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Air quality improvement during triple-lockdown in the coastal city of Kannur, Kerala to combat Covid-19 transmission.

ABSTRACT: The novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, last year has since become the COVID-19 pandemic across all continents. To restrict the spread of the virus pandemic, the Government of India imposed a lockdown from 25 March 2020. In India, Kannur district was identified as the first "hotspot" of virus transmission and a "triple-lockdown" was implemented for a span of twenty days from 20 April 2020. This article highlights the variations of surface O₃, NO, NO₂, CO, SO_2, NH₃, VOC's, PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and meteorological parameters at the time of pre-lockdown, lockdown and triple-lockdown days at Kannur town in south India using ground-based analyzers. From pre-lockdown days to triple-lockdown days, surface O₃ concentration was found to increase by 22% in this VOC limited environment. NO and NO₂ concentrations were decreased by 61% and 71% respectively. The concentration of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 were observed to decline significantly by 61% and 53% respectively. Reduction in PM₁₀ during lockdown and triple-lockdown days enhanced the intensity of solar radiation reaching the lower troposphere, and increased air temperature and reduced the relative humidity. Owing to this, surface O₃ production over Kannur was found to have increased during triple-lockdown days. The concentration of CO (67%), VOCs (61%), SO₂ (62%) and NH₃ (16%) were found to decrease significantly from pre-lockdown days to triple-lockdown days. The air quality index revealed that the air quality at the observational site was clean during the lockdown.

SUBMITTER: Resmi CT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7397983 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Air quality improvement during triple-lockdown in the coastal city of Kannur, Kerala to combat Covid-19 transmission.

Resmi C T CT Nishanth T T Satheesh Kumar M K MK Manoj M G MG Balachandramohan M M Valsaraj K T KT

PeerJ 20200731

The novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, last year has since become the COVID-19 pandemic across all continents. To restrict the spread of the virus pandemic, the Government of India imposed a lockdown from 25 March 2020. In India, Kannur district was identified as the first "hotspot" of virus transmission and a "triple-lockdown" was implemented for a span of twenty days from 20 April 2020. This article highlights the variations of surface O<sub>3</sub>, NO, NO< ...[more]

PMID: 32821548

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Project description:Graphical abstract Highlights • Air quality of major cities of Kerala State (India) during the COVID-19 lockdown.• Substantial reduction of NO2 (-48 %) NOx (-53 % to -90 %) and CO (-24 % to -67 %).• Significant decrease in PM2.5 (-24 % to -47 %) and PM10 (-17 % to -20 %) levels.• Increase of O3 levels in Northern Kerala during lockdown period.• Indications of multiple sources (other than traffic and industry) of air pollution. This study assesses the effect of lockdown, due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, on the concentration of different air pollutants and overall air quality of a less industrialized region (Kerala) of India. We analysed data from four ambient air quality stations over three years (January to May, 2018–2020) with pairwise comparisons, trend analysis, etc. Results indicated unprecedented reduction in the concentration of the air pollutants: nitrogen dioxide, NO2 (-48 %), oxides of nitrogen, NOx (-53 % to -90 %), carbon monoxide, CO (-24 % to -67 %) and the particulate matter (-24 % to -47 % for particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 ?m, PM2.5; -17 % to -20 % for particulate matter with a diameter of less than 10 ?m, PM10), as well as the reduction of the National Air Quality Index (NAQI). These reductions indicate an overall improvement of the ambient air quality due to restrictions on transportation, construction, and the industrial sectors during lockdown, even in an area considered less industrial. Despite the general decreasing trend of the concentration of various air pollutants from January to May, suggesting seasonal influences, the trend was intensified in the year 2020 due to the added effect of the lockdown measures. Comparison of the results with those from larger and more industrialized cities suggests that the effects of lockdown are more variable, and focused on the levels of gaseous pollutants. Findings from this study demonstrate the far-reaching effects and implications of the COVID-19 lockdown on ambient air quality, even on less industrialized and less urbanized regions.

Project description:Meteorology and long-term trends in air pollutant concentrations may obscure the results from short-term policies implemented to improve air quality. This study presents changes in CO, NO2, O3, SO2, PM10, and PM2.5 based on their anomalies during the COVID-19 partial (Phase 2) and total (Phase 3) lockdowns in Mexico City (MCMA). To minimise the impact of the air pollutant long-term trends, pollutant anomalies were calculated using as baseline truncated Fourier series, fitted with data from 2016 to 2019, and then compared with those from the lockdown. Additionally, days with stagnant conditions and heavy rain were excluded to reduce the impact of extreme weather changes. Satellite observations for NO2 and CO were used to contrast the ground-based derived results. During the lockdown Phase 2, only NO2 exhibited significant decreases (p < 0.05) of between 10 and 23% due to reductions in motor vehicle emissions. By contrast, O3 increased (p < 0.05) between 16 and 40% at the same sites where NO2 decreased. During Phase 3, significant decreases (p < 0.05) were observed for NO2 (43%), PM10 (20%), and PM2.5 (32%) in response to the total lockdown. Although O3 concentrations were lower in Phase 3 than during Phase 2, those did not decrease (p < 0.05) from the baseline at any site despite the total lockdown. SO2 decreased only during Phase 3 in a near-road environment. Satellite observations confirmed that NO2 decreased and CO stabilised during the total lockdown. Air pollutant changes during the lockdown could be overestimated between 2 and 10-fold without accounting for the influences of meteorology and long-term trends in pollutant concentrations. Air quality improved significantly during the lockdown driven by reduced NO2 and PM2.5 emissions despite increases in O3, resulting in health benefits for the MCMA population. A health assessment conducted suggested that around 588 deaths related to air pollution exposure were averted during the lockdown. Our results show that to reduce O3 within the MCMA, policies must focus on reducing VOCs emissions from non-mobile sources. The measures implemented during the COVID-19 lockdowns provide valuable information to reduce air pollution through a range of abatement strategies for emissions other than from motor vehicles.

Dataset Information

Air quality improvement during triple-lockdown in the coastal city of Kannur, Kerala to combat Covid-19 transmission.

Publications

Air quality improvement during triple-lockdown in the coastal city of Kannur, Kerala to combat Covid-19 transmission.

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