Articles | Volume 21, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7597-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7597-2021
Research article
 | 
19 May 2021
Research article |  | 19 May 2021

Impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution at regional and urban background sites in northern Italy

Jean-Philippe Putaud, Luca Pozzoli, Enrico Pisoni, Sebastiao Martins Dos Santos, Friedrich Lagler, Guido Lanzani, Umberto Dal Santo, and Augustin Colette

Related authors

Characterization of brown carbon absorption in different European environments through source contribution analysis
Hector Navarro-Barboza, Jordi Rovira, Vincenzo Obiso, Andrea Pozzer, Marta Via, Andres Alastuey, Xavier Querol, Noemi Perez, Marjan Savadkoohi, Gang Chen, Jesus Yus-Díez, Matic Ivancic, Martin Rigler, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Stergios Vratolis, Olga Zografou, Maria Gini, Benjamin Chazeau, Nicolas Marchand, Andre S. H. Prevot, Kaspar Dallenbach, Mikael Ehn, Krista Luoma, Tuukka Petäjä, Anna Tobler, Jaroslaw Necki, Minna Aurela, Hilkka Timonen, Jarkko Niemi, Olivier Favez, Jean-Eudes Petit, Jean-Philippe Putaud, Christoph Hueglin, Nicolas Pascal, Aurélien Chauvigné, Sébastien Conil, Marco Pandolfi, and Oriol Jorba
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2667–2694, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2667-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2667-2025, 2025
Short summary
An interlaboratory comparison to quantify oxidative potential measurement in aerosol particles: challenges and recommendations for harmonisation
Pamela A. Dominutti, Jean-Luc Jaffrezo, Anouk Marsal, Takoua Mhadhbi, Rhabira Elazzouzi, Camille Rak, Fabrizia Cavalli, Jean-Philippe Putaud, Aikaterini Bougiatioti, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Despina Paraskevopoulou, Ian Mudway, Athanasios Nenes, Kaspar R. Daellenbach, Catherine Banach, Steven J. Campbell, Hana Cigánková, Daniele Contini, Greg Evans, Maria Georgopoulou, Manuella Ghanem, Drew A. Glencross, Maria Rachele Guascito, Hartmut Herrmann, Saima Iram, Maja Jovanović, Milena Jovašević-Stojanović, Markus Kalberer, Ingeborg M. Kooter, Suzanne E. Paulson, Anil Patel, Esperanza Perdrix, Maria Chiara Pietrogrande, Pavel Mikuška, Jean-Jacques Sauvain, Katerina Seitanidi, Pourya Shahpoury, Eduardo J. d. S. Souza, Sarah Steimer, Svetlana Stevanovic, Guillaume Suarez, P. S. Ganesh Subramanian, Battist Utinger, Marloes F. van Os, Vishal Verma, Xing Wang, Rodney J. Weber, Yuhan Yang, Xavier Querol, Gerard Hoek, Roy M. Harrison, and Gaëlle Uzu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 177–195, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-177-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-177-2025, 2025
Short summary
Impact of 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns on particulate air pollution across Europe
Jean-Philippe Putaud, Enrico Pisoni, Alexander Mangold, Christoph Hueglin, Jean Sciare, Michael Pikridas, Chrysanthos Savvides, Jakub Ondracek, Saliou Mbengue, Alfred Wiedensohler, Kay Weinhold, Maik Merkel, Laurent Poulain, Dominik van Pinxteren, Hartmut Herrmann, Andreas Massling, Claus Nordstroem, Andrés Alastuey, Cristina Reche, Noemí Pérez, Sonia Castillo, Mar Sorribas, Jose Antonio Adame, Tuukka Petaja, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Jarkko Niemi, Véronique Riffault, Joel F. de Brito, Augustin Colette, Olivier Favez, Jean-Eudes Petit, Valérie Gros, Maria I. Gini, Stergios Vratolis, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Evangelia Diapouli, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Karl Espen Yttri, and Wenche Aas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10145–10161, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10145-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10145-2023, 2023
Short summary
Seasonality of the particle number concentration and size distribution: a global analysis retrieved from the network of Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) near-surface observatories
Clémence Rose, Martine Collaud Coen, Elisabeth Andrews, Yong Lin, Isaline Bossert, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Thomas Tuch, Alfred Wiedensohler, Markus Fiebig, Pasi Aalto, Andrés Alastuey, Elisabeth Alonso-Blanco, Marcos Andrade, Begoña Artíñano, Todor Arsov, Urs Baltensperger, Susanne Bastian, Olaf Bath, Johan Paul Beukes, Benjamin T. Brem, Nicolas Bukowiecki, Juan Andrés Casquero-Vera, Sébastien Conil, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Olivier Favez, Harald Flentje, Maria I. Gini, Francisco Javier Gómez-Moreno, Martin Gysel-Beer, Anna Gannet Hallar, Ivo Kalapov, Nikos Kalivitis, Anne Kasper-Giebl, Melita Keywood, Jeong Eun Kim, Sang-Woo Kim, Adam Kristensson, Markku Kulmala, Heikki Lihavainen, Neng-Huei Lin, Hassan Lyamani, Angela Marinoni, Sebastiao Martins Dos Santos, Olga L. Mayol-Bracero, Frank Meinhardt, Maik Merkel, Jean-Marc Metzger, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Jakub Ondracek, Marco Pandolfi, Noemi Pérez, Tuukka Petäjä, Jean-Eudes Petit, David Picard, Jean-Marc Pichon, Veronique Pont, Jean-Philippe Putaud, Fabienne Reisen, Karine Sellegri, Sangeeta Sharma, Gerhard Schauer, Patrick Sheridan, James Patrick Sherman, Andreas Schwerin, Ralf Sohmer, Mar Sorribas, Junying Sun, Pierre Tulet, Ville Vakkari, Pieter Gideon van Zyl, Fernando Velarde, Paolo Villani, Stergios Vratolis, Zdenek Wagner, Sheng-Hsiang Wang, Kay Weinhold, Rolf Weller, Margarita Yela, Vladimir Zdimal, and Paolo Laj
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17185–17223, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17185-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17185-2021, 2021
Short summary
Comparison of source apportionment approaches and analysis of non-linearity in a real case model application
Claudio A. Belis, Guido Pirovano, Maria Gabriella Villani, Giuseppe Calori, Nicola Pepe, and Jean Philippe Putaud
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 4731–4750, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4731-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4731-2021, 2021
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Measurement report: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in particulate matter (PM10) from activated sludge aeration
Jishnu Pandamkulangara Kizhakkethil, Zongbo Shi, Anna Bogush, and Ivan Kourtchev
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5947–5958, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5947-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5947-2025, 2025
Short summary
African dust transported to Barbados in the wintertime lacks indicators of chemical aging
Haley M. Royer, Michael T. Sheridan, Hope E. Elliott, Edmund Blades, Nurun Nahar Lata, Zezhen Cheng, Swarup China, Zihua Zhu, Andrew P. Ault, and Cassandra J. Gaston
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5743–5759, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5743-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5743-2025, 2025
Short summary
A 60-year atmospheric nitrate isotope record from a southeastern Greenland ice core with minimal postdepositional alteration
Zhao Wei, Shohei Hattori, Asuka Tsuruta, Zhuang Jiang, Sakiko Ishino, Koji Fujita, Sumito Matoba, Lei Geng, Alexis Lamothe, Ryu Uemura, Naohiro Yoshida, Joel Savarino, and Yoshinori Iizuka
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5727–5742, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5727-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5727-2025, 2025
Short summary
Measurement report: Characterization of aerosol hygroscopicity over Southeast Asia during the NASA CAMP2Ex campaign
Genevieve Rose Lorenzo, Luke D. Ziemba, Avelino F. Arellano, Mary C. Barth, Ewan C. Crosbie, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Richard Ferrare, Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario, Michael A. Shook, Simone Tilmes, Jian Wang, Qian Xiao, Jun Zhang, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5469–5495, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5469-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5469-2025, 2025
Short summary
Molecular characterization of organic aerosols in urban and forested areas of Paris using high-resolution mass spectrometry
Diana L. Pereira, Chiara Giorio, Aline Gratien, Alexander Zherebker, Gael Noyalet, Servanne Chevaillier, Stéphanie Alage, Elie Almarj, Antonin Bergé, Thomas Bertin, Mathieu Cazaunau, Patrice Coll, Ludovico Di Antonio, Sergio Harb, Johannes Heuser, Cécile Gaimoz, Oscar Guillemant, Brigitte Language, Olivier Lauret, Camilo Macias, Franck Maisonneuve, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, Raquel Torres, Sylvain Triquet, Pascal Zapf, Lelia Hawkins, Drew Pronovost, Sydney Riley, Pierre-Marie Flaud, Emilie Perraudin, Pauline Pouyes, Eric Villenave, Alexandre Albinet, Olivier Favez, Robin Aujay-Plouzeau, Vincent Michoud, Christopher Cantrell, Manuela Cirtog, Claudia Di Biagio, Jean-François Doussin, and Paola Formenti
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4885–4905, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4885-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4885-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

ARPA Lombardia: Stima preliminare delle emissioni in Lombardia durante l'emergenza COVID-19, available at: https://www.arpalombardia.it/sites/DocumentCenter/Documents/ARIA/report-stima-emissiva-COVID19-lombardia.pdf, last access: 9 October 2020a. 
ARPA Lombardia: Richiesta Dati, available at: https://www.arpalombardia.it/Pages/Aria/Richiesta-Dati.aspx, last access: 9 October 2020b. 
Baldasano, J. M.: COVID-19 lockdown effects on air quality by NO2 in the cities of Barcelona and Madrid (Spain), Sci. Total Environ., 741, 140353, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140353, 2020. 
Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS): Quarterly report on ENSEMBLE NRT productions (daily analyses and forecasts) and their verification, at the surface and above surface March–April–May 2019, available at: https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/sites/default/files/2020-02/CAMS50_2018SC1_D5.2-3.1.ENSEMBLE-2019MAM_201908_NRTProduction_Report_v1_APPROVED_Ver1.pdf (last access: 15 January 2021), 2019. 
Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS): Air quality information confirms reduced activity levels due to lockdown in Italy, 17 March 2020, available at: https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/air-quality, last access: 9 October 2020a. 
Download
Short summary
To determine the impact of the COVID lockdown on air quality in northern Italy, measurements of atmospheric pollutants (NO2, PM10, O3, NO, SO2 ) were compared to the output of a model ignoring the lockdown. We found that NO2 decreased on average by −30 % to −40 %. Unlike NO2, PM10 was not significantly affected due to the compensation of decreased emissions from traffic by increased emissions from domestic heating and/or by changes in atmospheric chemistry enhancing secondary aerosol formation.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint