Observed CO, CO2, CH4, eBC, and NOx Trends during the First 2020 Lockdown at the Lamezia Terme WMO/GAW Station in Calabria, Southern Italy: New Insights on Source Apportionment and Emission Source Differentiation

In 2020, the Covid-19 outbreak led many countries across the globe to introduce lockdowns (LDs) that effectively caused most anthropic activities to either stop completely or be significantly reduced. In Europe, Italy played a pioneeristic role via the early introduction of a strict nationwide LD on March 9th. This study is aimed at evaluating, using both chemical and meteorological data, the environmental response to that occurrence as observed by the Lamezia Terme (LMT) GAW/WMO station in Calabria, Southern Italy. The first 2020 lockdown has therefore been used as a “proving ground” to assess CO, CO2, CH4, eBC, and NOx concentrations in a rather unique context by exploiting the location of LMT in the context of the Mediterranean Basin. In fact, its location on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria and local wind circulation both lead to daily cycles where western-seaside winds depleted in anthropogenic pollutants can be easily differentiated from northeastern-continental winds, enriched in anthropogenic outputs. Furthermore, the first Italian LD occurred during the seasonal transition from Winter to Spring and, consequently, Summer, thus providing new insights on emission outputs which are normally linked to domestic heating and other forms of season-specific activities.