Coronavirus Pandemic Shutdown Effects on Urban Air Quality (2nd Volume)

Dear Colleagues,

Though the COVID-19 pandemic continues, countermeasures to limit the virus’ spread, particular countrywide or regional “lock-downs”, have become rare. However, pandemic-induced changes to social behavior in densely populated areas may have led to enduring changes in urban air quality.

For our first volume, we invited manuscripts that described the effects on air quality during the initial phases of the world’s response to the pandemic. This was dominated by large, but mostly temporary reductions in road traffic emissions that manifested in air quality changes observable from satellite instruments and surface air quality measurement networks. As a result, Atmosphere published a series of insightful analyses from several continents, including rich datasets.

For this second volume, we are once again seeking manuscripts that use remotely sensed or in situ measurement data to provide insights into the effects of the pandemic on urban air quality. In addition, considering the rapid recovery of social and economic activity in many parts of the world, we solicit manuscripts that address questions of how and how fast air pollution around the world has or has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Since the initial emissions reductions were likely not uniform, and neither was the return to “normal”, we are looking forward to continued analyses of the altered mobile sector and other emissions that can be traced to societal challenges and changes driven by the world’s pandemic responses. In this regard, we encourage comprehensive studies that bring these air quality changes into the broader perspective of health effects.

Dr. Gunnar W. Schade
Prof. Dr. Nicole Mölders
Dr. Daniele Contini
Dr. Gabriele Curci
Dr. Francesca Costabile
Prof. Dr. Prashant Kumar
Dr. Chris G. Tzanis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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