Final thesis: Is the covid-19 lockdown affecting air quality above the Jungfraujoch Observatory?

Abstract

The aim of this master’s thesis was to study the abundances of multiple tropospheric air pollutants, monitored at the Jungfraujoch Observatory (Switzerland), in the context of the covid-19 lockdown. It was found that the abundance of multiple species was reduced in year 2020 in comparison to the multiyear time series (2010-2019). More specifically, C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, CH3OH, H2CO, HCOOH and tropospheric O3 concentrations were reduced during lockdown. However, for CH4, CO, HCN and NH3, no concluding or robust evidences of an effect of lockdown on their abundances was found. Further research is needed to clarify and quantify to what extent the covid-19 lockdown has contributed to this atmospheric change.