A058-0005
Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air quality in downtown Toronto using open-path Fourier transform spectroscopy

Wednesday, 9 December 2020
Poster
Yuan You1, Brendan Byrne1,2, Orfeo Colebatch1, Dylan B. A. Jones1, Jinwoong Kim1,3, Richard Mittermeier4 and Kimberly Strong1, (1)University of Toronto, Department of Physics, Toronto, ON, Canada, (2)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (3)Environment and Climate Change Canada, Climate Research Division, Toronto, Canada, (4)Environment and Climate Change Canada, Air Quality Research Division, Toronto, ON, Canada
Abstract:
During the global COVID-19 pandemic, anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, especially traffic emissions in urban areas, have declined significantly. Long-term measurements of trace gas concentrations in urban areas can be used to quantify the impact of emission reductions on local air quality. Open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectroscopy is a non-intrusive technique that can be used to simultaneously measure multiple atmospheric trace gases in the boundary layer. This study investigates the reduction of surface CO, CO2, and CH4 mole fractions during the lockdown in downtown Toronto, Canada, which is the fourth largest city in North America. The mean daily average CO mole fraction for the period from March 14 to May 31, 2020 declined by 17 ± 5% compared to the period before lockdown from January 1 to March 13, 2020. The mean daily average CO mole fraction during the lockdown also declined relative to the same period in previous years: by 14 ± 6% relative to 2019 and by 18 ± 6% relative to 2018. Changes in the diurnal variations of CO, CO2 and CH4 during the lockdown are also investigated and compared to 2019 and 2018. Both CO and CO2 show early morning maxima on weekdays corresponding to rush hour. The change of the amplitude of the diurnal variation in CO during the lockdown is significant, compared to the period before lockdown. The differences in the diurnal variation in CO during the same two periods in 2019 and 2018 are not significant. Ratios of CO/CO2 anomalies show seasonal variations, which are also likely due to seasonal changes of emissions from local sources. These results show that the COVID-19 lockdown in Toronto modified surface mole fractions, diurnal variations, and ratios of air pollutants monitored by OP-FTIR. In addition, measured CO2 mole fractions are compared with simulated CO2 mole fractions by WRF-STILT to assess the relationship between atmospheric measurements and urban emissions from Toronto.
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