Temporal and Correlational Analysis of Air Pollution and Covid-19 Across Major Metropolis in India

Abstract

This study aimed to check the temporal variations in Air Pollution levels using Air Quality Index in major cities spanning geographically across India and understand the correlation between the severity of Covid-19 and the concentrations of the six key air pollutants. The study considered a tenure between May-June 2020 when there was a drastic shift in human behavior due to Unlock period in India. It employed Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient, which better understands monotonic function association between two variables for correlation. The study successfully established statistical evidence of improvement in the air quality of 29% (average) in May and June of 2020 compared to 2019 in the cities under study. A significant correlation was also established between air pollution and covid-19 across various cities in India, with Delhi and Mumbai exhibiting a weak negative correlation. At the same time, Hyderabad and Bengaluru showed a moderate negative correlation. On the other hand, the city of Chennai implied a strong positive correlation between air pollution and Covid-19.