Air quality development during the COVID-19 pandemic over a medium-sized urban area in Thailand

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an industrial and financial slowdown due to unprecedented regulations imposed with the purpose to contain the spread of the virus. Consequently, the positive effect on the environment has been witnessed. One of the most prominent evidences has been the drastic air quality improvement, as a direct consequence of lower emissions from reduced industrial activity. While several studies have demonstrated the validity of this hypothesis in mega-cities worldwide, it is still an unsubstantiated fact whether the same holds true for cities with a smaller urban extent and population. In the present study we investigate the temporal development of atmospheric constituent concentrations as retrieved concurrently from the Sentinel-5P satellite and a ground meteorological station. We focus on the period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic over the city of Hat Yai, Thailand and present the effect of the lockdown on the atmospheric quality over this average populated city (156,000 inhabitants). NO₂, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations decreased by 33.7%, 21.8% and 22.9% respectively in the first 3 weeks of the lockdown compared to the respective pre-lockdown period; O₃ also decreased by 12.5% and contrary to similar studies. Monthly averages of NO₂, CO and PM_2.5 for the month April exhibit in 2020 the lowest values in the last decade. Sentinel-5P retrieved NO₂ tropospheric concentrations, both locally over the ground station and the spatial average over the urban extent of the city, are in agreement with the reduction observed from the ground station. Numerous studies have already presented evidence of the bettering of the air quality over large metropolitan areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the current study we demonstrate that this holds true for Hat Yai, Thailand; we propound that the environmental benefits documented in major urban agglomerations during the lockdown may extend to medium-sized urban areas as well.

Keywords: Air pollution; Atmospheric particles; COVID-19; Lockdown; NO(2); Remote sensing; Sentinel-5P.