27 May 2020
20.05.2020- AMMK made an assessment of air quality during the months of March-April 2020 by comparing it with the same period last year in order to analyze how the measures taken by the Government of Kosovo to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have affected it.
As is known, the measures taken by the Government of Kosovo have resulted in a decrease in road traffic and in the dynamics of some other economic activities, which has also led to a decrease in air pollution for some parameters, especially for parameters related to road transport.
Data from the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency (KEPA), which comes from the air quality monitoring system managed by the Kosovo Hydrometeorological Institute, indicate a decrease in the concentrations of certain air pollutants, particularly the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter PM2.5, which mainly occur due to the reduction of traffic and other similar activities. Data from KHI from the monitoring stations show a decrease in pollution on a scale of up to 50% nationwide compared to the same period last year.
Based on the data recorded by the measuring stations at IHMK, it has been estimated that the average concentration of NO2 at the Kosovo level during the month of March was around 15 µg/m3, compared to around 30 µg/m3 in March of the previous year. Meanwhile, during the month of April, the average concentration of NO2 at the Kosovo level was around 10.4 µg/m3, compared to around 23.7 µg/m3 in April of the previous year. Decreases in concentration have also been recorded for other parameters such as PM2.5, the concentration of which in the air is also related to transport activities.
Based on the data from the IHMK measurement stations, it is estimated that the average concentration of PM2.5 at the level of Kosovo during the month of March this year was 14.9 µg/m3, compared to about 21.7 µg/m3 in March of last year. Meanwhile, during the month of April, the average concentration of PM2.5 at the level of Kosovo was about 10 µg/m3, compared to about 17 µg/m3 in April of last year. It should be noted that in this analysis, meteorological parameters for the two months for which the measurement results were analyzed were not taken into account. For more information, see the monthly air quality reports for March-April of 2020.