman Rousta, Talha Omer, Guo Ying and Haraldur Olafsson
Atmosphere 2021, 12(9), 1190; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12091190 - 15 Sep 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3615
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has impacted the usual global movement patterns, atmospheric pollutants, and climatic parameters. The current study sought to assess the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on urban mobility, atmospheric pollutants, and Pakistan’s climate. For the air pollution assessment, total column [...] Read more.
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has impacted the usual global movement patterns, atmospheric pollutants, and climatic parameters. The current study sought to assess the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on urban mobility, atmospheric pollutants, and Pakistan’s climate. For the air pollution assessment, total column ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and tropospheric column nitrogen dioxide (NO2) data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), and dust column mass density (PM2.5) data from the MERRA-2 satellite were used. Furthermore, these datasets are linked to climatic parameters (temperature, precipitation, wind speed). The Kruskal–Wallis H test (KWt) is used to compare medians among k groups (k > 2), and the Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test (WRST) is for analyzing the differences between the medians of two datasets. To make the analysis more effective, and to justify that the variations in air quality parameters are due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was used. The findings revealed that the limitations on human mobility have lowered emissions, which has improved the air quality in Pakistan. The results of the study showed that the climatic parameters (precipitation, Tmax, Tmin, and Tmean) have a positive correlation and wind speed has a negative correlation with NO2 and AOD. This study found a significant decrease in air pollutants (NO2, SO2, O3, AOD) of 30–40% in Pakistan during the strict lockdown period. In this duration, the highest drop of about 28% in NO2 concentrations has been found in Karachi. Total column O3 did not show any reduction during the strict lockdown, but a minor decline was depicted as 0.38% in Lahore and 0.55% in Islamabad during the loosening lockdown. During strict lockdown, AOD was reduced up to 23% in Islamabad and 14.46% in Lahore. The results of KWt and WRST evident that all the mobility indices are significant (p < 0.05) in nature. The GLM justified that restraining human activities during the lockdown has decreased anthropogenic emissions and, as a result, improved air quality, particularly in metropolitan areas. Full article
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15 pages, 1586 KiB  
Article
The Impact of COVID-19 Confinement Measures on the Air Quality in an Urban-Industrial Area of Portugal
by Carla Gamelas, Leonor Abecasis, Nuno Canha and Susana Marta Almeida
Atmosphere 2021, 12(9), 1097; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12091097 - 25 Aug 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2117
Abstract
This study evaluated the temporal variability of the concentrations of pollutants (namely, NO2, O3, PM2.5, PM10 and SO2) in an urban-industrial area of mainland Portugal during two decades (from 2001 to 2020), to assess [...] Read more.
This study evaluated the temporal variability of the concentrations of pollutants (namely, NO2, O3, PM2.5, PM10 and SO2) in an urban-industrial area of mainland Portugal during two decades (from 2001 to 2020), to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the levels of these atmospheric pollutants. Mean levels of pollutants in 2020 were compared with those measured in the six previous years (2014–2019). A significant improvement in air quality, namely regarding PM10 and NO2, was found and it can be attributable to the restrictions of anthropogenic activities (such as traffic) promoted during the March–May 2020 national lockdown that occurred due to the pandemic. Significant and expressive reductions of 44.0% and 40.3% were found in April 2020 for NO2 and PM10, respectively, showing the impact of local traffic in the study area. A similar trend of reduction for these pollutants was also found in the following months. However, ozone levels did not show the same trend, with significant increases in several months after the lockdown period, highlighting other contributions to this pollutant. This unique period can be considered as a living lab, where the implementation of strict measures due to COVID-19 confinement promoted the reduction of anthropogenic activities and allowed us to understand more comprehensively their impact on local air quality. Full article
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13 pages, 2677 KiB  
Article
Quantifying the Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdown and Spring Festival on Air Quality over Yangtze River Delta Region
by Zeeshan Javed, Aimon Tanvir, Yuhang Wang, Ahmed Waqas, Mingjie Xie, Adnan Abbas, Osama Sandhu and Cheng Liu
Atmosphere 2021, 12(6), 735; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12060735 - 08 Jun 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2738
Abstract
The emergence of the novel corona virus and the resulting lockdowns over various parts of the world have substantially impacted air quality due to reduced anthropogenic activity. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown and Spring Festival [...] Read more.
The emergence of the novel corona virus and the resulting lockdowns over various parts of the world have substantially impacted air quality due to reduced anthropogenic activity. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown and Spring Festival on air quality of four major cities of Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, including Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, and Hangzhou. In situ measurements were taken for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3). In situ measurements from 1 January to 25 April were taken two years prior to COVID-19 (2018–19), during COVID-19 lockdown (2020), and one year after the COVID-19 (2021). The results indicated that the concentration of NO2 and PM2.5 dropped considerably during the lockdown days compared to normal days while the O3 concentration showed an upsurge. The NO2 showed reduction of about 54% on average during lockdown level 1 in 2020 whereas, PM 2.5 showed reduction of about 36% through the YRD. A substantial drop was observed in concentration of NO2 during the Spring Festival holidays throughout the YRD from 2019 to 2021. Full article
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