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Volume 15
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10.3390/su15010642
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Article

Analysis of COVID-19 Lockdown Effects on Urban Air Quality: A Case Study of Monterrey, Mexico

by
Benedetto Schiavo
1,*,
Ofelia Morton-Bermea
1,
Thania Elizabeth Arredondo-Palacios
2,
Diana Meza-Figueroa
3,
Agustin Robles-Morua
4,
Rocío García-Martínez
2,
Daisy Valera-Fernández
1,
Claudio Inguaggiato
5 and
Belem Gonzalez-Grijalva
3
1
Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
2
Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
3
Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo 83000, Mexico
4
Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y del Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Mexico
5
Departamento de Geología, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE), Ensenada 22860, Mexico
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 642; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010642
Submission received: 20 November 2022 / Revised: 24 December 2022 / Accepted: 28 December 2022 / Published: 30 December 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental, Health and Socio-Economic Impacts of Air Pollution in Mexico)
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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused several millions of deaths and forced the world population to a new normality. This study aims to analyze the air quality variation of several gaseous pollutants (CO, NO2, SO2, O3, PM10, and PM2.5) during the pre-lockdown, lockdown, and unlock period in the city of Monterrey using ground-based measurements. In this research, we proposed to use a control period of previous years to identify parameter variation due to local climate. The results showed a drastic decrease in measured contaminants during the lockdown period as follows: SO2 (−41.9%) > PM10 (−30.5%) > PM2.5 (−25.6%) > NO2 (−14.9%) > CO (−9.8%) compared to the control period (2017–2019). The O3 was the only air pollutant that showed an opposite trend, increasing during lockdown (+15%) and unlock (+2.2%), whereas CO (−16.6%) and NO2 (−30.6%) were further decreased. Moreover, using OMI/AURA satellite data, we detected a NO2 tropospheric column reduction by −1.9% during lockdown concerning the same period in the control interval. Moreover, we found a significant improvement in the Air Quality Index (AQI) due to the lockdown. Our findings indicate an association between air pollutants and economic activity and can be used in future strategies to improve urban air quality.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; air quality; environmental pollution; lockdown; nitrogen dioxide; particulate matter; monterrey SARS-CoV-2; air quality; environmental pollution; lockdown; nitrogen dioxide; particulate matter; monterrey
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MDPI and ACS Style

Schiavo, B.; Morton-Bermea, O.; Arredondo-Palacios, T.E.; Meza-Figueroa, D.; Robles-Morua, A.; García-Martínez, R.; Valera-Fernández, D.; Inguaggiato, C.; Gonzalez-Grijalva, B. Analysis of COVID-19 Lockdown Effects on Urban Air Quality: A Case Study of Monterrey, Mexico. Sustainability 2023, 15, 642. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010642

AMA Style

Schiavo B, Morton-Bermea O, Arredondo-Palacios TE, Meza-Figueroa D, Robles-Morua A, García-Martínez R, Valera-Fernández D, Inguaggiato C, Gonzalez-Grijalva B. Analysis of COVID-19 Lockdown Effects on Urban Air Quality: A Case Study of Monterrey, Mexico. Sustainability. 2023; 15(1):642. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010642

Chicago/Turabian Style

Schiavo, Benedetto, Ofelia Morton-Bermea, Thania Elizabeth Arredondo-Palacios, Diana Meza-Figueroa, Agustin Robles-Morua, Rocío García-Martínez, Daisy Valera-Fernández, Claudio Inguaggiato, and Belem Gonzalez-Grijalva. 2023. "Analysis of COVID-19 Lockdown Effects on Urban Air Quality: A Case Study of Monterrey, Mexico" Sustainability 15, no. 1: 642. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010642

APA Style

Schiavo, B., Morton-Bermea, O., Arredondo-Palacios, T. E., Meza-Figueroa, D., Robles-Morua, A., García-Martínez, R., Valera-Fernández, D., Inguaggiato, C., & Gonzalez-Grijalva, B. (2023). Analysis of COVID-19 Lockdown Effects on Urban Air Quality: A Case Study of Monterrey, Mexico. Sustainability, 15(1), 642. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010642

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