Spatiotemporal Analysis of Black Carbon Sources: Case of Santiago, Chile, under SARS-CoV-2 Lockdowns.

BACKGROUND

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has temporarily decreased black carbon emissions worldwide. The use of multi-wavelength aethalometers provides a quantitative apportionment of black carbon (BC) from fossil fuels (BCff) and wood-burning sources (BCwb). However, this apportionment is aggregated: local and non-local BC sources are lumped together in the aethalometer results.

METHODS

We propose a spatiotemporal analysis of BC results along with meteorological data, using a fuzzy clustering approach, to resolve local and non-local BC contributions. We apply this methodology to BC measurements taken at an urban site in Santiago, Chile, from March through December 2020, including lockdown periods of different intensities.

RESULTS

BCff accounts for 85% of total BC; there was up to an 80% reduction in total BC during the most restrictive lockdowns (April-June); the reduction was 40-50% in periods with less restrictive lockdowns. The new methodology can apportion BCff and BCwb into local and non-local contributions; local traffic (wood burning) sources account for 66% (86%) of BCff (BCwb).

CONCLUSIONS

The intensive lockdowns brought down ambient BC across the city. The proposed fuzzy clustering methodology can resolve local and non-local contributions to BC in urban zones.