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Impacts Of Reduced Anthropogenic Activities On Black Carbon Concentration And Related Atmospheric Parameters At An Urban Metropolis Near The Land Ocean Boundary During COVID-19 Pandemic


Affiliations
1 Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics, University of Calcutta, 92, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700 009, India
 

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a complete lockdown from 24 March to 31 May 2020 as imposed by the Government of India to prevent the spread of the virus that resulted into halting most of the economic activities during that period. The stringent anthropogenic activities during the lockdown phase resulted in a notable drop in the air pollution level. The prevailing global scenario during the pandemic has provided an opportunity of assessing the air quality in the absence of normal anthropogenic activities. In the present article, the impacts of reduced anthropogenic activities on the black carbon concentration and associated atmospheric parameters have been studied over a tropical urban location, Kolkata (22.57°N, 88.37°E) in eastern India. Investigations have been made on the impacts on the parameters like atmospheric electric field, wind speed, temperature, relative humidity, dew point temperature, rain accumulation and soil moisture during this unusual time in comparison to the same time span of the previous year 2019 when the usual human activities were pursued.

Keywords

Atmospheric Parameters, Black Carbon, COVID-19 Lockdown, Rainfall, Soil Moisture, Wind Speed.
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  • Impacts Of Reduced Anthropogenic Activities On Black Carbon Concentration And Related Atmospheric Parameters At An Urban Metropolis Near The Land Ocean Boundary During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Views: 351  |  PDF Views: 117

Authors

Soumyajyoti Jana
Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics, University of Calcutta, 92, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700 009, India
Gargi Rakshit
Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics, University of Calcutta, 92, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700 009, India
Animesh Maitra
Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics, University of Calcutta, 92, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700 009, India

Abstract


The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a complete lockdown from 24 March to 31 May 2020 as imposed by the Government of India to prevent the spread of the virus that resulted into halting most of the economic activities during that period. The stringent anthropogenic activities during the lockdown phase resulted in a notable drop in the air pollution level. The prevailing global scenario during the pandemic has provided an opportunity of assessing the air quality in the absence of normal anthropogenic activities. In the present article, the impacts of reduced anthropogenic activities on the black carbon concentration and associated atmospheric parameters have been studied over a tropical urban location, Kolkata (22.57°N, 88.37°E) in eastern India. Investigations have been made on the impacts on the parameters like atmospheric electric field, wind speed, temperature, relative humidity, dew point temperature, rain accumulation and soil moisture during this unusual time in comparison to the same time span of the previous year 2019 when the usual human activities were pursued.

Keywords


Atmospheric Parameters, Black Carbon, COVID-19 Lockdown, Rainfall, Soil Moisture, Wind Speed.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv120%2Fi2%2F296-303