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Atmosphere
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Trends in Global and Regional Urban Air Quality: Influenced by...
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Trends in Global and Regional Urban Air Quality: Influenced by COVID-19 Pandemic

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 January 2022) | Viewed by 14574

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Likun Xue

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Guest Editor
Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 250100, China
Interests: regional and urban air quality; tropospheric ozone; field observations; chemical box model
Prof. Dr. Ewa Brągoszewska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Silesian University of Technology, 18 Konarskiego St., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Interests: indoor and outdoor air quality; bioaerosol; bacteria; fungi; epidemiology; public health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xiang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
South Coast Air Quality Management District, Diamond Bar, CA 91792, USA
Interests: urban air quality; air pollutant and greenhouse gas emission soruces; air quality forecast; environmental policy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Young Sunwoo

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Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea
Interests: air quality modeling; air quality management & policy; emission inventories; HAP emission inventories; ship & harbor emissions; urban air quality; atmospheric chemistry; air quality monitoring network; climate change & air quality; SLCPs; air quality impact of volcanic eruptions; international cooperation for air quality & climate change; air environment education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 Pandemic is changing the social and economic development worldwide. The anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases have been periodically reduced due to short-term city lockdown, and are also expected to be significantly affected in a long-term in the future. Such change in anthropogenic forcing, interacting with the complex natural processes, atmospheric chemistry and climate feedbacks, would drive profound variation trends in air quality both regionally and globally. Furthermore, the outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic offers an opportunity to evaluate the existing knowledge of atmospheric chemistry and physics and to assess the effects of current policy against air pollution and climate change. Hence, addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the trends in urban, regional and global air quality is essential for a better understanding of atmospheric science as well as better clear sky actions.

In view of above, the Journal Atmosphere dedicates this special issue to showcase the most recent findings on the past, present and future changes in the urban, regional and global air quality under the influence of COVID-19 Pandemic. This SI is open for submissions of original research studies, review and perspective articles. Analysis of long-term air quality monitoring data and air quality modelling studies are highly welcome. Comprehensive analysis of short-term data showing the impacts of COVID-19 on air pollution and climate are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Likun Xue
Dr. Ewa Brągoszewska
Dr. Xiang Li
Dr. Young Sunwoo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air quality
  • air pollution
  • climate change
  • aerosol
  • tropospheric ozone
  • VOCs
  • greenhouse gas
  • field observations
  • air quality model
  • air quality monitoring
  • COVID-19

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2662 KiB  
Article
Insights on In-Situ Photochemistry Associated with Ozone Reduction in Guangzhou during the COVID-19 Lockdown
by Kit Ying Shek, Yangzong Zeren, Hai Guo, Mei Li, Ming Liu, Bo Huang and Xiaopu Lyu
Atmosphere 2022, 13(2), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13020212 - 28 Jan 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2843
Abstract
Increases in ground-level ozone (O3) have been observed during the COVID-19 lockdown in many places around the world, primarily due to the uncoordinated emission reductions of O3 precursors. In Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in South China, O3 [...] Read more.
Increases in ground-level ozone (O3) have been observed during the COVID-19 lockdown in many places around the world, primarily due to the uncoordinated emission reductions of O3 precursors. In Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in South China, O3 distinctively decreased during the lockdown. Such a phenomenon was attributed to meteorological variations and weakening of local O3 formation, as indicated by chemical transport models. However, the emission-based modellings were not fully validated by observations, especially for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this study, we analyzed the changes of O3 and its precursors, including VOCs, from the pre-lockdown (Pre-LD) to lockdown period (LD) spanning 1 week in Guangzhou. An observation-based box model was applied to understand the evolution of in-situ photochemistry. Indeed, the ambient concentrations of O3 precursors decreased significantly in the LD. A reduction of 20.7% was identified for the total mixing ratios of VOCs, and the transportation-related species experienced the biggest declines. However, the reduction of O3 precursors would not lead to a decrease of in-situ O3 production if the meteorology did not change between the Pre-LD and LD periods. Sensitivity tests indicated that O3 formation was limited by VOCs in both periods. The lower temperature and photolysis frequencies in the LD reversed the increase of O3 that would be caused by the emission reductions otherwise. This study reiterates the fact that O3 abatement requires coordinated control strategies, even if the emissions of O3 precursors can be significantly reduced in the short term. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Global and Regional Urban Air Quality: Influenced by COVID-19 Pandemic)
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16 pages, 696 KiB  
Article
Can Industrial Restructuring Improve Urban Air Quality?—A Quasi-Experiment in Beijing during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Chenlu Tao, Zhilin Liao, Mingxing Hu, Baodong Cheng and Gang Diao
Atmosphere 2022, 13(1), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010119 - 12 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2271
Abstract
The conflict between economic growth and environmental pollution has become a considerable bottleneck to future development throughout the world. The industrial structure may become the possible key factor in resolving the contradiction. Using the daily data of air quality from January to April [...] Read more.
The conflict between economic growth and environmental pollution has become a considerable bottleneck to future development throughout the world. The industrial structure may become the possible key factor in resolving the contradiction. Using the daily data of air quality from January to April in 2019 and 2020, we used the DID model to identify the effects of industrial structure on air quality by taking the COVID-19 pandemic as a quasi-experiment. The results show that, first, the impact of profit of the secondary industry on air quality is ten times higher than that of the tertiary industry. Therefore, the secondary industry is the main factor causing air pollution. Second, the effect of the reduction in the secondary industry on the improvement of air quality is better than that of the tertiary industry in Beijing. Therefore, the implementation of Beijing’s non-capital function relief policy is timely and reasonable, and the adjustment of the industrial structure is effective in the improvement of air quality. Third, PM2.5, NO2, and CO are affected by the secondary and tertiary industries, where PM2.5 is affected most seriously by the second industry. Therefore, the transformation from the secondary industry to the tertiary industry can not only solve the problem of unemployment but also relieve the haze. Fourth, the result of O3 is in opposition to other pollutants. The probable reason is that the decrease of PM2.5 would lead to an increase in the O3 concentration. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce O3 concentrationby production limitation and it is urgent to formulate scientific methods to deal with O3 pollution. Fifth, the air quality in the surrounding areas can also influence Beijing. As Hebei is a key area to undertake Beijing’s industry, the deterioration of its air quality would also bring pressure to Beijing’s atmospheric environment. Therefore, in the process of industrial adjustment, the selection of appropriate regions for undertaking industries is very essential, which is worth our further discussion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Global and Regional Urban Air Quality: Influenced by COVID-19 Pandemic)
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32 pages, 21310 KiB  
Article
The Impact on Urban Air Quality of the COVID-19 Lockdown Periods in 2020: The Case of Nicosia, Cyprus
by Giorgos Alexandrou, Petros Mouzourides, Andreas Eleftheriou and Marina K.-A. Neophytou
Atmosphere 2021, 12(10), 1310; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12101310 - 7 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2875
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the lockdown measures in 2020 on the urban air quality in Nicosia capital city, in Cyprus—an island-country in the East Mediterranean—which is often affected by transboundary dust pollution. The study focuses on [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the lockdown measures in 2020 on the urban air quality in Nicosia capital city, in Cyprus—an island-country in the East Mediterranean—which is often affected by transboundary dust pollution. The study focuses on three criteria pollutants, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and Particulate Matter (PM10), taken from three Air Quality Monitoring Stations; two urban stations and one reference-background. The results of this study show that the decrease in traffic, which is the main source of high concentrations of pollutants in the urban area, reached up to 66.5% during the lockdown. At the beginning of the lockdown period, it exhibited a downward trend of 29% for CO concentration, and downward trend 43% for NO2 and PM10 concentrations. The NO2 concentration exhibited an upward trend towards the end of the lockdown; with the indication that this was due to meteorological conditions relevant to the monitoring stations and the transport of NO2 concentrations from sources that cannot be tracked. PM10 concentrations exhibited a varying behaviour as observed in the trends, where the decreasing trend was followed by an increasing trend due to transboundary air pollution episodes occurring in the same period. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Global and Regional Urban Air Quality: Influenced by COVID-19 Pandemic)
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19 pages, 2974 KiB  
Article
One-Year Real-Time Measurement of Black Carbon in the Rural Area of Qingdao, Northeastern China: Seasonal Variations, Meteorological Effects, and the COVID-19 Case Analysis
by Shijie Cui, Jiukun Xian, Fuzhen Shen, Lin Zhang, Baoling Deng, Yunjiang Zhang and Xinlei Ge
Atmosphere 2021, 12(3), 394; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12030394 - 18 Mar 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4417
Abstract
In this paper, we report the results obtained from one year of real-time measurement (i.e., from December 2019 to November 2020) of atmospheric black carbon (BC) under a rural environment in Qingdao of Northeastern China. The annual average concentration of BC was 1.92 [...] Read more.
In this paper, we report the results obtained from one year of real-time measurement (i.e., from December 2019 to November 2020) of atmospheric black carbon (BC) under a rural environment in Qingdao of Northeastern China. The annual average concentration of BC was 1.92 ± 1.89 μg m−3. The highest average concentration of BC was observed in winter (3.65 ± 2.66 μg m−3), followed by fall (1.73 ± 1.33 μg m−3), spring (1.53 ± 1.33 μg m−3), and summer (0.83 ± 0.56 μg m−3). A clear weekend effect was observed in winter, which was characterized by higher BC concentration (4.60 ± 2.86 μg m−3) during the weekend rather than that (3.22 ± 2.45 μg m−3) during weekdays. The influence of meteorological parameters, including surface horizontal wind speed, boundary layer height (BLH), and precipitation, on BC, was investigated. In particular, such BLH influence presented evidently seasonal dependence, while there was no significant seasonality for horizontal wind speed. These may reflect different roles of atmospheric vertical dilution on affecting BC in different seasons. The △BC/△CO ratio decreased with the increase of precipitation, indicative of the influence of below-cloud wet removal of BC, especially during summertime where rainfall events more frequently occurred than any of other seasons. The bivariate-polar-plot analysis showed that the high BC concentrations were mainly associated with low wind speed in all seasons, highlighting an important BC source originated from local emissions. By using concentration-weighted trajectory analysis, it was found that regional transports, especially from northeastern in winter, could not be negligible for contributing to BC pollution in rural Qingdao. In the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID−19) case analysis, we observed an obvious increase in the BC/NO2 ratio during the COVID-19 lockdown, supporting the significant non-traffic source sector (such as residential coal combustion) for BC in rural Qingdao. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Global and Regional Urban Air Quality: Influenced by COVID-19 Pandemic)
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