1|Page

Specific variation of Ambient Black Carbon around Coal Mining

Area

Thesis Submitted for the partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the award of the

Degree of Master of Science

In
Environmental Sciences
Submitted by
Amita Kumari
Reg. no. - CUJ/M/2107/EVS/11

Under the guidance of

External Supervisor
Internal supervisor Dr. Siddharth Singh
Professor Manoj Kumar Principal Scientist,
Professor and head Natural Resources & Environmental
Department of Environmental Sciences Management
Central University of Jharkhand CSIR- CIMFR, Dhandab
Brambe, Ranchi, 835205

SUBMITTED TO

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF JHARKHAND
BRAMBE, RANCHI, 835205
MAY-2019
2|Page

DISSERTATION REPORT
ON

Specific Variation of Ambient Black Carbon Around Coal

Mining Area
Submitted By

AMITA KUMARI
Reg.no.-CUJ/M/2017/EVS/11
Semester- IV
M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences

Under the guidance of

Professor Manoj Kumar

Professor and head Dr. Siddharth Singh
Department of Environmental Sciences Principal Scientist,
Central University of Jharkhand Natural Resources & Environmental
Brambe, Ranchi, 835205 Management
CSIR- CIMFR, Dhanbad

SUBMITTED TO

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF JHARKHAND
BRAMBE, RANCHI, 835205
MAY-2019
 3|Page

झारखण्ड केंदर् ीय विश्वविद्यालय

Central University of Jharkhand
(Established by an Act of Parliament of India, 2009)

DECLARATION
I, AMITA KUMARI, certify that the work embodied in this M.Sc. thesis is own bonafide work
carried out by me under the supervision of Professor Manoj Kumar and Dr. Siddharth Singh
for a period of one semester from January, 2019 to May, 2019 at Metal extraction and recycling
Division, CSIR- CIMFR, Dhanbad. The matter embodied in M.Sc. thesis has not been submitted
for the award of any other degree/ diploma.
I declare that I have faithfully acknowledged and refereed to the research workers wherever their
works have been cited in the text. I further certify that I have not willfully lifted up some other’s
work, Para, text data, results, etc. reported in journals, books, magazines, reports, dissertations
theses, etc., or available at web sites and included them in this M.Sc. thesis and cited as my own
work.

(AMITA KUMARI)

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the work reported in the dissertation entitled ‘Specific variation of
ambient black carbon around coal mining area’ is an original piece of work, carried out
by AMITA KUMARI in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Environmental Sciences under my supervision. The matter embodied in this
report has not been submitted for award of any other degree. This is also certifying that the
above statement made by the candidate is correct to the best of my knowledge.

(Professor Manoj Kumar)

Internal Supervisor & Professor and head, DEVS
Internal Examiner

Forwarded by:

(Manoj Kumar)
4|Page

Head, DEVS External Examiner

Abstract
Black carbon (BC) aerosols, which are optically absorbing parts of carbonaceous aerosols

and have significantly different optical and radiative properties were continuously measured

at Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR), Dhanbad, Jharkhand India.

Dhanbad (23° 47′ N, 86° 30′ E: 222 m above mean sea level) is known as coal capital of

India situated in the Jharkhand state of India.), from 1st February to 29th December, 2019. The

daily observation show that morning concentrations of BC is higher in winter and lower in

summer and show the higher concentration of BC observed at 970nm due to the higher

concentration of fossil fuel.

5|Page

Acknowledgement

I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of respect and profound gratitude to my

internal supervisor Manoj Kumar Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Science,

Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi for his blessings, invaluable guidance, encouragement

and constant support during the course of this project work. I would also like to express my

thanks to my external supervisor Dr Siddharth Sing Principal Scientist, CSIR- CIMFR ,

Dhanbad, and my Co- Supervisor Dr. Bhanu Pandey Scientist, CSIR- CIMFR for providing me

necessary facilities to carry out the project work.

I am thankful to all faculty members and technical staff of our CSIR- CIMFR,Dhanbad

for their kind moral supports and help.

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my dear friends who helped me

a lot in finishing this project within the limited time and I learn so many new things under their

kind and expert guidance.

I thankful to all those who wished and boosted me up every time, blessings and

encouragement it would have been impossible for me to purpose this work.

Finally, I am deeply indebted to almighty and my dear parents for their blessings, my

brother and my friends for their continuous support and sustained encouragements, all well-

wishers for their blessings and good wishes, which helped me to complete this work.

Amita Kumar
6|Page

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

3. Objective of work

4. Methodology

4.1. Observation site

4.2. Instrumentation

4.3. Metrological parameters

5. Result and discussion

6. Conclusion

7. Reference
7|Page

Listed of figure

Sl.NO Captions Page No.

1 Gridded black carbon emission 14

from all sources for the year
(top) 1991 and (middle) 2001.
(bottom) Variation in black
carbon emission (in Gg) from all
sources from 1991 to 2001.
2 Map of study area 17

3(a) Graphical representation 24 24

hours variation of BC mass
based on hourly average data
from1 February to 28 February
at Coal mining area near CSIR-
CIMFR, Dhanbad

3(b) Graphical representation 24 24

hours variation of BC mass
based on hourly average data
from1 March to 31 March at
Coal mining area near CSIR-
CIMFR, Dhanbad

3(c) Graphical representation 24 25

hours variation of BC mass
based on hourly average data
from1 April to30 April at Coal
mining area near CSIR- CIMFR
4(a) Variation of BC on the basis of 25
8|Page

24 hours interval 1 February to

30 February at CSIR-CIMFR,
Dhanbad.
4(b) Variation of BC on the basis of 26
24 hours interval 1 March to 31
April at CSIR-CIMFR,
Dhanbad.
4(c) Variation of BC on the basis of 27
24 hours interval 1 April to 30
April at CSIR-CIMFR,
Dhanbad.
5 Monthly average variation of BC 27
mass concentration from

February to April 2019 at Coal

mining area near CSIR-CIMFR,

Dhanbad.
9|Page

1. Introduction

1.1. Black Carbon

Black carbons (BC) are carbonaceous materials composed of single and stacked polyaromatic

sheets in a highly disordered arrangement. The sheets may be functionalized along the edges

with hydroxyl, carboxyl, keto, or other groups. It is an absorber of solar radiation in visible and

near-infrared wavelengths. BC is not completely combusted particles; it is a type of incomplete

particulate matter (PM). BC is a component of soot carbon that has optical properties like

carbonaceous aerosol. BC is a short-lived, strong climate forcing agent about few days to week

significantly less than carbon dioxide (CO2) and warms the Earth's atmosphere by absorbing

ultraviolet radiation and infrared radiation from the sunlight and heating the lower and middle

troposphere; and by reducing the albedo when deposited on ice and/or snow and by interacting

with clouds and causes rapid melting of cryosphere. BC is the second strongest contributor to

global warming next to carbon dioxide.

In the rural site, BC also has a high correlation (R = 0.86) with larger particles (175-700 nm),

but the correlation between BC and the finest particles (10-39 nm) decreases to near 0. These

measurements are an indication that wood burning does not generate particles smaller than -50

nm.

BC (soot) properties, such as density, absorption coefficient, size, and morphology are highly

variable. They depend on conditions of generation, source strength, atmospheric transport,

transformations due to mechanisms such as catalytic surface reactions, and their degree of

mixing of BC with other atmospheric particles as well as of their removal due to wet and dry

deposition processes.
10 | P a g e

The term ‘black carbon’ is often used interchangeably with the term ‘elemental carbon’ in the

atmospheric sciences. Both are light-absorbing carbon compounds, but whereas BC is formed

from incomplete combustion in reduced or anoxic environments, the term ‘elemental carbon’ is

used for carbon fractions measured after oxidative combustion in the presence of oxygen above a

certain temperature threshold. Another light absorbing carbon is ‘brown carbon’, which is a non-

soot organic carbon aerosol originating from humic-like substances (HULIS), bioaerosols and

tar.

The sources of BC are both anthropogenic and naturally origin by incomplete burning of

fossil fuel or biomass and affects the climate patterns and also affects the precipitation pattern

and cloud process. Natural emission of BC is a forest fire, volcanoes eruption and naturally

burning of coal. In the urban area, the major sources of BC are diesel emissions from the

transport sector and from generators (especially those without pollution filters), and burning of

other fossil fuels and biomass in industry and power production. Further, the particulates

released from these sources are a combination of primary particles and secondary reaction

products which form downwind of the source. Globally, the annual emissions of BC are (for the

year 1996) 8 Tg yr-1 (Bond, T. C. et al.) with about 20% from biofuels, 40% from fossil fuels

and 40% from open biomass burning. The uncertainty in the published estimates for BC

emissions is a factor of two to five on regional scales and at least 50% on global scales.

Black carbon, a component of particulate matter, is especially dangerous to human health

because of its tiny size. But black carbon not only has impacts on human health, but it also

affects visibility, harms ecosystems, reduces agricultural productivity and exacerbates global

warming. These BC particles contain black colour and extremely efficient absorbers of solar

radiation and have a significant direct effect on climate. In addition, the absorbing BC particles
11 | P a g e

may affect the clouds and act on the climate through indirect effects. Most of the larger particles

stay close to the sources, mainly at lower latitudes, but the smaller particles can be transported

over large distances to where some of the BC particles are deposited on the snow and ice and co-

emitted particles reduce surface albedo (the ability to reflect sunlight) and heat the surface. The

Arctic and glaciated regions such as the Himalayas are particularly vulnerable to melting as a

result.

The effect of BC on snow albedo depends on the vertical variation of snow grain size as well

as the thickness distribution of the snowpack. For example, 40 parts per billion of soot can

reduce the albedo by 1–3% (depending on snow grain size). The climate effect of BC particles

transported to the Arctic is potentially large because of the sensitivity of surface albedo changes

to snow and ice albedo feedback mechanisms. BC also affects global warming because it is very

effective at absorbing light and heat from its surrounding. When BC suspended in the

atmosphere it converts solar energy to heat and can absorb one million times more energy than

CO2.

BC and its co-pollutant are components of PM 2.5, the leading environmental causes of poor

health and premature deaths. At 2.5 micrometer or smaller in diameter, this allows them to

penetrate into deepest regions of the lungs and transported of toxic component into bloodstreams.

PM2.5 has been linked to a number of health impacts including premature death in adults with

heart and lung disease, strokes, heart attacks, chronic respiratory diseases such as bronchitis,

aggravated asthma and other cardio-respiratory symptoms. It is also responsible for the

premature deaths of children from acute lower respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
12 | P a g e

BC affects the vegetation by deposition on leaf and reduces the transpiration rate, increasing

their temperature, dimming sunlight that reaches the earth, and modifying rainfall patterns. It is

described as dimming of the earth’s surface that reduces patterns of evaporation that make

clouds. If black carbon heats up the layer of the atmosphere where clouds are forming, for

example, they will evaporate. They can no longer reflect sunlight back into space, and so the

soot-laced clouds end up warming the atmosphere. But black carbon that hangs above low-lying

clouds has a different effect. It stabilizes the layer of air on top of the clouds, promoting their

growth. These clouds are like shields, blocking incoming sunlight.

Black carbon’s short atmospheric lifetime, combined with its strong warming potential,

means that targeted strategies to reduce emissions can provide climate and health benefits within

a relatively short period of time.

The Coalition supports the implementation of control measures that, if globally

implemented by 2030, could reduce global black carbon emissions by as much as 80% (UNEP &

WMO 2011). Several of these emission reductions could be achieved with net cost savings.

Adopting these measures would have major positive co-benefits for public health, especially in

the developing world.

2. Literature review

It is important at the outset to define the scope of the current review. First, this review

summarizes literature on atmospheric black carbon in India. Black carbon is a carbonaceous

component which absorbs the sunlight and converted to heat energy. BC, a form of particulate
13 | P a g e

air pollution most often produced from biomass burning, cooking with solid fuels and diesel

exhaust, has a warming effect in the atmosphere

Depending on the meteorology of an area, BC pollution is generally not restricted to an area

surrounding the source due to the long-range transport of pollutants. In areas of South Asia,

pollution lofts into the upper atmosphere where it has been shown to be transported to even the

furthest reaches of the North Pole. Studies have revealed that South Asia has become the largest

contributor of black carbon emissions, and is also believed to be the greatest contributor of soot

deposited within Greenland.

Studies continue to indicate that BC is a likely factor in climate change. In 2003, a computer

simulation done by NASA suggested that black soot may be responsible for up to 25 percent of

the observed global warming over the past century. Another NASA experiment found that the

amount of sunlight absorbed by soot was two-to-four times larger than previously assumed.

However, the extent that black soot has an effect on climate change will continue to be debated

since it has only recently become a factor included in studies of global warming.

(Figures 1 top and 1 middle) shows the total BC emissions from all sources accounted in

this analysis in gridded form for base year 1991 and 2001 respectively. The estimated BC

emission for India from all sources is around 835.50 Gg for 1991, which increased to 1343.78

Gg in 2001. The grid‐wise decadal change/growth in BC emission is shown in  Figure 1(bottom),

which indicates a growth of around 61% (508.28 Gg) during 1990s. Maximum change occurred

over Indo‐Gangatic Plan (IGP) area (marked in red in Figure 1, top) and some parts of Western

India and Southern India. The above given regions are having high population density as
14 | P a g e

compared to other part of India. In the gridded image, the IGP belt shows more emission due to

high population density and it is the most fertile region for agriculture in the country. Some parts

of central India, North‐western, Eastern, and Northeast region show less BC emissions as

compared to other parts of India due to low population densities and few numbers of low

capacity thermal power stations. All the metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and

Chennai show high BC values due to high vehicular BC emissions and more demand of energy.

The district level analysis shows that only top 10% emitting districts contributing nearly 49%

and 52% of total BC emissions for the year 2001 and 1991 respectively. Out of 407 grid boxes,

around 250 grids shows only change of BC less than 1 Gg which cover most parts of central

India, North‐east region and some parts of North‐west region. All grid boxes showing higher

values lie over some of the big cities of India. Most of grids showing values greater than 5 Gg is

due to presence of high capacity thermal power station and high vehicular densities, which can

be noticed in all the given figures.

(https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2007GL032333#grl24077-fig-0001)
15 | P a g e

Figure 1 Gridded black carbon emission from all sources for the year (top) 1991 and (middle)

2001. (bottom) Variation in black carbon emission (in Gg) from all sources from 1991 to 2001
16 | P a g e

The sector‐wise distribution and decadal growth is discussed in the following. Present

calculation shows that the estimated BC emission from coal source is around 451 Gg for 1991

and around 709 Gg for the year 2001 with a decadal change of 57%. India is producing and

consuming large amounts of coal. The coal consumption has increased by around 57% during

1991 to 2001 due to demand of coal by thermal power stations to generate electricity and by

other industries also. Even though the coal consumption has increased by 57%, the power

production is increased by around 85% (271 BUs in 1991 to 499.5 BUs in 2001) due to increase

in efficiency of Plant Load Factor (PLF) which is an important metric of the operational

efficiency of thermal power plants. IGP region is one of the most polluted area by BC due to

high population density and 19% of total coal consumption is used by domestic sides. Decadal

growth in BC is high over the IGP, Eastern parts of Southern India, Western India. Diesel and

petrol are the major fuels consumed by transport sector in India. The estimated BC emissions

from petrol and diesel source are around 218 Gg and 462 Gg for the year 1991 and 2001

respectively with 112% decadal growth due to rapid increase in vehicle number especially in

urban areas. High values of BC from these sources are seen in the metropolitan cities like Delhi,

Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and some districts of Western and South‐eastern India. Vehicles

using diesel emit more BC than vehicle using petrol. The BC emission over Indian region from

bio‐fuel source was estimated to be 166 Gg for the year 1991 and 172 Gg for year 2001

respectively with a decadal growth of 3.7%. Most of the bio‐fuel related BC emission zones are

located near major river belts and well‐irrigated land as crop residue burning directly linked with

more agriculture yields. The contribution of kerosene is negligible as compared to other fossil

fuels. Kerosene is generally used in rural sector

17 | P a g e

3. Objective of work

 Spatial variation of ambient black carbon around coal mining area.

 To identification the source

4. Methodology

4.1. Observation site

The Coalition supports the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR), Dhanbad,

Jharkhand India. Dhanbad (23° 47′ N, 86° 30′ E: 222 m above mean sea level) is known as coal

capital of India situated in the Jharkhand state of India. It is situated in the Damodar basin of

Eastern part of the India which is endowed with rich coal deposits and hosts several large

mineral based industries. Dhanbad has a population of 219,636 making it the 4th biggest city in

Jharkhand. It operates on the BURT time zone, which means that it follows the same time zone

as Ranchi. The sampling site was CIMFR is located in a forested enclave within an urban setting.

The sickle-shaped Jharia coal fields occupy an area ~450 km2 stretching from west to south of

Dhanbad.

It has a century-old mining history with a total of 112 coal mines located around the city.

Dhanbad has ~2.6 million inhabitants with a population density of 1300 persons per km2 . The

Jharia Coalfields (~5 km south of the sampling site) is the largest reservoir of prime coking coal

in India. Mining started in the Jharia Coalfields in 1894 and the first mine fire was reported in

1916. In 2008, there were 67 fires covering an area of ~9 km2. The region emits large quantities

of airborne particulate matter including carbonaceous particles from the coal mining activities,

downstream industries, and multiple thermal power plants located in and around the city. Besides
18 | P a g e

the local mining and industrial source activities, regional transport is also a major contributor to

atmospheric gaseous and particulate pollutants including biomass burning emissions that degrade

regional air quality. 2014). Coal is also widely used as cooking and space heating fuel by the

general population. The study area is on the Chota Nagpur Plateau and has a transitional climate

between humid subtropical and wet and dry tropical.implementation of control measures that, if

globally implemented by 2030, could reduce global black carbon emissions by as much as 80%

(UNEP & WMO 2011). Several of these emission reductions could be achieved with net cost

savings. Adopting these measures would have major positive co-benefits for public health,

especially in the developing world.

Figure3: study site

19 | P a g e

4.2. Instrumentation

Measurements of black carbon aerosol mass concentration were carried out by using seven

channel aethalometer (370,470, 520, 590, 660, 880, and 950 nm) (model AE 42, USA). This is a

filter based technique that measures the light attenuation due to particles deposited on to a quartz

filter.

Aethalometer draws the air sample through the inlet port, was operated at a sampling flow

rate of 2.9 LPM using a small internal pump. The aethalometer collects the sample on a quartz

fiber filter tape, and performs a continuous optical analysis, while the sample is collecting.

During this process, the tape does not move. The tape only moves forward when the spot has

reached a certain density. The roll of tape contains 1500 spots. The internal time and sampling

flow rate of the aethalometer were checked every day. During the sampling period, the

aethalometer were positioned in cabin and the inlets of the aethalometer were approximately 10

m above the ground level for the collection of air sample using a small internal pump. The

logging interval for all measurements was set at 3 min. The data is written to diskette;

transmitted by the COM port; and produced as an analog voltage BC.

4.3. Meteorological parameters

Meteorological parameters such as wind speed (WS: m/s), wind direction (WD: °N),

temperature (T: °C), relative humidity (RH: %) and precipitation (mm) were also measured at the

sampling location with 1- hour resolution. During monitoring 111.3 mm rainfall is monitored in

3 months and average temperature is

20 | P a g e

Table 1: Average temperature and total precipitation of a month

Date Temperature(oC) Precipitation (mm)

1-02-19 21.71428571 0.0
2-02-19 23.57142857 0.0
3-02-19 24.71428571 0.0
4-02-19 24 0.0
5-02-19 24.14285714 0.0
6-02-19 24.71428571 0.0
7-02-19 26 0.0
8-02-19 25.57142857 0.0
9-02-19 20.71428571 0.0
10-02-19 20.71429 22.3
11-02-19 21.28571 0.1
12-02-19 21 0.0
13-02-19 22.42857 0.0
14-02-19 25.14286 0.0
15-02-19 25.42857 0.4
16-02-19 24.14286 2.9
17-02-19 23.14286 3.5
18-02-19 23 0.0
19-02-19 25.57143 0.0
20-02-19 27.14286 0.0
21-02-19 28.28571 0.0
22-02-19 30.14286 0.0
23-02-19 29.28571 2.3
24-02-19 27.71429 2.3
25-02-19 24.42857 29.3
26-02-19 23.85714 3.6
27-02-19 24.85714 3.8
28-02-19 20.28571 2
21 | P a g e

Table 2: Average temperature and total precipitation of a month

Date Temperature(oC) Precipitation (mm)

1-03-19 22.375 00
2-03-19 24.375 00
3-03-19 24.125 0.3
4-03-19 26.25 1.3
5-03-19 23.85714 1.9
6-03-19 24.875 00
7-03-19 25.5 00
8-03-19 26 00
9-03-19 27.375 00
10-03-19 28.75 00
11-03-19 30 00
12-03-19 31.125 00
13-03-19 31.75 00
14-03-19 31.875 0.3
15-03-19 30.375 9.8
16-03-19 30.5 3.5
17-03-19 31 2.7
18-03-19 28 3.6
19-03-19 29.375 9.27
20-03-19 31.625 7.25
21-03-19 31.5 00
22-03-19 32.5 00
23-03-19 31 00
24-03-19 31 00
25-03-19 32.5 00
26-03-19 31.5 0.7
27-03-19 30.25 1
28-03-19 33.375 00
29-03-19 32.875 00
30-03-19 35 00
31-03-19 36.75 00
22 | P a g e

Table 3: Average temperature and total precipitation of a month

Date Temperature(oC) Precipitation (mm)

1-04-19 35.14286 00
2-04-19 33 00
3-04-19 33.71429 00
4-04-19 33.71429 00
5-04-19 34.71429 00
6-04-19 33.57143 00
7-04-19 29.28571 2.6
8-04-19 30.42857 2.2
9-04-19 32 3.2
10-04-19 33.71429 0.3
11-04-19 33.42857 0.1
12-04-19 34.57143 0.3
13-04-19 35.71429 0.4
14-04-19 37.28571 00
15-04-19 38.42857 00
16-04-19 38.28571 00
17-04-19 33.85714 00
18-04-19 32.14286 3.3
19-04-19 32.28571 0.4
20-04-19 32 0.1
21-04-19 32.85714 00
22-04-19 32.57143 00
23-04-19 34 00
24-04-19 34.28571 00
25-04-19 35.71429 00
26-04-19 36.42857 00
27-04-19 38.14286 00
28-04-19 39 00
29-04-19 38.85714 00
30-04-19 39.14286 00

 Total average temperature is 1062.319 and the rain is 73.2 mm in February 2019 show in-
table 1.

 Total average temperature is 1172.46and the rain is 25.6mm in March 2019 table 2.

 Total average temperature is 1082.872 and the rain is 12.8 mm in February 2019 show in-
table3.
23 | P a g e

5. Result and Discussion

BC mass concentration measure for 24 hours per day during 1 st February to 29th April 2019 is

average and monthly average. BC concentration is obtained in figure 1, 2 and 3. Aethalometer

monitor the BC concentration over 7 channels (370nm, 470nm, 520 nm, 590nm, 660nm, 880 nm

and 950nm). Different wavelength gives different concentration. The lowest concentration is

monitored at 370 nm the highest concentration is monitored at 950nm. 2016). The spectral

dependency between emissions from fossil fuel and biomass burning sources has made optical

determination methods utilizing multi-wavelength light absorption instruments an interesting

alternative to apportion eBC (equivalent Black carbon) from these source categories. BC belongs

to this group of Light Absorbing Carbonaceous compounds, and it is considered to be the most

important light absorbing aerosol component in the atmosphere due to the positive radiative

forcing it imposes on the climate.

The eBC source apportionment method used with the aethalometer, also known as the

Aethalometer model capitalizes on the different spectral dependencies of fossil fuel and biomass

burning originating LAC aerosols. Overall, eBC is a strong light absorber over the whole visible

wavelength region. In emission from fossil fuel sources, eBC is expected to be the dominant

LAC component absorbing in the long visible and near infrared (IR) wavelengths (∼600–950

nm). However, in emissions from biomass burning there are also other LAC compounds present

(e.g. organic brown carbon constituents) -which contribute significantly to the light absorption

close to the near ultraviolet (UV) and lower visible wavelengths (∼300–500 nm). Based on these
24 | P a g e

observations, in the Aethalometer model the absorption near-UV and near-IR regions are

considered to be indicative of eBC from wood burning (BCWB) and fossil fuel (BCFF) sources,

respectively. In its simplest form, the model is based on the assumption that emissions from

fossil fuel and biomass burning sources follow spectral dependencies of λ−1 and λ−2,

respectively. These exponents are called absorption Ångström exponents (α), descriptive of the

spectral dependence of light absorption.

140000

120000

100000
950nm
80000
880nm
60000 660nm
590nm
40000 520nm
470nm
20000
370nm
0
00 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 00 00 00 00 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 00 00 00 0 0
0 0: 00: 00: 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 : 00: 00: 00: 00: 00: 00 : 00: 00 : 00 : 00 : 00: 00 : 00: 00: 00: 00 :
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
00 01 02 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 08 09 10 11 12 1 3 14 1 5 1 6 1 7 18 1 9 20 21 22 2 3

Figure 3 (a): 24 hours variation of BC mass based on hourly average data from1 February to

28 February at Coal mining area near CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad

25 | P a g e

250000

200000

150000 950nm
880nm
660nm
100000 590nm
520nm
470nm
50000 370nm

0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 :0 1:0 2:0 3:0 4:0 5:0 6:0 7:0 8:0 9:0 0:0 1:0 2:0 3:0 4:0 5:0 6:0 7:0 8:0 9:0 0:0 1:0 2:0 3:0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2

Figure3 (b): 24 hours variation of BC mass based on hourly average data from 1 March to

31 March at Coal mining area near CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad

90000
80000
70000
60000
950nm
50000 880nm
40000 660nm
590nm
30000 520nm
20000 470nm
370nm
10000
0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
:0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0 :0
0 0 01 02 0 3 0 4 05 0 6 07 08 0 9 10 1 1 1 2 13 1 4 15 16 1 7 1 8 19 2 0 21 22 2 3

Figure 3(c): 24 hour’s variation of BC mass based on hourly average data from 1 April to 30

April at Coal mining area near CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad.

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90000

80000

70000

60000 950nm
880nm
50000 660nm
40000 590nm
520nm
30000 470nm
370nm
20000

10000

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516171819202122232425262728

Figure4 (a): Variation of BC 1 February to 28 February on the basis of 24 hours interval at

Coal mining area near CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad on

60000

50000

40000 950nm
880nm
660nm
30000
590nm
520nm
20000 470nm
370nm
10000

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516171819202122232425262728293031

Figure 4 (b): Variation of BC on the basis of 24 hours interval 1 March to 31 March at

Coal mining area near CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad.

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80000

70000

60000
950nm
50000 880nm
660nm
40000
590nm
30000 520nm
470nm
20000 370nm

10000

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Figure 4(c): Variation of BC on the basis of 24 hours interval 1 April to 30 April at CSIR-

CIMFR, Dhanbad.

45000

40000

35000

30000 950nm
880nm
25000 660nm
20000 590nm
520nm
15000 470nm
370nm
10000

5000

0
Feb Mar Apr

Figure 5: Monthly average variation of BC mass concentration from February to April 2019

at Coal mining area near CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad.

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The daily average and its hourly BC variations during 1st Feb to 29th April are shown in Figure

2 (a,b,c). The concentration of BC is higher at morning time and lower at evening time during 1 st

February to 28 February 2019 (Figure 2(a)) and the concentration of BC is lower at morning and

higher at night during 1st March 2019 to 29th April 2019. The diurnal pattern is mainly due to the

changes in the mixing heights. In the morning, after the sunrise, the nocturnal boundary layer

brakes, lifting up the particles, especially those in fine size. This gave a sharp peak in the

morning. After that, the concentrations went on decreasing gradually due to increased convective

activity and the minimum value reached at about 24 h; afterwards concentrations started building

up slowly again due to the decadence of the local boundary layer and the second peak.

Winter morning the concentration of BC is higher and in the evening the concentration is

low but in summer the concentration of BC is low in the morning and high in the evening in the

study area. During winter the boundary layer is shallow and holds the pollutants in a smaller

volume near the earth surface when compared to summer shown in figure 2(a,b,c).

Measurements of BC mass concentration were carried out by using seven channel

aethalometer. It carried seven lamps which emitted wavelength (370,470, 520, 590, 660, 880,

and 950 nm) (model AE 42, USA). Highest absorption of BC were observed at 950 nm and low

absorption at 370 nm. It means there were high burning of fossil fuel at the observation site.

6. Conclusion

In the present study, we investigated the probable source of BC mass concentration over

using 7 channels Aethalometer data during 1st February to 29th April 2019 periods.
29 | P a g e

 Higher concentration of BC During winter season in the morning and lower in the

evening time and in summer season the concentration BC is lower at morning and

higher in the evening at the sampling site.

 Highest BC concentration monitored at 950 nm and the lowest concentration at 370

nm, it concluded that the burning of fossil fuel is high then the biomass.

 Automobile exhaust is the major contributor BC in the study site.

 During rain, the concentration of BC is less because they settled down or washed out.

 Highest absorption coefficient was observed at April 2019 and lower at March 2019.

 Automobile exhaust is the major contributor BC in the study site.

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