Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic On Air Quality in the United States

Abstract:

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic On Air Quality in the United States

First Author: Zongren Zhang Second Author: Christina Liu

Co-authors: Meng Chun Chen, Maha Alnajjar

During COVID-19 pandemic, many countries implemented a shelter-in-place or strict quarantine rules, which significantly reduced the activities of societies worldwide. Through our research, we present observable effects COVID-19 pandemic has had on the air quality in the United States. We use MatLab to analyze the daily concentration measurements of Carbon monoOxide (CO), PM2.5, and PM10 at three metropolitan cities in the United States. We obtained our data set from the Environmental Protection Agency website and rely on the Agency’s measurement protocols for instrument calibrations and accurate data reporting. We chose CO, PM2.5, and PM10 as key indicators of the potential anthropogenic impact on air quality. Combining the latest available data sets, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the relationship of human activity and its potential impact on the local air quality. Our results show that air quality has been significantly improved during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with prior years.

Key words: Air Pollution (CO, PM2.5, PM10), COVID-19, metropolitans