Analysis of COVID-19 Lockdown Effects on Urban Air Quality: A Case Study of Monterrey, Mexico

Benedetto Schiavo (), Ofelia Morton-Bermea, Thania Elizabeth Arredondo-Palacios, Diana Meza-Figueroa, Agustin Robles-Morua, Rocío García-Martínez, Daisy Valera-Fernández, Claudio Inguaggiato and Belem Gonzalez-Grijalva
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Benedetto Schiavo: Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Ofelia Morton-Bermea: Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Thania Elizabeth Arredondo-Palacios: Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Diana Meza-Figueroa: Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo 83000, Mexico
Agustin Robles-Morua: Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y del Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Mexico
Rocío García-Martínez: Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Daisy Valera-Fernández: Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Claudio Inguaggiato: Departamento de Geología, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE), Ensenada 22860, Mexico
Belem Gonzalez-Grijalva: Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo 83000, Mexico

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused several millions of deaths and forced the world population to a new normality. This study aims to analyze the air quality variation of several gaseous pollutants (CO, NO 2 , SO 2 , O 3 , PM 10 , and PM 2.5 ) during the pre-lockdown, lockdown, and unlock period in the city of Monterrey using ground-based measurements. In this research, we proposed to use a control period of previous years to identify parameter variation due to local climate. The results showed a drastic decrease in measured contaminants during the lockdown period as follows: SO 2 (−41.9%) > PM 10 (−30.5%) > PM 2.5 (−25.6%) > NO 2 (−14.9%) > CO (−9.8%) compared to the control period (2017–2019). The O 3 was the only air pollutant that showed an opposite trend, increasing during lockdown (+15%) and unlock (+2.2%), whereas CO (−16.6%) and NO 2 (−30.6%) were further decreased. Moreover, using OMI/AURA satellite data, we detected a NO 2 tropospheric column reduction by −1.9% during lockdown concerning the same period in the control interval. Moreover, we found a significant improvement in the Air Quality Index (AQI) due to the lockdown. Our findings indicate an association between air pollutants and economic activity and can be used in future strategies to improve urban air quality.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; air quality; environmental pollution; lockdown; nitrogen dioxide; particulate matter; monterrey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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