1. Integrating in situ measurements and city scale modelling to assess the COVID–19 lockdown effects on emissions and air quality in Athens, GreeceGeorgios Grivas, Eleni Athanasopoulou, Anastasia Kakouri, Jennifer Bailey, Eleni Liakakou, Iasonas Stavroulas, Panayiotis Kalkavouras, Aikaterini Bougiatioti, Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis, Michel Ramonet, 2020, original scientific article Abstract: The lockdown measures implemented worldwide to slow the spread of the COVID–19 pandemic have allowed for a unique real-world experiment, regarding the impacts of drastic emission cutbacks on urban air quality. In this study we assess the effects of a 7-week (23 March–10 May 2020) lockdown in the Greater Area of Athens, coupling in situ observations with estimations from a meteorology-atmospheric chemistry model. Measurements in central Athens during the lockdown were compared with levels during the pre- and post-lockdown 3-week periods and with respective levels in the four previous years. We examined regulatory pollutants as well as CO2, black carbon (BC) and source-specific BC components. Models were run for pre-lockdown and lockdown periods, under baseline and reduced-emissions scenarios. The in-situ results indicate mean concentration reductions of 30–35% for traffic-related pollutants in Athens (NO2, CO, BC from fossil fuel combustion), compared to the pre-lockdown period. A large reduction (53%) was observed also for the urban CO2 enhancement while the reduction for PM2.5 was subtler (18%). Significant reductions were also observed when comparing the 2020 lockdown period with past years. However, levels rebounded immediately following the lift of the general lockdown. The decrease in measured NO2 concentrations was reproduced by the implementation of the city scale model, under a realistic reduced-emissions scenario for the lockdown period, anchored at a 46% decline of road transport activity. The model permitted the assessment of air quality improvements on a spatial scale, indicating that NO2 mean concentration reductions in areas of the Athens basin reached up to 50%. The findings suggest a potential for local traffic management strategies to reduce ambient exposure and to minimize exceedances of air quality standards for primary pollutants.
Keywords: pandemic, urban air pollution, traffic, chemical transport model, TAPM, mapping
Published in RUNG: 10.05.2024; Views: 976; Downloads: 4
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2. Atmospheric peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) : a global budget and source attributionE. V. Fischer, D. J. Jacob, R. M. Yantosca, M. P. Sulprizio, D. B. Millet, Jiandong Mao, F. Paulot, H. B. Singh, A. Roiger, Katja Džepina, 2014, original scientific article Abstract: Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) formed in the atmospheric oxidation of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) is the principal tropospheric reservoir for nitrogen oxide radicals (NOx = NO + NO2). PAN enables the transport and release of NOx to the remote troposphere with major implications for the global distributions of ozone and OH, the main tropospheric oxidants. Simulation of PAN is a challenge for global models because of the dependence
of PAN on vertical transport as well as complex and uncertain NMVOC sources and chemistry. Here we use an improved representation of NMVOCs in a global 3-D chemical
transport model (GEOS-Chem) and show that it can simulate PAN observations from aircraft campaigns worldwide.
The immediate carbonyl precursors for PAN formation include acetaldehyde (44 % of the global source), methylglyoxal (30 %), acetone (7 %), and a suite of other isoprene and
terpene oxidation products (19 %). A diversity of NMVOC
emissions is responsible for PAN formation globally including isoprene (37 %) and alkanes (14 %). Anthropogenic
sources are dominant in the extratropical Northern Hemisphere outside the growing season. Open fires appear to play
little role except at high northern latitudes in spring, although
results are very sensitive to plume chemistry and plume rise.
Lightning NOx is the dominant contributor to the observed
PAN maximum in the free troposphere over the South Atlantic.
Keywords: peroxyacetyl nitrate, non-methane volatile organic compounds, global 3-D chemical transport model, GEOS-chem
Published in RUNG: 11.04.2021; Views: 3215; Downloads: 0
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