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Impact Assessment of Change in Anthropogenic Emissions Due to Lockdown On Aerosol Characteristics In A Rural Location


Affiliations
1 Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai 603 103, India
2 Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560 012, India
3 Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560 012, India
 

Long-term and continuous measurements of aerosol concentration and optical properties from the Challakere Climate Observatory, located in a remote rural semi-arid region northwest of Bengaluru, are examined for the impact of the prolonged and phased national lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analyses revealed that the lockdown, which almost brought all the anthropogenic activities (particularly associated with fossil fuel use such as in transport and industrial sectors) to a standstill and then slowly relaxed in phases, had very little impact on the aerosol properties at this remote site, in sharp contrast to the impacts seen in the major urban conglomerate, Bengaluru, located about 230 km southeast to Challakere. Rather than impacts from anthropogenic sources associated with fossil fuel combustion, the aerosol characteristics at Challakere are strongly influenced by regional and synoptic meteorology. The findings re-emphasize that the emissions from fossil fuel combustion in industrial and automobile sector are the major source of aerosols (especially absorbing type) over urban and semi-urban environments.

Keywords

Anthropogenic Emissions, Black Carbon, COVID-19 Lockdown, Rural Aerosols, Scattering Coefficients, Single Scattering Albedo.
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  • Impact Assessment of Change in Anthropogenic Emissions Due to Lockdown On Aerosol Characteristics In A Rural Location

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Authors

A. Ajay
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai 603 103, India
K. Krishna Moorthy
Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560 012, India
S. K. Satheesh
Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560 012, India
G. Ilavazhagan
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai 603 103, India

Abstract


Long-term and continuous measurements of aerosol concentration and optical properties from the Challakere Climate Observatory, located in a remote rural semi-arid region northwest of Bengaluru, are examined for the impact of the prolonged and phased national lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analyses revealed that the lockdown, which almost brought all the anthropogenic activities (particularly associated with fossil fuel use such as in transport and industrial sectors) to a standstill and then slowly relaxed in phases, had very little impact on the aerosol properties at this remote site, in sharp contrast to the impacts seen in the major urban conglomerate, Bengaluru, located about 230 km southeast to Challakere. Rather than impacts from anthropogenic sources associated with fossil fuel combustion, the aerosol characteristics at Challakere are strongly influenced by regional and synoptic meteorology. The findings re-emphasize that the emissions from fossil fuel combustion in industrial and automobile sector are the major source of aerosols (especially absorbing type) over urban and semi-urban environments.

Keywords


Anthropogenic Emissions, Black Carbon, COVID-19 Lockdown, Rural Aerosols, Scattering Coefficients, Single Scattering Albedo.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv120%2Fi2%2F332-340