Articles | Volume 22, issue 16 
            
                
                    
                    
            
            
            https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10901-2022
                    © Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under 
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
                the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10901-2022
                    © Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under 
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
                the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Numerical simulation of the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on tropospheric composition and aerosol radiative forcing in Europe
Simon F. Reifenberg
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    
                                            now at: MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Science, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
                                        
                                    Anna Martin
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Matthias Kohl
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Sara Bacer
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Zaneta Hamryszczak
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Ivan Tadic
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Lenard Röder
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Daniel J. Crowley
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Horst Fischer
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Katharina Kaiser
                                            Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Johannes Schneider
                                            Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Raphael Dörich
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    John N. Crowley
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Laura Tomsche
                                            Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
                                        
                                    
                                            Institute for Physics of the Atmosphere, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Andreas Marsing
                                            Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
                                        
                                    Christiane Voigt
                                            Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
                                        
                                    
                                            Institute for Physics of the Atmosphere, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Andreas Zahn
                                            Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
                                        
                                    Christopher Pöhlker
                                            Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Bruna A. Holanda
                                            Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Ovid Krüger
                                            Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Ulrich Pöschl
                                            Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Mira Pöhlker
                                            Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    
                                            Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Leipzig Institute for Meteorology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
                                        
                                    
                                            Experimental Aerosol and Cloud Microphysics Department, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
                                        
                                    Patrick Jöckel
                                            Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
                                        
                                    Marcel Dorf
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Ulrich Schumann
                                            Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
                                        
                                    Jonathan Williams
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Birger Bohn
                                            Institute of Energy and Climate Research, IEK-8: Troposphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany
                                        
                                    Joachim Curtius
                                            Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
                                        
                                    Hardwig Harder
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    Hans Schlager
                                            Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
                                        
                                    Jos Lelieveld
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    
                                            Climate and Atmosphere Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
                                        
                                    
                                            Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
                                        
                                    
                                            Climate and Atmosphere Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
                                        
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Latest update: 30 Oct 2025
Short summary
                    In this work we use a combination of observational data from an aircraft campaign and model results to investigate the effect of the European lockdown due to COVID-19 in spring 2020. Using model results, we show that the largest relative changes to the atmospheric composition caused by the reduced emissions are located in the upper troposphere around aircraft cruise altitude, while the largest absolute changes are present at the surface.
                    In this work we use a combination of observational data from an aircraft campaign and model...
                    
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