What can we learn about urban air quality with regard to the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic? A case study from central Europe

Abstract

Motor vehicle road traffic in central Budapest was reduced by approximately 50 % of its ordinary level for several weeks as a consequence of various limitation measures introduced to mitigate the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The situation was utilised to assess the real potentials of urban traffic on air quality. Concentrations of NO, NO2, CO, O3, SO2 and particulate matter (PM) mass, which are ordinarily monitored in cities for air quality considerations, aerosol particle number size distributions, which are not rarely measured continuously on longer runs for research purposes, and meteorological properties usually available were collected and jointly evaluated in different pandemic phases. The largest changes occurred over the severest limitations (partial lockdown in the Restriction phase from 28 March to 17 May 2020). Concentrations of NO, NO2, CO, total particle number (N6–1000) and particles with a diameter < 100 nm declined by 68 %, 46 %, 27 %, 24 % and 28 %, respectively, in 2020 with respect to the average reference year comprising 2017–2019. Their quantification was based on both relative difference and standardised anomaly. The change rates expressed as relative concentration difference due to relative reduction in traffic intensity for NO, NO2, N6–1000 and CO were 0.63, 0.57, 0.40 and 0.22 (%/%), respectively. Of the pollutants which reacted in a sensitive manner to the change in vehicle circulation, it is the NO2 that shows the most frequent exceedance of the health limits. Intentional tranquillising of the vehicle flow has considerable potential for improving the air quality. At the same time, the concentration levels of PM10 mass, which is the most critical pollutant in many European cities including Budapest, did not seem to be largely affected by vehicles. Concentrations of O3 concurrently showed an increasing tendency with lower traffic, which was explained by its complex reaction mechanism. Modelling calculations indicated that spatial gradients of NO and NO2 within the city became further enhanced by reduced vehicle flow.