Characterization of black carbon in the ambient air of Agra, India: Seasonal variation and meteorological influence

Gupta, Phalguni; Singh, Shalendra; Jangid, Ashok Kumar; Kumar, Ranjit

doi:10.1007/s00376-017-6234-z

Cited by 38 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…These findings suggest a large source of chloride in the northwest of Delhi. The high levels of chloride observed in Delhi are neither observed in other South Asian countries (Kim et al, 2015;Stone et al, 2010;Salam et al, 2003), nor in other parts of India (Gupta and Mandariya, 2013;Gupta et al, 2007), suggesting that these extreme levels of chloride probably come from more than just the usual type of biomass and waste burning (Goetz et al, 2018), which is ubiquitous across South Asia (Streets et al, 2003). While filter-based studies can cause underreporting of volatile species such as ammonium chloride, the levels of chloride we observe in Delhi are much higher than those reported from studies in South Asia (outside Delhi) that use online aerosol instrumentation (Goetz et al, 2018;Chakraborty et al, 2015).…”

Section: Chloride Episodes and Wind Directionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Submicron aerosol composition in the world's most polluted megacity: the Delhi Aerosol Supersite study

et al. 2019

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Abstract. Delhi, India, routinely experiences some of the world's highest urban particulate matter concentrations. We established the Delhi Aerosol Supersite study to provide long-term characterization of the ambient submicron aerosol composition in Delhi. Here we report on 1.25 years of highly time-resolved speciated submicron particulate matter (PM1) data, including black carbon (BC) and nonrefractory PM1 (NR-PM1), which we combine to develop a composition-based estimate of PM1 (“C-PM1” = BC + NR-PM1) concentrations. We observed marked seasonal and diurnal variability in the concentration and composition of PM1 owing to the interactions of sources and atmospheric processes. Winter was the most polluted period of the year, with average C-PM1 mass concentrations of ∼210 µg m−3. The monsoon was hot and rainy, consequently making it the least polluted (C-PM1 ∼50 µg m−3) period. Organics constituted more than half of the C-PM1 for all seasons and times of day. While ammonium, chloride, and nitrate each were ∼10 % of the C-PM1 for the cooler months, BC and sulfate contributed ∼5 % each. For the warmer periods, the fractional contribution of BC and sulfate to C-PM1 increased, and the chloride contribution decreased to less than 2 %. The seasonal and diurnal variation in absolute mass loadings were generally consistent with changes in ventilation coefficients, with higher concentrations for periods with unfavorable meteorology – low planetary boundary layer height and low wind speeds. However, the variation in C-PM1 composition was influenced by temporally varying sources, photochemistry, and gas–particle partitioning. During cool periods when wind was from the northwest, episodic hourly averaged chloride concentrations reached 50–100 µg m−3, ranking among the highest chloride concentrations reported anywhere in the world. We estimated the contribution of primary emissions and secondary processes to Delhi's submicron aerosol. Secondary species contributed almost 50 %–70 % of Delhi's C-PM1 mass for the winter and spring months and up to 60 %–80 % for the warmer summer and monsoon months. For the cooler months that had the highest C-PM1 concentrations, the nighttime sources were skewed towards primary sources, while the daytime C-PM1 was dominated by secondary species. Overall, these findings point to the important effects of both primary emissions and more regional atmospheric chemistry on influencing the extreme particle concentrations that impact the Delhi megacity region. Future air quality strategies considering Delhi's situation in both a regional and local context will be more effective than policies targeting only local, primary air pollutants.

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Section: Chloride Episodes and Wind Directionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Submicron aerosol composition in the world's most polluted megacity: the Delhi Aerosol Supersite study

et al. 2019

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“…The map was downloaded from http://www. worldmapfinder.com/BingMaps/ Cn.html enhance the horizontal diffusion, it can also carry pollutants from upwind areas resulting in high eBC loadings (Gupta et al 2017). For wintertime, eBC concentrations decreased with the increased wind speed at < 5 m s −1 .…”

Section: Equivalent Bc (Ebc) Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Transport and Dry Deposition of Black Carbon Aerosol in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2017

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the eBC potential source region shifted to the east and southeast of Lulang during the post-monsoon and to the north India and northwest Nepal during the winter. The estimated eBC deposition rate was the highest for the pre-monsoon (6.3-62.6 μg eBC m −2 day −1 ), followed by the post-monsoon (4.6-45.9 μg eBC m −2 day −1 ), winter (4.3-43.1 μg eBC m −2 day −1 ), and monsoon (2.4-24.5 μg eBC m −2 day −1 ). Further calculations of eBC concentrations in the snow surface were 33.3-333.2, 61.5-614.7, 27.0-269.9, and 58.8-587.6 μg kg −1 during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, postmonsoon, and winter seasons, respectively, which resulted in the snow albedos being reduced by 2.6-25.3, 4.7-46.6, 2.1-20.5, and 4.5-44.5% accordingly.

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“…This result indicates that when wind speed is high, pollutants can get transported and dispersed, leading to a low concentration of pollutants. The mass concentration of PM was the highest when wind speed was low or moderate (<1 ms −1 ) . In Agra, accumulation of pollutants under weak wind speed and dilution with increasing wind indicated the predominance of local sources in the loading of the mass concentration of PM.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Various emission sources, such as coal and biomass burning for heating and cooking purposes, dominate during the winter season, and favorable atmospheric conditions help in trapping pollutants at the ground level, causing an increase in the PM concentration. The highest concentration of PM in November and January may be due to crop burning and harvesting in Haryana and Punjab . In 2015, the Diwali festival was celebrated in November; this festival involves lighting and bursting of fire crackers due to which various types of pollutants are released into the atmosphere.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of Fractionated Aerosols at a Semiarid Region over the Indo‐Gangetic Basin

Singh¹,

Gupta²,

Jangid³

et al. 2019

CLEAN Soil Air Water

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The present study examines the mass concentration of particulate matter (PM) of different sizes between January and December 2015 at Agra, a semiarid region in the Indo‐Gangetic basin. The mean mass concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 are 146.9 and 54.8 μg m−3, respectively. The observed PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations are considerably higher than standard values set by the World Health Organization, United States Environmental Protection Agency, and National Ambient Air Quality Standard (India). Higher concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 are observed in November and January, respectively. The highest and lowest concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 are measured in winter and monsoon seasons, respectively. The PM2.5/PM10 mean mass concentration ratio is 0.44, indicating the dominance of coarse particles. The daily average air quality index is 107.7 for PM2.5 and 132.8 for PM10. The exceedance factor (EF) for PM10 is >1.5, indicating a critical level of PM10, whereas the EF for PM2.5 is <1.5 indicating a high level of pollution load. The trajectory analysis showed the effect of long‐range‐transported particles on this region.

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Characterization of black carbon in the ambient air of Agra, India: Seasonal variation and meteorological influence

Cited by 38 publications

References 51 publications

Submicron aerosol composition in the world's most polluted megacity: the Delhi Aerosol Supersite study

Submicron aerosol composition in the world's most polluted megacity: the Delhi Aerosol Supersite study

Seasonal Transport and Dry Deposition of Black Carbon Aerosol in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Assessment of Fractionated Aerosols at a Semiarid Region over the Indo‐Gangetic Basin

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