Changes in Ultrafine Particle Concentrations near a Major Airport Following Reduced Transportation Activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic

13-C-AJFF-BU-07, 11, 20This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)) license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Please cite this article as: Sean C. Mueller, Neelakshi Hudda, Jonathan I. Levy, John L. Durant, Prasad Patil, Nina Franzen Lee, Ida Weiss, Tyler Tatro, Tiffany Duhl, and Kevin Lane Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2022 9 (9), 706-711 DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00322Mobility reductions following the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States were higher, and sustained longer, for aviation than ground transportation activity. We evaluate changes in ultrafine particle (UFP, Dp < 100 nm, a marker of fuel combustion emissions) concentrations at a site near Logan Airport (Boston, Massachusetts) in relation to mobility reductions. Several years of particle number concentration (PNC) data prepandemic [1/2017 129/2018] and during the state-of-emergency (SOE) phase of the pandemic [4/2020 126/2021] were analyzed to assess the emissions reduction impact on PNC, controlling for season and wind direction. Mean PNC was 48% lower during the first three months of the SOE than prepandemic, consistent with 74% lower flight activity and 39% (local) 1251% (highway) lower traffic volume. Traffic volume and mean PNC for all wind directions returned to prepandemic levels by 6/2021; however, when the site was downwind from Logan Airport, PNC remained lower than prepandemic levels (by 23%), consistent with lower-than-normal flight activity (44% below prepandemic levels). Our study shows the effect of pandemic-related mobility changes on PNC in a near-airport community, and it distinguishes aviation-related and ground transportation source contributions

Albania Project Center Resource Development

The purpose of the project was to develop resources for students and sponsors who are or may be participating in the Albania Project Center in future years. We developed a website, together with a blog and photo gallery, and we considered potential project topics and suggested relevant contacts. Information was gathered from web sources as well as through personal interviews and discussions. This report explains the process of the project as well as the reasoning behind the team’s decisions

Changes in Ultrafine Particle Concentrations near a Major Airport Following Reduced Transportation Activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mobility reductions following the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States were higher, and sustained longer, for aviation than ground transportation activity. We evaluate changes in ultrafine particle (UFP, Dp < 100 nm, a marker of fuel-combustion emissions) concentrations at a site near Logan Airport (Boston, Massachusetts) in relation to mobility reductions. Several years of particle number concentration (PNC) data prepandemic [1/2017–9/2018] and during the state-of-emergency (SOE) phase of the pandemic [4/2020–6/2021] were analyzed to assess the emissions reduction impact on PNC, controlling for season and wind direction. Mean PNC was 48% lower during the first three months of the SOE than prepandemic, consistent with 74% lower flight activity and 39% (local)–51% (highway) lower traffic volume. Traffic volume and mean PNC for all wind directions returned to prepandemic levels by 6/2021; however, when the site was downwind from Logan Airport, PNC remained lower than prepandemic levels (by 23%), consistent with lower-than-normal flight activity (44% below prepandemic levels). Our study shows the effect of pandemic-related mobility changes on PNC in a near-airport community, and it distinguishes aviation-related and ground transportation source contributions