Characterization of the aerosol chemical composition during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Suzhou in the Yangtze River Delta,China

摘要

To control the spread of COVID-19,rigorous restrictions have been implemented in China,resulting in a great reduction in pollutant emissions.In this study,we evaluated the air quality in the Yangtze River Delta during the COVID-19 lockdown period using satellite and ground-based data,including particle matter(PM),trace gases,water-soluble ions(WSIs) and black carbon(BC).We found that the impacts of lockdown policy on air quality cannot be accurately assessed using MODIS aerosol optical depth(AOD) data,whereas the tropospheric nitrogen dioxide(NO_(2)) vertical column density can well reflect the influences of these restrictions on human activities.Compared to the pre-COVID period,the PM_(2.5),PM_(10),NO_(2),carbon monoxide(CO),BC and WSIs during the lockdown in Suzhou were observed to decrease by 37.2%,38.3%,64.5%,26.1%,53.3% and 58.6%,respectively,while the sulfur dioxide(SO_(2)) and ozone(O_(3)) increased by 1.5% and 104.7%.The WSIs ranked in the order of NO_(3)~->NH_(4)^(+)>SO_(4)^(2-)>Cl~->Ca^(2+)>K^(+)>Mg^(2+)>Na + during the lockdown period.By comparisons with the ion concentrations during the pre-COVID period,we found that the ions NO 3-,NH 4 +,SO_(4)^(2-),Cl~-,Ca^(2+),K^(+) and Na^(+) decreased by 66.3%,48.8%,52.9%,56.9%,57.9% and 76.3%,respectively,during the lockdown,in contrast to Mg^(2+),which increased by 30.2%.The lockdown policy was found to have great impacts on the diurnal variations of Cl~-,SO_(4)^(2-),Na^(+) and Ca^(2+).