Article (Scientific journals)
Anomalies of O3, CO, C2H2, H2CO, and C2H6 detected with multiple ground-based Fourier-transform infrared spectrometers and assessed with model simulation in 2020: COVID-19 lockdowns versus natural variability
Ortega, Ivan; Gaubert, Benjamin; Hannigan, James W. et al.
2023In Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 11 (1)
Peer reviewed
 

Files


Full Text
elementa.2023.00015.pdf
Publisher postprint (3.13 MB) Creative Commons License - Attribution
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Atmospheric Science
Abstract :
[en] Anomalies of tropospheric columns of ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), acetylene (C2H2), formaldehyde (H2CO), and ethane (C2H6) are quantified during the 2020 stringent COVID-19 world-wide lockdown using multiple ground-based Fourier-transform infrared spectrometers covering urban and remote conditions. We applied an exponential smoothing forecasting approach to the data sets to estimate business-as-usual values for 2020, which are then contrasted with actual observations. The Community Atmosphere Model with chemistry (CAM-chem) is used to simulate the same gases using lockdown-adjusted and business-as-usual emissions. The role of meteorology, or natural variability, is assessed with additional CAM-chem simulations. The tropospheric column of O3 declined between March and May 2020 for most sites with a mean decrease of 9.2% ± 4.7%. Simulations reproduce these anomalies, especially under background conditions where natural variability explains up to 80% of the decline for sites in the Northern Hemisphere. While urban sites show a reduction between 1% and 12% in tropospheric CO, the remote sites do not show a significant change. Overall, CAM-chem simulations capture the magnitude of the anomalies and in many cases natural variability and lockdowns have opposite effects. We further used the long-term record of the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) satellite instrument to capture global anomalies of CO. Reductions of CO vary highly across regions but North America and Europe registered lower values in March 2020. The absence of CO reduction in April and May, concomitant with reductions of anthropogenic emissions, is explained by a negative anomaly in the hydroxyl radical (OH) found with CAM-chem. The implications of these findings are discussed for methane (CH4), which shows a positive lifetime anomaly during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The fossil fuel combustion by-product tracer C2H2 shows a mean drop of 13.6% ± 8.3% in urban Northern Hemisphere sites due to the reduction in emissions and in some sites exacerbated by natural variability. For some sites with anthropogenic influence there is a decrease in C2H6. The simulations capture the anomalies but the main cause may be related to natural variability. H2CO declined during the stringent 2020 lockdown in all urban sites explained by reductions in emissions of precursors.
Research center :
SPHERES - ULiège
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Ortega, Ivan;  1Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Gaubert, Benjamin;  1Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Hannigan, James W.;  1Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Brasseur, Guy;  1Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA ; 2Environmental Modeling Group, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
Worden, Helen M.;  1Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Blumenstock, Thomas;  3Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-ASF), Karlsruhe, Germany
Fu, Hao;  4Laboratoire d’Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Université, Paris, France
Hase, Frank;  3Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-ASF), Karlsruhe, Germany
Jeseck, Pascal;  4Laboratoire d’Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Université, Paris, France
Jones, Nicholas;  5School of Physics, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
Liu, Cheng;  6Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
Mahieu, Emmanuel  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Groupe infra-rouge de physique atmosphérique et solaire (GIRPAS)
Morino, Isamu;  8National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan
Murata, Isao;  9Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Notholt, Justus;  10Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Germany
Palm, Mathias;  10Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Germany
Röhling, Amelie;  3Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-ASF), Karlsruhe, Germany
Té, Yao;  4Laboratoire d’Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Université, Paris, France
Strong, Kimberly;  11Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sun, Youwen;  12Key Laboratory of Environmental Optics and Technology, Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China
Yamanouchi, Shoma;  11Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
More authors (11 more) Less
Language :
English
Title :
Anomalies of O3, CO, C2H2, H2CO, and C2H6 detected with multiple ground-based Fourier-transform infrared spectrometers and assessed with model simulation in 2020: COVID-19 lockdowns versus natural variability
Publication date :
22 May 2023
Journal title :
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
eISSN :
2325-1026
Publisher :
University of California Press
Volume :
11
Issue :
1
Peer reviewed :
Peer reviewed
Funders :
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique [BE]
Office Fédéral de Météorologie et de Climatologie MétéoSuisse [CH]
Available on ORBi :
since 25 May 2023

Statistics


Number of views
15 (2 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
33 (0 by ULiège)

Scopus citations®
 
2
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
0
OpenCitations
 
0

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi