Title: Los Angeles Traffic Emissions Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Madeleine Haddad (Presenting Author; mhadd009@ucr.edu), Cindy Yañez, Michael Rodriguez, Francesca Hopkins
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about nationwide lockdowns starting in the Spring of 2020, and Los Angeles (LA) was no exception. Even after lockdowns ended, ongoing school closures, work-from-home orders, and other behavioral changes had large impacts on traffic levels in the LA region. This research focuses on trends in carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from the LA traffic fleet during the COVID-19 era. GPS, weather, and atmospheric trace gas concentration data were collected monthly from July 2020 to July 2021 by driving a mobile laboratory equipped with fast-response instruments on LA freeways. CO2concentrations started low in July 2020, and gradually increased until October 2020 when they reached a high. In December 2020, observed CO2 concentrations dropped, and from then on, concentrations fluctuated, generally rising through July 2021. CO concentrations followed the same pattern. These data show how CO2and CO enhancements on LA roadways are highly responsive to behavioral changes due to COVID-19 activity changes. Moving forward nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions data will also be analyzed to examine how its concentration changed due to changes in the vehicle fleet throughout the pandemic. This on-road data could help more accurately define the current vehicle fleet and give insight into the effects of electrifying vehicles moving forward.
For more info about our lab, click here!
Monthly carbon dioxide concentrations along the van's route:
Monthly carbon monoxide concentrations along the van's route.
Monthly nitrogen oxide concentrations along the van's route:
Monthly nitrogen dioxide concentrations along the van's route:
Monthly gridded concentration data along CA Route 60 showing possible CO hotspots.
Box & whisker plots showing large-scale temporal changes.
Boxplots comparing CO:CO2 ratio to NO2:CO2 ratio:
My poster:
Contact Maddie (mhadd009 [at] ucr [dot] edu) for more info!
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