COVID-19 and Air Pollution - views of possible futures?

Funding Source: CENTA DTP
Proposed start date: 27th September 2021
Closing date for applications: 8th January 2021 5pm
Eligibility: Home /EU only

Project Highlights:
• The COVID-19 lockdown changed the atmospheric composition, which caused a widespread and unexpected perturbation to the fundamental state of our contemporary troposphere, increasing overall atmospheric reactivity, oxidant levels and hazardous ultrafine particles.
• This project will be centred around the execution and delivery of discovery science, exploring fundamental chemical mechanics of the atmosphere in terms of ‘next-generation’ radical chemistry and oxidative capacity, routes to ultrafine particle formation and the role of particulate matter in its suppression.

Overview:
The COVID-19 pandemic forced governments around the world to impose restrictions on daily life to prevent the spread of the virus. This resulted in unprecedented reductions in anthropogenic activity, and reduced emissions of certain air pollutants, namely oxides of nitrogen. The UK ‘lockdown’ was enforced in March 2020, which led to restrictions on movement, social interaction, and ‘non-essential’ businesses and services. Such dramatic reduction in certain air pollutants across the species emissions spectrum, over such a relatively short time interval and across so many different countries, is unprecedented. Much focus has been on improvements in air quality, owing to a reduction in road transport and hence NOx and particulate matter (PM) emissions; however, the picture is not as simple as first thought. Indeed, reductions in NOx emissions have resulted in a perturbation to the ‘normal’ state of lower atmospheric chemistry, which has resulted in an increase in atmospheric reactivity and the photochemical production of ozone (Wyche et al., 2020), which in terms of its function as a respiratory pollutant, has been shown to be a more harmful than NOx species. Further, the reductions observed in ambient PM levels has implications for ultrafine particles (UFP), i.e. PM acts to supress UFP (and hence control their number, as shown in recent research by Guo et al., 2020). This is particularly concerning as UFP are now believed to be more harmful than other, larger fractions of particles; indeed, evidence is mounting to demonstrate their ability to penetrate deeply into the body and impair the function of our major organs.

The project will look to answer the following research questions:
1. What changes have occurred in atmospheric trace composition and reactivity owing to the COVID-19 lockdown and does this represent a window into the future to see the impact of reduced NOx emissions in moving towards a low carbon economy? What lessons can be learnt and how can these be used to help develop policy and measures to protect the environment and public health?
2. Do reduced PM concentrations under ‘real-world’/pandemic conditions lead to an increase in UFP numbers and if so to what extent?
3. Is there a link between UFP (and other air pollutants) and COVID-19 cases?

Methodology:
Advance atmospheric datasets (inc. UFP number concentration, size distribution, surface etc) will be gathered from, and recorded in real-time at, two dedicated research monitoring sites. These historic and current data will be combined with observations gathered by satellite (Sentinel 5P) and outputs derived from state-of-the-art chemical models (MCM) and fed into an ensemble of advanced quantitative data analysis methods employing Geographical Information Systems and a range of statistical decomposition and dimension reduction techniques to explore how the COVID-19 lockdown affected atmospheric composition and reactivity, and how this scenario may represent a future where NOx emissions from vehicles have been reduced. Geospatial analysis of the atmospheric composition data will also be integrated with geo-referenced population statistics and reported COVID-19 cases to produce ‘risk/exposure maps’, and to investigate linkages between UFP (and other air pollutants) with instances of the virus.

Training and skills:
The student will join the Atmospheric Chemistry Group at the University of Leicester (approx 20 people) and thereby benefit from the group’s extensive expertise in trace gas detection methods, data analysis techniques, atmospheric modelling, field work skills and logistics planning. Targeted training will be given to operate relevant instrumentation available in the group. In addition to the CENTA training, we offer lecture courses that are directly relevant to the project: e.g. Earth System Science.

Entry requirements:
Applicants are required to hold/or expect to obtain a UK Bachelor Degree 2:1 or better in a relevant subject.
The University of Leicester English language requirements apply where applicable: https://le.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/entry-reqs/eng-lang-reqs

Application advice:
To apply please refer to https://le.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/funded-opportunities/centa-phd-studentships

With your application, please include:
• CV
• CENTA Application form
• Personal statement explaining your interest in the project, your experience and why we should consider you
• Degree Certificates and Transcripts of study already completed and if possible transcript to date of study currently being undertaken
• Evidence of English language proficiency if applicable
• In the reference section please enter the contact details of your two academic referees in the boxes provided or upload letters of reference if already available.

In the funding section please specify that you wish to be considered for Ref CENTA2-CHEM4-MONK
In the proposal section please provide the name of the supervisors and project title (a proposal is not required)

Project / Funding Enquiries: Paul Monks [Email Address Removed] or [Email Address Removed]
Application enquiries to [Email Address Removed]