Impact of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown on ambient air quality of Saudi Arabia

The outbreak of COVID-19 has spread globally affecting human activities but with improvement in ambient air quality. The first case of the virus in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was on the 2nd of March 2020. The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the ambient air quality of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the first time using data from nine cities was determined in this study. Hourly air quality data, based on concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM(10)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and ozone (O(3)), and meteorological conditions (atmospheric temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) of the nine cities studied were obtained from Saudi Arabian General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection (GAMEP), for the period between January 2019 to May 2020. Significant variation (p < 0.05) was recorded for the five atmospheric pollutants across the cities before and during the lockdown, with lower concentrations during the lockdown except for the concentration of O(3) in Tabuk, Al Qasim, and Haql. This can be a result of NO and O(3) reaction, causing the inability of effective O(3) depletion. The percentage changes in concentrations of CO (33.60%) and SO(2) (44.16%) were higher in Jeddah; PM(10) (91.12%) in Riyadh, while NO(2) (44.35%) and O(3) (18.98%) were highest in Makkah. However, even though there was a decrease in pollutants concentrations during the lockdown, the concentrations for CO, PM(10), SO(2), NO(2,) and O(3) were still above WHO 24 h and annual mean limit levels. The COVID-19 lockdown in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia revealed the possibility of significant atmospheric pollutant reduction by controlling traffic, activities by industries, and environmentally friendly transportation programs such as green commuting programs.