Enhanced atmospheric oxidation capacity and associated ozone increases during COVID-19 lockdown in the Yangtze River Delta

Abstract

Aggressive air pollution control in China since 2013 has achieved sharp decreases in fine particulate matter (PM2.5), along with increased ozone (O3) concentrations. Due to the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), China imposed nationwide restriction, leading to large reductions in economic activities and associated emissions. In particular, large decreases were found in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions (>50%) from transportation. However, O3 increased in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), which cannot be fully explained by changes in NOx and volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions. In this study, the Community Multi-scale Air Quality model was used to investigate O3 increase in the YRD. Our results show a significant increase of atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) indicated by enhanced oxidants levels (up to +25%) especially in southern Jiangsu, Shanghai and northern Zhejiang, inducing the elevated O3 during lockdown. Moreover, net P(HOx) of 0.4 to 1.6 ppb h−1 during lockdown (Case 2) was larger than the case without lockdown (Case 1), mainly resulting in the enhanced AOC and higher O3 production rate (+12%). This comprehensive analysis improves our understanding on AOC and associated O3 formation, which helps to design effective strategies to control O3.