The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the air quality of Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the air quality of Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
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DOI：
10.1007/s11869-020-00918-3
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发表时间：
2020-08-29
影响因子：
5.1
通讯作者：
Alagha, Omar
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Anil, Ismail;Alagha, Omar
自 2019 年 12 月在中国武汉发现 COVID-19 疫情以来，直接感染 COVID-19 的死亡人数已超过 775,000 人，并向世界卫生组织 (WHO) 报告的病例超过 2100 万例。人们坚信，室外和室内空气质量差可能会加剧其影响，特别是对老年人而言。 2020 年 3 月 23 日至 6 月 20 日期间实施了全国封锁措施，以阻止 COVID-19 大流行在沙特阿拉伯王国 (KSA) 的蔓延。在这项工作中，利用从覆盖沙特阿拉伯东部省的八个监测站获得的气象和空气质量数据集，调查了封锁对空气质量可能产生的影响。研究的空气污染物包括一氧化碳（CO）、二氧化硫（SO2）、二氧化氮（NO2）、臭氧（O-3）和可吸入颗粒物（PM10）。研究发现，NO(2) 是对封锁措施反应最好的标志性污染物，因为其浓度在封锁期间和封锁后在所有地点均有所下降，分别在 12-86% 和 14-81% 之间。与封城前相比，东部省份的PM10（21-70%）、CO（5.8-55%）、SO2（8.7-30%）浓度也出现了不同程度的明显下降，而O(3)浓度则出现了6.3%至45%的上升幅度。这些减少的后果反映在室外空气质量的改善上，这可能会减少 COVID-19 大流行的影响，特别是对老年人和敏感群体的影响。
Since the identification of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the death toll from the direct infection by COVID-19 has exceeded 775,000, and more than 21 million cases have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) around the world. It is strongly believed that its impact might be worsened by poor outdoor and indoor air qualities, particularly on older adults. The nationwide lockdown measures were imposed between March 23 and June 20, 2020, to stop the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In this work, the possible effects of the lockdown on the air quality were investigated using meteorological and air quality datasets obtained from eight monitoring stations covering the Eastern Province of the KSA. The studied air pollutants include carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O-3), and inhalable particulate matter (PM10). The NO(2)was found to be the marker pollutant responding best to the lockdown measures since its concentrations decreased at all sites during- and post-lockdown periods and ranged between 12-86% and 14-81%, respectively. Compared with pre-lockdown period, the Eastern Province also experienced significant concentration reductions at varying rates for PM10(21-70%), CO (5.8-55%), and SO2(8.7-30%), while O(3)concentrations showed increasing rates ranging between 6.3 and 45%. The consequences of these reductions were reflected in easing the outdoor air quality, which might reduce the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, especially on elderly and sensitive groups.