'COVID-19' Impact? ... Ultrafine Dust Decreases as Traffic Volume Drops in Seoul

Seoul City First Analyzes Results from 850 IoT Sensors and Traffic Data
Air Quality Improvement After Increased Social Distancing and Remote Work

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), social and economic activities have been restricted worldwide, leading to a significant reduction in pollutant emissions from factories and automobiles, and an improvement in air quality across the globe. It has been confirmed that the air quality in Seoul has also improved compared to before.

On the 27th, analysis of data measured by the Internet of Things (IoT) urban data sensors (S-DoT) installed at 850 locations throughout Seoul showed that the total traffic volume in Seoul in March, when the spread of COVID-19 intensified, decreased to 185,868 vehicles, which is 90.2% of the 206,094 vehicles recorded in March of last year.

In particular, traffic volume in downtown areas decreased to 17,915 vehicles, which is 84.2% of the 21,269 vehicles during the same period last year.

This is analyzed to have had a positive effect on air quality improvement as traffic volume and congestion decreased due to social distancing campaigns, telecommuting, the spread of online education, and the implementation of seasonal fine dust management measures.

By using S-DoT data to examine the urban air environment more closely, which was difficult to confirm with only air pollution monitoring networks, it was also confirmed that air quality is more vulnerable in areas with significantly low vehicle speeds or high traffic volumes.

In January, the monthly average concentration of ultrafine dust measured at 25 air pollution monitoring stations installed in each district of Seoul was all classified as 'Moderate,' but during the same period, concentrations measured by S-DoT at various locations throughout the city showed that 52 out of 850 locations (such as the northern end of Cheongdam Bridge, Hwagok Intersection, and areas near Itaewon Station) were classified as 'Bad.' Most of these results came from S-DoTs installed near sections indicating traffic congestion with vehicle speeds of 22 km/h or less.

However, the monthly average ultrafine dust concentration measured by air pollution monitoring stations in March was all classified as 'Moderate,' and S-DoT also showed 'Moderate' levels. Along with the decrease in traffic volume, vehicle speeds increased by more than 10 percentage points compared to January, two months earlier.

Additionally, S-DoTs installed around construction sites observed that ultrafine dust and fine dust concentrations increased during daytime (construction hours) and decreased after evening hours.

Meanwhile, Seoul City installed S-DoTs throughout the city last year and has built an 'IoT Urban Data Platform' that integrates the collection, management, and analysis of the measured data, which has been in operation since April this year. S-DoT collects 10 types of data every 2 minutes, including fine dust, ultrafine dust, noise, illuminance, temperature, humidity, ultraviolet rays, vibration, wind direction, wind speed, and visitor count. The city plans to expand the installation to 2,500 units across Seoul by 2022.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.