ABSTRACT
Urbanization is the process of slow conversion of most of the rural areas into urban with respect to time. This leads to excess population concentrated in particular areas and other consequences due to urban sprawl, pollution levels, etc. In recent days’ air pollution is being identified as a huge cause of lung disorders and pre-matured deaths in the world, due to fossil fuel combustion, urban transports and many more. In this study, one of the metropolitan cities, New Delhi which is facing lots of pollution problems nowadays has been considered, and the concentration of Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been estimated. The analysis was made through a common platform and user-friendly economical tool GIOVANNI developed by NASA. The present study investigates the concentration of NO2 using Ozone Monitoring Instrument to monitor the air pollution hotspot in New Delhi in India that existed before and during COVID-19. The research findings showed that atmospheric NO2 levels during the COVID lockdown period were 0.8E16 per sq.cm, which was doubled (1.6E16 per sq.cm) after the lockdown. These are some of the valid proofs for the fact that air pollution after COVID has been drastically decreased compared to the days before lockdown. Despite the economic and industrial deterioration, the air and water quality has boosted up in a progressive manner, in this temporary lockdown. The findings from this research will be helpful for the legislators to create a benchmarks standard for atmospheric pollution and to improve the quality of life and well-being. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
In the present study, the atmospheric concentrations of various pollutants over the Indian subcontinent before the COVID-19 (during 2019) and during COVID-19 phases (2020) were studied. The COVID-19 has created a negative impact on the country’s economy but has positivity over the atmospheric resources. The levels of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and UV aerosol index were assessed using satellite images for the two different phases. The obtained results can be interpreted and can be substantiated with the lockdown effect due to the COVID -19 pandemic. The pollutants are mostly emitted from anthropogenic sources like vehicular emissions, industrial emissions, power plants, construction works, commercial and institutional places. It was evident that the levels of carbon monoxide, nitrous dioxide and aerosols levels have drastically decreased during the lockdown period. Hence, it can be concluded that COVID-19 has cleaned the atmospheric pollution as well as climate change scenario and nature on its own. © 2021 Technoscience Publications. All rights reserved.