Parker, H. A., Hasheminassab, S., Crounse, J. D., Roehl, C. M., & Wennberg, P. O. (2020). Impacts of traffic reductions associated with COVID‐19 on Southern California air quality. Geophysical Research Letters, 47, e2020GL090164. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090164
Scientific Achievement
Compared air quality during the COVID-19 Stay-At-Home order of 2020 (19 March to 30 June), a period marked by decreased vehicular traffic, with historic observations.
Significance and Impact
Pollutant concentrations and patterns emphasize the influence of weather on air quality and suggest mitigation beyond vehicle emission reductions will be needed to meet future goals.
Technical Details
- COVID‐19 restrictions coincided with precipitation at least 3 times the historical average.
- Data suggest that a broader focus on reducing VOC emissions (in combination with the current focus on NOx reductions) will be needed to attain air quality standards basin‐wide.