The influence of COVID-19 preventive measures on the air quality in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

Abstract

The preventive and cautionary measures taken by the UAE and Abu Dhabi governments to reduce the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and promote social distancing have led to a reduction of mobility and a modification of economic and social activities. This paper provides statistical analysis of the air quality data monitored by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) during the first 10 months of 2020, comparing the different stages of the preventive measures. Ground monitoring data is compared with satellite images and mobility indicators. The study shows a drastic decrease during lockdown in the concentration of the gaseous pollutants analysed (NO2, SO2, CO, and C6H6) that aligns with the results reported in other international cities and metropolitan areas. However, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) averaged concentrations followed a markedly different trend from the gaseous pollutants, indicating a larger influence from natural events (sand and dust storms) and other anthropogenic sources. The ozone (O3) levels increased during the lockdown, showing the complexity of O3 formation. The end of lockdown led to an increase of the mobility and the air pollution; however, air pollutant concentrations remained in lower levels than during the same period of 2019. The results in this study show the large impact of human activities on the quality of air and present an opportunity for policymakers and decision-makers to design stimulus packages to overcome the economic slow-down, with strategies to accelerate the transition to resilient, low-emission economies and societies more connected to the nature that protect human health and the environment.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Air Quality: A Systematic Review

“…Nevertheless, not all evidenced an increase of the pollutants after the lockdown, because of the slow economic recovery [ 48 , 61 , 70 ]. Similarly, studies that compared to the same period in previous years [ 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 ], and even more robustly with historical data of more than 5 years ( Table 1 ), reported a decrease of pollutants’ concentrations during the lockdown. As shown in Table 1 , decreases between 9–60%, 21.4–61.6%, and 30–66% were obtained for PM 2 .…”

Increased Shamal winds and dust activity over the Arabian Peninsula during the COVID-19 lockdown period in 2020

“…Being one of the largest sources of mineral dust on Earth ( Kok et al, 2021 ), and with mineral dust potentially accounting for >40 % of the PM 10 levels ( e.g ., Guan et al, 2019 ), it is important to understand the impact of the large-scale circulation on dust activity over the Arabian Peninsula (e.g., Francis et al, 2019 ) and hence its effects on the PM 10 concentrations during the lockdown period. As will be shown in this study, even though there was a reduction in anthropogenic emissions in the region during the lockdown period ( Teixidó et al, 2021 ) as was the case elsewhere on the planet, the PM concentrations actually increased due to higher dust loadings. The main objectives of this study are to (1) investigate the dust activity over the Arabian Peninsula during the 2020 lockdown period; (2) identify the atmospheric conditions and patterns driving the observed dust activity; (3) highlight the role of dust aerosols in the observed particulate matter concentrations; and (4) assess the resulting radiative budget at the surface.…”

“…In particular, the daily-mean PM 10 concentration and the hourly 10-metre horizontal wind speed are considered to check whether a link between the atmospheric pollution and the in-situ surface emissions is present. The choice of the lockdown period for the UAE is the same as in Teixidó et al (2021) and is based on the existing preventive measures in place. The previous three years have been used as the reference period after ensuring high data availability (>90% of the study period).…”

“…Several studies have reported the COVID-19 lockdown impacts on air quality, all stressing the cleaner environment ( Sokhi et al, 2021 ). In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for instance, a country located on the south-eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, there was a decrease in the concentration of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulphuric dioxide (SO 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO) by up to 40 % during the lockdown period (22 March to 24 June 2020) with respect to the pre-lockdown (01 January to 21 March 2020) values due to reduced emissions ( Teixidó et al, 2021 ). However, the particulate matter (PM), both those with a diameter of 10 μm or less (PM 10 ) and 2.5 μm or less (PM 2.5 ), and ozone (O 3 ) concentrations actually increased by up to 45 %.…”

Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown Measures on the 2020 Columnar and Surface Air Pollution Parameters over South-Eastern Italy

“…The results reported in this study regarding the gaseous pollutant and PM concentration time evolution after the beginning of the LD measures are basically in agreement with those reported in other previous works. In fact, Teixidó et al [63] analysed NO 2 , SO 2 , and CO concentration in Abu Dhabi (UAE) in the Pre-LD (1 January-21 March), LD (22 March-24 June), and Post-LD period (25 June-24 October) and found a decrease in NO 2 concentrations by −40.0% in the LD and −35.8% in the Post-LD with respect to the Pre-LD period. Lower concentration reductions were found for SO 2 and CO concentration (in the range from −12.2% to −31.0%).…”