COVID 19 Lockdown — Air Quality Reflections in Indian Cities
Abstract The emergence of COVID-19 put pressure on the Governments of most of the countries in the world to enforce nationwide lockdown (restriction of all non-essential activities) to curtail the spread of infection. The nationwide lockdown created an adverse impact on the economies around the worl...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Aerosol and Air Quality Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200308 |
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| author | Sunil Gulia Nitin Goyal Saurabh Mendiratta Tridipa Biswas S. K. Goyal Rakesh Kumar |
| author_facet | Sunil Gulia Nitin Goyal Saurabh Mendiratta Tridipa Biswas S. K. Goyal Rakesh Kumar |
| author_sort | Sunil Gulia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The emergence of COVID-19 put pressure on the Governments of most of the countries in the world to enforce nationwide lockdown (restriction of all non-essential activities) to curtail the spread of infection. The nationwide lockdown created an adverse impact on the economies around the world and altered the day-to-day life of people. The restrictions on pollution generating activities during the lockdown period resulted in an overall improvement of the air quality throughout the world including India. This study evaluated the impact on air quality in 46 cities throughout India and the findings indicate that on average, PM2.5 and NOx, concentrations reduced by about 34% and 60%, respectively at different locations in India. PM2.5 concentrations reduced by about 23%, 16%, 32%, and 28% in small, medium, large and megacities, respectively. However, the reduction in NOx concentrations was dissimilar to PM2.5 in these cities. The findings further suggested that the impact of lockdown on air quality was not homogenous across the country and was probably due to varying background contributions. The average concentrations of PM2.5 and NOx at background stations were found higher in large and mega cities than the smaller cities. The PM2.5 concentrations at background stations were higher in North India in comparison to other parts of India. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-247cfdfdfa9d41edbb712bb454d35585 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1680-8584 2071-1409 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerosol and Air Quality Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-247cfdfdfa9d41edbb712bb454d355852025-02-09T12:21:05ZengSpringerAerosol and Air Quality Research1680-85842071-14092021-01-0121511310.4209/aaqr.200308COVID 19 Lockdown — Air Quality Reflections in Indian CitiesSunil Gulia0Nitin Goyal1Saurabh Mendiratta2Tridipa Biswas3S. K. Goyal4Rakesh Kumar5Delhi Zonal Centre, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research InstituteMumbai Zonal Centre, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research InstituteDelhi Zonal Centre, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research InstituteDelhi Zonal Centre, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research InstituteDelhi Zonal Centre, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research InstituteCSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research InstituteAbstract The emergence of COVID-19 put pressure on the Governments of most of the countries in the world to enforce nationwide lockdown (restriction of all non-essential activities) to curtail the spread of infection. The nationwide lockdown created an adverse impact on the economies around the world and altered the day-to-day life of people. The restrictions on pollution generating activities during the lockdown period resulted in an overall improvement of the air quality throughout the world including India. This study evaluated the impact on air quality in 46 cities throughout India and the findings indicate that on average, PM2.5 and NOx, concentrations reduced by about 34% and 60%, respectively at different locations in India. PM2.5 concentrations reduced by about 23%, 16%, 32%, and 28% in small, medium, large and megacities, respectively. However, the reduction in NOx concentrations was dissimilar to PM2.5 in these cities. The findings further suggested that the impact of lockdown on air quality was not homogenous across the country and was probably due to varying background contributions. The average concentrations of PM2.5 and NOx at background stations were found higher in large and mega cities than the smaller cities. The PM2.5 concentrations at background stations were higher in North India in comparison to other parts of India.https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200308Restricted emission activitiesPopulated citiesBackground concentrationsIndiaLockdown |
| spellingShingle | Sunil Gulia Nitin Goyal Saurabh Mendiratta Tridipa Biswas S. K. Goyal Rakesh Kumar COVID 19 Lockdown — Air Quality Reflections in Indian Cities Aerosol and Air Quality Research Restricted emission activities Populated cities Background concentrations India Lockdown |
| title | COVID 19 Lockdown — Air Quality Reflections in Indian Cities |
| title_full | COVID 19 Lockdown — Air Quality Reflections in Indian Cities |
| title_fullStr | COVID 19 Lockdown — Air Quality Reflections in Indian Cities |
| title_full_unstemmed | COVID 19 Lockdown — Air Quality Reflections in Indian Cities |
| title_short | COVID 19 Lockdown — Air Quality Reflections in Indian Cities |
| title_sort | covid 19 lockdown air quality reflections in indian cities |
| topic | Restricted emission activities Populated cities Background concentrations India Lockdown |
| url | https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200308 |
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