Uncertainty in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air quality in Hong Kong, China

Huang, Y; Zhou, JL; Yu, Y; Mok, WC; Lee, CFC; Yam, YS

Uncertainty in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air quality in Hong Kong, China

Huang, Y

Zhou, JL Yu, Y

Mok, WC Lee, CFC Yam, YS

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Publisher:: MDPI
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Atmosphere, 2020, 11, (9)
Issue Date:: 2020-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Huang, Y https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9800-8788
dc.contributor.author	Zhou, JL
dc.contributor.author	Yu, Y https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9592-8191
dc.contributor.author	Mok, WC
dc.contributor.author	Lee, CFC
dc.contributor.author	Yam, YS
dc.date.accessioned	2021-02-04T06:07:36Z
dc.date.available	2021-02-04T06:07:36Z
dc.date.issued	2020-09-01
dc.identifier.citation	Atmosphere, 2020, 11, (9)
dc.identifier.issn	2073-4433
dc.identifier.issn	2073-4433
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/145842
dc.description.abstract	© 2020 by the authors. Strict social distancing rules are being implemented to stop the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in many cities globally, causing a sudden and extreme change in the transport activities. This offers a unique opportunity to assess the effect of anthropogenic activities on air quality and provides a valuable reference to the policymakers in developing air quality control measures and projecting their effectiveness. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on the roadside and ambient air quality in Hong Kong, China, by comparing the air quality monitoring data collected in January-April 2020 with those in 2017-2019. The results showed that the roadside and ambient NO2, PM10, PM2.5, CO and SO2 were generally reduced in 2020 when comparing with the historical data in 2017-2019, while O3 was increased. However, the reductions during COVID-19 period (i.e., February-April) were not always higher than that during pre-COVID-19 period (i.e., January). In addition, there were large seasonal variations in the monthly mean pollutant concentrations in every year. This study implies that one air pollution control measure may not generate obvious immediate improvements in the air quality monitoring data and its effectiveness should be evaluated carefully to eliminate the effect of seasonal variations.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	MDPI
dc.relation.ispartof	Atmosphere
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3390/atmos11090914
dc.rights	©2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open accessarticle distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0401 Atmospheric Sciences, 0502 Environmental Science and Management
dc.title	Uncertainty in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air quality in Hong Kong, China
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	11
utslib.for	0401 Atmospheric Sciences
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CTWW - Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater Treatment
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2021-02-04T06:07:21Z
pubs.issue	9
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	11
utslib.citation.issue	9

Abstract:

© 2020 by the authors. Strict social distancing rules are being implemented to stop the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in many cities globally, causing a sudden and extreme change in the transport activities. This offers a unique opportunity to assess the effect of anthropogenic activities on air quality and provides a valuable reference to the policymakers in developing air quality control measures and projecting their effectiveness. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on the roadside and ambient air quality in Hong Kong, China, by comparing the air quality monitoring data collected in January-April 2020 with those in 2017-2019. The results showed that the roadside and ambient NO2, PM10, PM2.5, CO and SO2 were generally reduced in 2020 when comparing with the historical data in 2017-2019, while O3 was increased. However, the reductions during COVID-19 period (i.e., February-April) were not always higher than that during pre-COVID-19 period (i.e., January). In addition, there were large seasonal variations in the monthly mean pollutant concentrations in every year. This study implies that one air pollution control measure may not generate obvious immediate improvements in the air quality monitoring data and its effectiveness should be evaluated carefully to eliminate the effect of seasonal variations.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/145842