COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on PM10 and PM2.5 in Six Megacities in the World Assessed Using NASA’s MERRA-2 Reanalysis

The changes in air quality were investigated in six megacities during the shutdown phases in 2020 and were compared to the same time periods in the previous 10 years (2010–2019) using the data of Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis and Research and Application, version 2 (MERRA-2). The concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5 were greatly reduced in all megacities during the lockdown in 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019 and in the previous ten years. The highest reduction in PM 10 was recorded in Delhi, and São Paulo (21%, and 15% and by 27%, and 9%), when compared with the concentrations in 2019 and in the period 2010–2019, respectively. Similarly, levels of PM 2.5 in Delhi, São Paulo, Beijing, and Mumbai decreased by 20%, 14%, 12%, and 10%, respectively in 2020 when compared to the last ten years. Results indicated that the lockdown is an effective mitigation measure to improve air quality. The MERRA-2 reanalysis dataset could be a vital tool in air quality studies in places with a lack of In-situ observations.