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Characteristic changes of ozone and its precursors in London during COVID-19 lockdown and the ozone surge reason analysis.

ABSTRACT: The London COVID-19 lockdown reduced emissions from anthropogenic sources, providing unique conditions for air contamination research. This research uses tropospheric ozone (O₃), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and NOx (NO+NO₂) hourly monitoring data at the London Marylebone Road station from 2001 to 2020 to investigate the effects of lockdown on (O₃) and its precursors. Both NOx and VOCs pollution showed a decreasing trend between 2001 and 2021, with a gradual increase in O₃ in contrast. During the COVID-19 lockdown period (from 23rd March to July 4, 2020), there was a surge in O₃ concentration, accompanied by a sharp reduction in NOx concentrations. Because all the monitoring VOCs/NOx results were less than eight during the lockdown, indicating that O₃ formation in urban London was in the VOC-limited regime. The rapid increase in O₃ concentrations caused by the lockdown was closely related to the rapid decrease in NOx emissions.

SUBMITTER: Zhang C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8815197 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Characteristic changes of ozone and its precursors in London during COVID-19 lockdown and the ozone surge reason analysis.

Zhang Chenyue C Stevenson David D

Atmospheric environment (Oxford, England : 1994) 20220204

The London COVID-19 lockdown reduced emissions from anthropogenic sources, providing unique conditions for air contamination research. This research uses tropospheric ozone (O3), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and NOx (NO+NO2) hourly monitoring data at the London Marylebone Road station from 2001 to 2020 to investigate the effects of lockdown on (O3) and its precursors. Both NOx and VOCs pollution showed a decreasing trend between 2001 and 2021, with a gradual ...[more]

PMID: 35136378

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Project description:The synergistic response of urban atmospheric aerosols and ozone (O3) to reduction of anthropogenic emissions is complicated and still needs further study. Thus, the changes in physical and chemical properties of urban atmospheric aerosols and O3 during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown were investigated at three urban sites and one rural site in Lanzhou with semi-arid climate. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) decreased at four sites by ∼ 20% while O3 increased by >100% at two urban sites during the COVID-19 lockdown. Both primary emissions and secondary formation of PM2.5 decreased during the lockdown. Significant increase in both sulfur and nitrogen oxidation ratios was found in the afternoon, which accounted for 48.7% of the total sulfate and 40.4% of the total nitrate, respectively. The positive matrix factorization source apportionment revealed increased contribution of secondary formation and decreased contribution of vehicle emissions. Aerosol scattering and absorption decreased by 33.6% and 45.3%, resulting in an increase in visibility by 30% and single scattering albedo (SSA) at 520 nm slightly increased by 0.02. The enhanced O3 production was explained by increased volatile organic compounds to nitrogen oxides ratio, decreased aerosol, as well as increased SSA. The primary emissions of secondary aerosol precursors significantly decreased while Ox (i.e., NO2 and O3) exhibited little change. Consequently, Ox to CO ratio, PM2.5 to elemental carbon (EC) ratio, secondary inorganic aerosols to EC ratio, and secondary organic carbon to EC ratio increased, confirming enhanced secondary aerosol production efficiency during the lockdown. Positive feedback among O3 concentration, secondary aerosol formation, and SSA was revealed to further promote O3 production and secondary aerosol formation. These results provide scientific guidance for collaborative management of O3 and particulate matter pollution for cities with semi-arid climate.

Project description:This study aims at identifying the tools necessary for COVID-19 health emergency management, with particular reference to the period following the first lockdown, a crucial phase in which it was important to favor the maintenance of protective behaviors. It also aims at identifying the messages and sources that were most effective in managing communication correctly in such a crucial phase that is likely characterized by a fall in perceived health risk (due to the flattening of the epidemic curve) and a simultaneous rise in perceived economic and social risks (due to the enduring calamity). Knowing what source will be most effective to convey a specific message is fundamental in enabling individuals to focus on and comply with the rules. At the same time, it is necessary to understand how the message should be presented, and the relationships between messages, sources and targets. To meet these goals, data were collected through a self-administered online questionnaire submitted to a sample of undergraduate students from a University in Lombardy-the region most affected by the pandemic in the first wave- (Study 1), and to a national sample composed of Italian citizens (Study 2). Through our first manipulation which explored the effectiveness of social norms in relation to different sources, we found that, in the national sample, the injunctive norm conveyed by the government was the most effective in promoting behavioral intentions. By contrast, among the students, results showed that for the critical group with a lower risk perception (less inclined to adopt prevention behavior) descriptive norms, which implicitly convey the risk perception of peers, were as effective as the government injunctive norm. Our second manipulation, identical in Study 1 and 2, compared four types of communication (emotional, exponential growth, both of them, or neutral). The neutral condition was the most memorable, but no condition was more effective than the others. Across all message types there was a high intention to adopt protective behaviors. The results indicate possible applicative implications of the adopted communicative tools.

Dataset Information

Characteristic changes of ozone and its precursors in London during COVID-19 lockdown and the ozone surge reason analysis.

Publications

Characteristic changes of ozone and its precursors in London during COVID-19 lockdown and the ozone surge reason analysis.

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