Different approaches to explore the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on carbonaceous aerosols at a European rural background site.

0584264 - ÚCHP 2024 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Mbengue, S. - Vodička, Petr - Komínková, K. - Zíková, Naděžda - Schwarz, Jaroslav - Prokeš, P. - Suchánková, Lenka - Julaha, Kajal - Ondráček, Jakub - Holoubek, I. - Ždímal, Vladimír
Different approaches to explore the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on carbonaceous aerosols at a European rural background site.
Science of the Total Environment. Roč. 892, SEP 20 (2023), č. článku 164527. ISSN 0048-9697. E-ISSN 1879-1026
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) LM2023030
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 871115 - ACTRIS IMP
Institutional support: RVO:67985858
Keywords : covid-19 lockdowns * atmospheric aerosols * organic - elemental carbon * vertical distribution
OECD category: Meteorology and atmospheric sciences
Impact factor: 9.8, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723031480?via%3Dihub

To prevent the fast spread of COVID-19, worldwide restrictions have been put in place, leading to a reduction in emis-sions from most anthropogenic sources. In this study, the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on elemental (EC) and or-ganic (OC) carbon was explored at a European rural background site combining different approaches: - Horizontal approach (HA) consists of comparing concentrations of pollutants measured at 4 m a.g.l. during pre-COVID period (2017-2019) to those measured during COVID period (2020-2021), - Vertical approach (VA) con-sists of inspecting the relationship between OC and EC measured at 4 m and those on top (230 m) of a 250 m-tall tower in Czech Republic. The HA showed that the lockdowns did not systematically result in lower concentrations of both carbonaceous fractions unlike NO2 (25 to 36 % lower) and SO2 (10 to 45 % lower). EC was generally lower during the lockdowns (up to 35 %), likely attributed to the traffic restrictions whereas increased OC (up to 50 %) could be attributed to enhanced emissions from the domestic heating and biomass burning during this stay-home pe-riod, but also to the enhanced concentration of SOC (up to 98 %). EC and OC were generally higher at 4 m suggesting a greater influence of local sources near the surface. Interestingly, the VA revealed a significantly enhanced correlation between EC and OC measured at 4 m and those at 230 m (R values up to 0.88 and 0.70 during lockdown 1 and 2, re-spectively), suggesting a stronger influence of aged and long distance transported aerosols during the lockdowns. This study reveals that lockdowns did not necessarily affect aerosol absolute concentrations but it certainly influenced their vertical distribution. Therefore, analyzing the vertical distribution can allow a better characterization of aerosol prop-erties and sources at rural background sites, especially during a period of significantly reduced human activities.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0352212