Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2248/7685
Title: Silver linings in the dark clouds of COVID-19: Improvement of air quality over India and Delhi metropolitan area from measurements and WRF-CHIMERE model simulations
Authors: Dumka, U. C
Kaskaoutis, D. G
Verma, Shubha
Shantikumar, N. S
Sarvan Kumar
Ghosh, Sanhita
Keywords: COVID-19
Air pollutants
Aerosols
Ground measurements
Remote sensing
Issue Date: Feb-2021
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
Citation: Atmospheric Pollution Research, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 225-242
Abstract: The current study examines the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown (25th March until May 17, 2020) period in particulate matter (PM) concentrations and air pollutants (NOx, SO2, CO, NH3, and O3) at 63 stations located at Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana states within the Delhi-NCR, India. Large average reductions are recorded between the stations in each state such as PM10 (−46 to −58%), PM2.5 (−49 to −55%), NO2 (−27 to −58%), NO (−54% to −59%), CO (−4 to −44%), NH3 (−2 to −38%), while a slight increase is observed for O3 (+4 to +6%) during the lockdown period compared to same periods in previous years. Furthermore, PM and air pollutants are significantly reduced during lockdown compared to the respective period in previous years, while a significant increase in pollution levels is observed after the re-opening of economy. The meteorological changes were rather marginal between the examined periods in order to justify such large reductions in pollution levels, which are mostly attributed to traffic-related pollutants (NOx, CO and road-dust PM). The WRF-CHIMERE model simulations reveal a remarkable reduction in PM2.5, NO2 and SO2 levels over whole Indian subcontinent and mostly over urban areas, due to limitation in emissions from the traffic and industrial sectors. A PM2.5 reduction of −48% was simulated in Delhi in great consistency with measurements, rendering the model as a powerful tool for simulations of lower pollution levels during lockdown period.
Description: Restricted Access
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2248/7685
ISSN: 1309-1042
Appears in Collections:IIAP Publications



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