Undergraduate Research: An Archive - 2021 Program

THESIS TITLE
Linking Changes in NO 2
Pollution and Mobility
During the COVID-19
Lockdowns in the U.S.
ADVISER
Mark Zondlo, Associate
Professor of Civil and
Environmental
Engineering
Rei Zhang ’21
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Certificate in Environmental Studies
One impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has
been its effect on reducing travel, which is the
single largest contributor to nitrogen dioxide
(NO 2
) pollution in the United States. The
widespread suspension of daily activities due
to the pandemic provided a rare opportunity
to directly study the effects of human behavior
on air quality. I leveraged diverse data sets to
analyze the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns
on air quality in the United States in 2020. My
thesis built upon previous studies by considering
a larger geographical extent, using a longer
timeframe, and integrating ground-level
nitrogen dioxide measurements, high-resolution
satellite imagery, and mobility metrics derived
from cellphone data. I found that reducing travel
is one way to reduce NO 2
levels for the benefit
human health and the environment, though
reducing vehicle emissions is unlikely to be the
most impactful way of improving air quality in
the future.
HEALTH AND DISEASE
36