What the COVID-19 lockdown revealed about photochemistry and ozone production in Quito, Ecuador.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 lockdown presented a peculiar opportunity to study a shift in the photochemical regime of ozone production in Quito (Ecuador) before and after mobility restrictions. Primary precursors such as NO and CO dropped dramatically as early as 13 March 2020, due to school closures, but ambient ozone did not change. In this work we use a chemical box model in order to estimate regimes of ozone production before and after the lockdown. We constrain the model with observations in Quito (ozone, NO_x, CO, and meteorology) and with estimations of traffic-associated VOCs that are tightly linked to CO. To this end, we use the closest observational data of VOC/CO ratios at an urban area that shares with Quito conditions of high altitude and is located in the tropics, namely Mexico Ci

SUBMITTER: Cazorla M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7446709 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature