Assessing and predicting air quality in northern Jordan during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic using artificial neural network

This study deals with the simulation and prediction of air pollutants in Irbid city (north of Jordan) before and during the spread of the COVID-19 virus pandemic by using an artificial neural network (ANN). Based on the data obtained from the air quality monitoring station for the year 2019 and the first quarter of the year 2020, it was possible to develop an ANN model to simulate and predict the concentrations of three air pollutants, namely nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and particulate matter with diameter less than 10 μm (PM₁₀). Several ANN model configurations were tested to select the best model that could predict the concentration of the three air pollutants with meteorological parameters being used as input to the model. The results showed that the concentration of the pollutants during the coronavirus lockdown was declined by various percentages (from 29% for PM₁₀ to 72% for NO₂) as compared to their concentration before the pandemic period. Furthermore, the developed ANN model could simulate and predict the concentration of the pollutants during the pandemic period with sufficient accuracy as judged by the values of the coefficient of determination and the mean square error. The study results indicate that properly trained and structured ANN can be a useful tool to predict air quality parameters with adequate accuracy.