Publication: Investigation on the Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdown and Influencing Factors on Air Quality in Greater Bangkok, Thailand
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Issued Date
2021
Resource Type
File Type
application/pdf
ISSN
16879309
Other identifier(s)
2-s2.0-85101057253
Rights Holder(s)
มหาวิทยาลัยศรีนครินทรวิโรฒ
Bibliographic Citation
Advances in Meteorology. Vol 2021, No. (2021)
Suggested Citation
Wetchayont P. Investigation on the Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdown and Influencing Factors on Air Quality in Greater Bangkok, Thailand. Advances in Meteorology. Vol 2021, No. (2021). doi:10.1155/2021/6697707 Retrieved from: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14740/8112
Author(s)
Abstract
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, many countries announced lockdown measures, including Thailand. Several scientific studies have reported on improvements in air quality due to the impact of these COVID-19 lockdowns. This study aims to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown and its driving influencing factors on air pollution in Greater Bangkok, Thailand, using in situ measurements. Overall, PM2.5, PM10, O3, and CO concentrations presented a significant decreasing trend during the COVID-19 outbreak year based on three periods: the Before Lockdown, Lockdown, and After Lockdown periods, for PM2.5: -0.7%, -15.8%, and -20.7%; PM10: -4.1%, -31.7%, and -6.1%; and O3: -0.3%, -7.1%, and -4.7%, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2019. CO concentrations, especially which had increased by 14.7% Before Lockdown, decreased by -8.0% and -23.6% during the Lockdown and After Lockdown periods, respectively. Meanwhile, SO2 increased by 54.0%, 41.5%, and 84.6%, and NO2 increased by 20.1%, 3.2%, and 26.6%, respectively, for the Before Lockdown, Lockdown, and After Lockdown periods. PCA indicated a significant combination effect of atmospheric mechanisms that were strongly linked to emission sources such as traffic and biomass burning. It has been demonstrated that the COVID-19 lockdown did pause some of these anthropogenic emissions, i.e., traffic and commercial and industrial activities, but not all of them. Even low traffic emissions, on their own, did not cause an absolute reduction in air pollution since there are several primary emission sources that dominate the air quality over Greater Bangkok. Finally, these findings highlight the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures not only on air pollution levels but on their effects on air pollution characteristics, as well. © 2021 Parichat Wetchayont.