World Health Organisation (WHO)

The presence in the out-door atmosphere of substances or contaminants put

there by man, in quantities or concentrations and of a duration as to cause any;
discomfort to a substantial number of inhabitants of a district of which are
injurious to public health or to human, plant or animal life or property or which
interfere with the reasonable comfortable enjoyment of life and property
throughout the state or through such territories or areas of the state as shall be
affected thereby
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

The presence in ambient atmosphere of substances generally resulting

from activities of man, in sufficient concentration present for a sufficient
time and under circumstances which interfere significantly with the
comfort health or welfare of persons or with the full use of enjoyment of
property

American Medical Association (AMA)

Excessive concentration of foreign material in the air which adversely

affect the well being of individual and causes damage to the property
 Sources of Air
Pollution

Natural
Man-made
(Dust storms, forest
fires, volcanoes, sea
spray, pollen grains etc)

Domestic Industrial Traffic

(Industries, thermal
(Municipal sewage, (Trains, ships,
power plant, paper
insecticides etc) automobiles)
mills, textile mills etc)
 Based on Origin of Based on Chemical State of
Pollutants Composition Matter
• Primary Pollutants • Organic Pollutants • Particulate Pollutants
(emitted directly into (i.e. hydrocarbons) (i.e. Dust, smoke,
atmosphere i.e. Sox, fumes etc)
Nox etc.) • Inorganic Pollutants
(i.e. CO, SO2, H2S) • Gaseous Pollutants
• Secondary Pollutants (i.e. SOx, NOx etc.)
(formed due to
interaction of two or
more primary
pollutants i.e. smog,
tropospheric ozone
etc)
Point source
A point source is a single, identifiable source of air pollutant emissions (for
example, the emissions from a combustion furnace, flue gas stack). Point
sources are also characterized as being either elevated or at ground-level

Line source
A line source is one-dimensional source of air pollutant emissions (for
example, the emissions from the vehicular traffic on a roadway)
Area source
An area source is a two-dimensional source of diffuse air pollutant emissions
(for example, the emissions from a forest fire, a landfill or the evaporated
vapors from a large spill of volatile liquid)

Volume source
A volume source is a three-dimensional source of diffuse air pollutant
emissions. Essentially, it is an area source with a third (height) dimension (for
example, the fugitive gaseous emissions from piping, valves and other
equipment at various heights within industrial facilities)
S.No. Pollutant Time weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
average
Industrial, Ecologically
Rural and Sensitive Area
other areas (notified by
Central
Government)
1. Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Annual* 50 20
µg/m3 24 hours** 80 80
2. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Annual* 40 30
µg/m3 24 hours** 80 80
3. PM10 (Particulate Matter Annual* 60 60
size less than 10 µm) 24 hours** 100 100
µg/m3
4. PM2.5 (Particulate Matter Annual* 40 40
size less than 2.5 µm) 24 hours** 60 60
µg/m3
5. Ozone (O3) µg/m3 8 Hours** 100 100
1 Hour** 80 80
S.No. Pollutant Time weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
average
Industrial, Ecologically
Rural and Sensitive Area
other areas (notified by
Central
Government)
6. Lead (Pb) µg/m3 Annual* 0.5 0.5
24 hours** 1.0 1.0
7. Carbon Monoxide (CO) 8 Hours 02 02
mg/m3 1 Hour 04 04
8. Ammonia (NH3) µg/m3 Annual* 100 100
24 hours** 400 400
9. Benzene (C6H6) µg/m3 Annual* 05 05
10. Benzo-pyrene (BaP) Annual* 01 01
particulate phase only
ng/m3
11. Arsenic (Ar ) ng/m3 Annual* 06 06
12. Nickel (Ni) ng/m3 Annual* 20 20
Air Pollution
Meteorology
Dispersion

Air Pollution and Meteorology

Meteorology is the study of the changes in
temperature, air pressure, moisture, and
wind direction in the troposphere.

It is a science that studies atmospheric

phenomena, especially those that relate to
weather.
 Relevant Factors…

Environmental Meteorological
Factors Factors

• Stack height • Ambient temperature

• Rate of release of gases • Wind speed and
• Mixing height direction
• Temperature of outflow • Solar radiation
gas • Precipitation
• Turbulence
 Atmospheric Facts
Distance (Km) Temperature (0 C)
0 – 11 15.6 to -56
11 – 50 -56 to -2
50 – 90 -2 to -92
90 – 500 -92 to 110

• 99% of atmosphere mass is within 30 km of earth surface

• Most of earth phenomenon occur in troposphere and it contains 80%
of the total atmospheric mass
• Maximum ozone layer is found b/w 25 – 30 km range and its
concentration in 10 ppm. It is measured in Dobson Units (DU)
• 100 DU=1mm of pure ozone gas at normal temperature and pressure
at sea level
 Vertical Stability
1200

110 km Thermosphere
PLR

85 km
Altitude(Km)

-92

NLR
Mesosphere

50 km
-2

Stratosphere PLR

11 km -56
NLR
-80 -40 Temp. in OC0 15 40 80
Lapse Rate/ Environmental Lapse Rate (ELR)
The rate at which temperature actually changes with
increase in altitude at any given time
Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR)
Approx 1oC decrease in temperature with every 100m
Lapse rate = -9.8 (9.76) oC per Km

Moist Adiabatic Lapse Rate (MALR)

-6.5 oC per Km

Difference between DALR and ELR decides Environmental stability

DALR as per international convention of USA 0.66oC per 100m

Super-adiabatic Lapse Rate
ELR>DALR

Neutral Lapse Rate

ELR=DALR

Sub-adiabatic Lapse Rate

ELR<DALR

Inversion
Temperature increase with increase in
altitude
 DALR (10)

ELR (13)
Altitude
(km) 2
2 km

1 ELR > DALR

1 km Unstable

5 7 10 20

Temp (0C)
 DALR (10)

ELR(5)
Altitude
(km) 2
2 km

1 ELR < DALR

1 km Stable

5 10 15 20

Temp (0C)
 DALR

ELR
Altitude
(km) 2
2 km

1
1 km

5 10 13 20

Temp (0C)
 DALR

ELR
Altitude
(km) 2
2 km

1
1 km

5 10 13 20
25
Temp (0C)
Radiation Inversion

Inversion due to difference in solar

radiation. Earth cools during night by
radiating thermal energy into space. In
morning, air near surface becomes
cooler than the air above, creating
thermal inversion. The condition is very
common and frequent, but less
problematic and persistent. The
inversion layer breaks with the intensity
of sunlight and heating of earth surface.
Subsidence Inversion

Subsidence Inversions Take pace in valleys or in places partially

surrounded by hills or mountains. When the air blows over the hills, it is
heated as it is compressed into the side of the hills When that warm air
comes over the top, it is warmer than the cooler air of the valley. Also,
increasing the inversion, as the air comes over the top of the hill, it causes
the air in the valley to be compressed, heating the cooler, valley air from the
top down.
 A
E F
Extremely Unstable
D
B ALR
Moderately Unstable
C
C B
Slightly Unstable

Altitude
A
D
Neutral

E
Slightly Stable

F
Temp
Moderately Stable
Pasquill-Gifford method

Temperature Gradient method

Wind direction fluctuation method

Wind Speed
m/s at 10m Day time incoming solar radiation Night time condition
height

Strong Moderate Weak Cloud Cover

R>50 R=50-25 R=25-12.5 >50% <50%
<2 A A–B B E F
2-3 A–B B C E F
3-5 B B–C C D E
5-6 C C–D D D D
>6 C D D D D

R= Langley/hr .,1 langley =1 Cal/cm2

A radiosonde is a battery-powered instrument package
carried into the atmosphere usually by a weather
baloon that measures various atmospheric
parameters and transmits them by radio to a ground
receiver.

A radiosonde that is dropped from an airplane and falls,

rather than being carried by a balloon is called
a dropsonde

Modern radiosondes measure or calculate the following

variables:
Pressure
Altitude
Geographical position (Latitude/Longitude)
Temperature
Relative humidity
Wind (both wind speed and wind direction)
Cosmic ray readings at high altitude

Radiosondes measuring ozone concentration are

known as ozonesondes.
Dispersion from Point Sources

Impact on air quality depends on

dispersion, which depends on the
height of plume

H=14 Q0.3

Where H—Total stack height in

metres from the ground level.

Q=SO2 emission rate in kg/hr

Minimum 30m
Plume rise and stack height
 Looping

Coning

Fanning

Lofting

Fumigating

Trapping
 Looping Plume

Altitude
ALR
 Strong solar heating ELR

 Light wind speed

 Unstable atmosphere
 Clear day Temperature
 Coning Plume ELR

Altitude
 Weakly stable condition ALR

 Moderate to strong winds

 Cloudy day
 Wet condition Temperature
 Fanning Plume ELR

Altitude
 Radiation Inversion Condition ALR

 Early morning
 Light winds & light turbulence
 Temperature gradient is positive Temperature
 Lofting Plume ELR

Altitude
 Inversion Condition below ALR

 Early morning
 Light winds & light turbulence
 Temperature gradient is positive Temperature
 Fumigating Plume ELR

 Inversion Condition above

Altitude
ALR

 Early morning after a stable

inversion night
 Increase GLC Temperature
 Trapping Plume ELR

 Inversion layer exist both above

Altitude
ALR

and below the stack

 Diffuses within limited vertical
height Temperature
 Types of air quality models
• Gaussian: Used for estimating the ground-level
impact of non-reactive pollutants from stationary
sources in a smooth terrain
• Numerical: Used for estimating the impact of
reactive and non-reactive pollutants in complex
terrain
• Statistical: Employed in situations where physical or
chemical processes are not well understood
• Physical: Involves experimental investigation of
source impact in a wind tunnel facility
• Dispersion models: These models estimate the concentration of
pollutants at specified ground-level receptors in the vicinity of an
emissions source. These air quality models are used to determine
compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

• Photochemical models: These models estimate pollutant concentrations

and deposition of both inert and chemically reactive pollutants such as
ozone, particulate matter (PM) and mercury over large spatial scales and
are used in regulatory assessments

• Receptor models: These models use chemical and physical characteristics

of gases and particles measured at source and receptor to identify and
quantify contribution of atmospheric source to receptor
 Plume Model

• How do pollutants behave in the atmosphere once they have

been emitted?
• How may we predict their concentrations in the atmosphere?
• How can we predict the improvement in air quality that must
be achieved when new sources are proposed?
To help answer these questions, computer models are used
 Standard Deviation and Coefficient of variation
Karl Pearson introduced the concept of standard deviation in 1893. It is the
most important measure of dispersion and is widely used in many statistical
formulae.

Standard deviation is also called Root-Mean Square Deviation. The reason is

that it is the square–root of the mean of the squared deviation from the
arithmetic mean. It provides accurate result

Square of standard deviation is called Variance

Definition:

It is defined as the positive square-root of the arithmetic mean of the Square

of the deviations of the given observation from their arithmetic mean.

The standard deviation is denoted by the Greek letter σ (sigma)

 SD : Individual Series
Deviations taken from Actual mean
 Gaussian Plume Model
The basic Gaussian dispersion model applies to:
• Single point Source: Smokestack
• Line Source: Emissions from motor vehicles along a highway
• Area Sources: These can be modelled as large number of
point sources
• Standard deviation are measured by turbulence
intensity(z=aerodynamic roughness)
• Z = vertical direction
• Y = spread
• X = down wind from source
 Assumptions
• The rate of emissions from the source is constant
• The wind speed is constant both in time and with elevation
• The pollutant is conservative, i.e., it is not lost by decay,
chemical reaction or deposition
• On hitting the ground, all is reflected and none is absorbed
• The terrain is relatively flat
• The pollutants are normally distributed across the plume
centerline
 Facts : Gaussian Plume Model
• Ground level pollution concentration is directly proportional to the
source strength Q, so that the amount of source reduction required to
achieve a desired d
• Ground level pollution decreases when taller stacks are used, although
relationship is not linear
• There is no explicit relationship between emission rate, Q, and downwind
distance, x.
• Downwind concentration appears to be inversely proportional to the
wind speed, and is slightly modified by the dependence of plume rise Δh
on wind speed
• The Gaussian plume equation is based on both theory and actual measured
data, and its prediction is accurate to ±50%
• However, it is still very useful due to its universal acceptance, easy to use
and allows comparison between estimates made by different modellers in
varying situations
At GLC z=0
At Centerline y=0
Where,
• C(x,y) = concentration at grou
• nd level at the point (x,y), µg m-3
• y= horizontal distance from the plume centerline, m
• Q= emission rate of pollutants, µg/s
• H= effective stack height, m (H=h+Δh, where, h= actual stack height, and
Δh= plume rise)
• uH = average wind speed at the effective height of the stack, ms-1
• σy = horizontal dispersion coefficient (standard deviation), m
• σz = vertical dispersion coefficient (standard deviation), m

• Z=0 as we are concern about people and ecosystem at ground level

Power Law/Irwin Law
 Links
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aR4Fm
OwIRA
 Line Source dispersion model
• In some circumstances, it is appropriate to model sources distributed along a line
as if they formed a continuously emitting, infinite line source. Examples of the
same include motor vehicles travelling along a straight section of highway,
agricultural burning along the edge of a field, or a line of industrial sources on the
banks of a river. Under conditions of an infinite-length source at ground level, with
winds blowing perpendicular to the line; the ground-level concentration of
pollutant at perpendicular distance ‘x’ from the line source can be described by
the following equation:

• where, q = emission rate per unit of distance along the line (gm-1 -s -1 )