The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) featured the research of Nga Lee “Sally” Ng, an associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in an article on how Atlanta’s air quality has improved as a result of people sheltering at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic is devastating in many ways and levels but from the air quality perspective, the shutdown is a valuable experiment on how fewer emissions will affect the overall air quality,” Ng said in the article.

Starting in April, Ng and her collaborators have measured the city’s air quality from a station on the roof of the Ford ES&T building on the Georgia Tech campus. As automotive traffic decreased, they observed declining nitrogen dioxide levels. Her team continues to take measurements to determine when pollution increases as a result of the city reopening.

“We hope to measure until the Midtown area reopens so we can capture the air quality change,” Ng told the AJC.

Ng’s research lab focuses on aerosol chemistry, air quality, and health effects. Her research focuses on both laboratory experiments and field measurements to understand the formation and evolution of atmospheric nanoparticles (aerosols). Her group also investigates the linkage between the chemical composition of atmospheric nanoparticles and their health effects.