Seasonal Variations and Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions on the Air Quality in the Cities of Kazakhstan

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on different air pollutants in eight cities of Kazakhstan by employing the data from the National Air Quality Monitoring Network. We selected eight cities located in different regions of the country with varied climatic and geographic conditions and emissions sources, providing good conditions for studying the differences in responses of air quality to COVID-19. Due to severe winters, the heating season in Kazakhstan has a significant impact on air quality; therefore, annual winter/spring changes in air quality were also compared. The positive effect of the COVID-19 lockdown (spring 2020) on NO 2 and CO levels was observed in 5 and 3 cities, respectively (out of 8). Total Suspended Particles and SO 2 exhibited a more complicated response to COVID-19 lockdown: cities had a varying effect. No impact of lockdown measures was observed in industrial cities (Ust-Kamenegorsk and Karagandy), but seasonal changes were significant. In addition, despite some improvements during the lockdown period, the air quality in seven out of eight cities was still below the safety levels. The atmospheric quality in urban areas of Kazakhstan has not improved significantly due to the lockdown measures. This study underscores the importance of imposing stricter air quality emission control over industrial enterprises and coal-fired power plants. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40710-022-00603-w.

Analysis of Data on Air Pollutants in the City by Machine-Intelligent Methods Considering Climatic and Geographical Features

“…The research in [26] is devoted to the study of various air pollutants in eight cities of Kazakhstan during the quarantine period due to COVID-19, using data from the National Air Quality Monitoring Network. A positive effect of the COVID-19 quarantine (spring 2020) on NO 2 and CO levels was observed in five and three cities, respectively.…”

“…The authors of [26] claim that according to the results of the studied industrial cities (Ust-Kamenogorsk and Karaganda), quarantine measures had no effect on air quality, but seasonal changes were significant. In addition, despite some improvements during the quarantine period, air quality in seven of the eight cities remained below the safety level.…”

“…Studies conducted at the Center for Physico-Chemical Methods of Analysis (CPCMA) of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University [23][24][25][26] show a qualitative result only for one-time experimental studies, but do not provide for constant monitoring of air quality.…”

Impact of Confinement on the Reduction of Pollution and Particulate Matter Concentrations. Reflections for Public Transport Policies

“…Confinement by COVID-19 revealed different direct or indirect impacts on the environment and especially on-air quality (Zambrano-Monserrate et al 2020 ; Kumar et al 2020 ). Recent research has shown the positive impacts of confinement on air quality in cities around the world (Gopikrishnan et al 2022 ; Baimatova et al 2022 ; Balamurugan et al 2022 ; Ju et al 2021 ; Allu et al 2021 ; Lokhandwala and Gautam 2020 ; Arora et al 2020 ; Zangari et al 2020 ; Bera et al 2020 ; Selvam et al 2020 ; Zambrano-Monserrate and Ruano 2020 ; Archer 2020; Nakada and Urban 2020 ; Jain and Sharma 2020 ).…”