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ASIAN ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
This page intentionally left blank
 ASIAN
ATMOSPHERIC
POLLUTION
Sources, Characteristics and Impacts

Edited by

RAMESH P. SINGH
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology,
Chapman University, Orange, CA, United States
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 Dedication
Ramesh P. Singh dedicates this book to his father

Late Dr. Rama N. Singh

Former Director Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University
for his love, affection, and motivation for my efforts from laboratory measurements, numerical
modeling, and analysis of multisatellite sensors to understand the physics of remote sensing, and
optical and microwave satellite data in studying Indian pollution problems related to dense fog,
haze and smog over the Indo-Gangetic Plains.
and

Late Dr. Dev Raj Sikka

Monsoon Guru
Former Director, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India
for his long discussion and interaction on atmospheric pollution, monsoon, and associated problems
over the Northern India and Asian countries.
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 Contents

Contributors xiii 3. Atmospheric chemistry in Asia: Need

About the editor xvii of integrated approach
Foreword xix UMESH KULSHRESTHA AND MANISHA MISHRA
Preface xxi
1. Introduction 55
Acknowledgments xxv 2. Air pollution in Asia 55
3. Global issues of atmospheric chemistry 56
1. Sources of atmospheric pollution 4. Atmospheric chemistry issues in Asia 58
in India 5. Conclusion 68
References 69
RAMESH P. SINGH AND AKSHANSHA CHAUHAN
4. Atmospheric aerosols from open
1. Introduction 1
2. Brick kilns 8
burning in South and Southeast Asia
3. Coal-based thermal power plants 9 MANISH KUMAR, NARENDRA OJHA, AND NARENDRA SINGH
4. IOC fire of October 29, 2009 11
5. Forest fires in the Himalayan region 14 1. Introduction 75
6. Air pollution associated with civil aviation 15 2. Open burning: Classes and spatial distribution 76
7. Crop residue burning 17 3. Properties of aerosols from open burning 79
8. Dust as source for air pollution 21 4. Impacts of aerosols from open burning 85
9. Diwali festival 24 5. Open burning aerosols: Measurements 88
10. Pollution associated with cyclones 26 6. Challenges and way forward 90
11. COVID-19 and air quality 27 References 92
12. Conclusion 29
References 29 5. Role of meteorology in atmospheric
aerosols and air pollution over South Asia
2. Air pollution: Facts, causes,
V. VINOJ AND SATYENDRA K. PANDEY
and impacts
ATUL KUMAR SRIVASTAVA 1. Introduction 97
2. Particulate pollution and atmospheric aerosols 98
1. Introduction 39 3. PM2.5 and air quality index 99
2. Sources of air pollution 41 4. Role of meteorology 100
3. Impacts of air pollution 46 5. Seasonal variability of aerosol loading 103
4. Discussion and conclusion 48 6. The intra-seasonal response of aerosol loading to the
References 51 meteorological variability 104

vii
viii Contents

7. Conclusion 108 7. Future perspectives 164

Acknowledgments 108 Acknowledgments 164
References 109 References 164

6. Role of carbonaceous aerosols in 9. Response of plants to atmospheric air

Asian pollution pollution: An Asian perspective
KIRPA RAM ARIDEEP MUKHERJEE, SRISHTI MISHRA, S.B. AGRAWAL,
AND MADHOOLIKA AGRAWAL
1. Introduction 111
2. Carbonaceous aerosol over Asia: An emission 1. Introduction 171
perspective 113 2. Method 172
3. Measurement of carbonaceous aerosol over Asia: 3. The response of trees to air pollution 173
Composition and seasonal variability 114 4. The response of crop plants to air pollution 177
4. Carbonaceous aerosols over high-altitude sites in 5. Response of lower plants and biodiversity to air
Himalayas and Glaciers 116 pollution 185
5. Sources of carbonaceous aerosols 117 6. Emerging pollutants and role of vegetation 189
6. Role of aerosols and mechanism for fog-haze 7. Conclusion 195
formation 119 Acknowledgments 195
7. Conclusion 121 References 195
Acknowledgments 123
References 123 10. Air quality in the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) countries
7. Atmospheric pollution and solar
ASHRAF FARAHAT
ultraviolet radiation in Asia
SACHCHIDANAND SINGH, AMIT KUMAR MISHRA,
1. Introduction 201
SANDHYA JOSE, AND NEELESH K. LODHI 2. Climatic conditions 202
3. Dust storms 204
1. Introduction 129 4. Effect of dust deposition on Gulf Cooperation
2. Aerosol and UV radiation flux in Asia 130 Council marine life 207
3. Trends in aerosol optical depth and UV flux 5. Major environmental events in Gulf Cooperation
over Asia 134 Council 213
4. Implications of decreasing UVB trends and 6. Air quality in major Gulf Cooperation Council
vitamin D 136 cities 215
5. Aerosol optical depth, UVB radiation, and 7. Aerosol characteristics in Gulf Cooperation
vitamin D association in India 137 Council countries 217
6. Conclusion 141 8. Particulate morphology at Gulf Cooperation
References 143 Council 218
9. Improvement of air quality associated with
8. Distribution of reactive trace gases over COVID-19 lockdown 221
South Asia: Observations and modeling 10. Conclusion 222
References 223
NARENDRA OJHA, IMRAN GIRACH, MEGHNA SONI, AND
NARENDRA SINGH
11. Satellite observations of ammonia
1. Introduction 147 over South Asia
2. Methodology 149 SHAILESH K. KHAROL, ENRICO DAMMERS,
3. Distribution of trace gases 150 MARK W. SHEPHARD, AND KAREN E. CADY-PEREIRA
4. Observations of trace gases 155
5. Modeling studies 159 1. Introduction 227
6. Impact assessment 163 2. Satellite monitoring of ammonia 228
 Contents ix
3. Sources of ammonia 229 15. Ozone and aerosols over the Tibetan
4. Spatiotemporal variations of ammonia 229 Plateau
5. Conclusion 233
Acknowledgments 233 JIANZHONG MA, XIUJI ZHOU, XIANGDE XU, XIAOBIN XU,
SERGEY GROMOV, AND JOS LELIEVELD
References 234
1. Introduction 287
12. Air quality management in India 2. Surface ozone and aerosols on the Tibetan Plateau 287
using satellite data 3. Total column ozone low over the Tibetan Plateau 292
SAGNIK DEY AND SOURANGSU CHOWDHURY
4. Vertical transport over the Tibetan Plateau 293
5. Tropopause aerosol layer over the Tibetan
1. Introduction 239 Plateau 297
2. Aerosol optical depth as a proxy for air quality 240 6. Conclusion 297
3. PM2.5 exposure modeling 243 Acknowledgments 298
4. Health impact assessment in India using satellite- References 299
derived ambient PM2.5 exposure 245
5. Air quality management 247 16. Vertical profiles of trace gases in the
6. New frontiers of aerosol remote sensing 251 troposphere over South Asia
7. Conclusion 251
L.K. SAHU AND P.R. SINHA
Acknowledgments 251
References 251
1. Introduction 303
2. Vertical profile measurements of trace gases 305
13. Impact of emissions from coal-based
3. Characteristics of ozone vertical profile 307
thermal power plants on surrounding 4. Characteristics of CO vertical profile 310
vegetation and air quality over Bokaro 5. Impact of long-range transport and biomass
Thermal Power Plant burning 313
6. Impact of convection 314
MANISHA HARIRAM, RAVI SAHU, ANIL KUMAR, AND
SURESH PANDIAN ELUMALAI
7. Comparison with model simulations 315
8. Conclusion 316
1. Introduction 255 Acknowledgments 317
2. Details of TPP site and environment 257 References 317
3. Results and discussion 260
4. Conclusion 272 17. Surface ozone in Indian urban region
References 272
ROHIT SHARMA, KAMNA SACHDEVA, AND
ANU RANI SHARMA
14. Ground and satellite measurements
of tropospheric nitrogen oxides (NO2) 1. Introduction 323
over India 2. Surface ozone over Delhi 326
3. Impacts of surface ozone 329
VINOD KUMAR 4. Conclusion 330
Acknowledgments 330
1. Introduction 275 References 331
2. NO2 measurement techniques used in India 276
3. Satellite measurements 278 18. Biomass burning emission and impacts
4. Ground-based measurements 281
5. Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on ambient
on air pollution in China
NO2 over India 283 HONGMEI ZHAO
6. Conclusion 283
Acknowledgments 284 1. Introduction 335
References 284 2. Biomass burning status in China 336
x Contents

3. Emission characteristic of pollutants gases and 22. Characteristics and sources of

aerosols from biomass burning 338 atmospheric particulate matter and health
4. Emission inventory of biomass burning in
risk in Southwest China
China 339
5. Impacts of biomass burning on air quality 341 YI HUANG AND XIN CHENG
6. Impacts of biomass burning on human health 342
7. Impacts of biomass burning on climate 343 1. Introduction 409
8. Solutions for agricultural straw burning in 2. Analytical Techniques 410
China 344 3. Case study: Characteristics, sources, and health risk
9. Conclusion 345 assessment of trace elements in PM10/PM2.5 in a
References 346 megacity, Southwest China 414
4. Conclusion 430
19. Tropospheric ozone concentration Acknowledgments 431
References 431
over Pakistan
RAMSHA MUNIR AND UMER KHAYYAM 23. Sources of lead (Pb) in atmosphere
over Indian cities and health impacts
1. Introduction 349
2. Tropospheric ozone 350 RESHMI DAS
3. Tropospheric ozone in Pakistan 355
4. Long-term variability of tropospheric ozone 357 1. Introduction 435
5. Conclusion 363 2. History of Pb poisoning 435
References 363 3. Pb isotope as source tracers 446
4. Health effects of Pb 448
20. Characteristics of atmospheric 5. Summary 450
References 450
pollutants over the northeastern region
of India 24. Sources of poor air quality and
BINITA PATHAK AND PRADIP KUMAR BHUYAN long-term variability over Kolkata
1. Introduction 367 ABHIJIT CHATTERJEE
2. Details of prevailing meteorology and data used
3. Results and discussion 370 1. Introduction 453
Acknowledgments 389 2. Study area and the long-term meteorological
References 390 features 454
3. Methodology 455
4. Results and discussion 458
21. Emission of black carbon and other
5. Conclusion 477
particulate matter from transportation sector Acknowledgments 479
MOHAMMAD ARIF, RAMESH KUMAR, RAJESH KUMAR, References 479
AND ERIC ZUSMAN
25. Long-range global transport and
1. Introduction 393
characterization of dust
2. Material and method 395
3. Results and discussion 397 ASHWINI KUMAR, GARIMA SHUKLA, AND ARVIND SINGH
4. Conclusions 404
Acknowledgments 405 1. Introduction 483
References 405 2. Evolution of dust, transport, and deposition 484
 Contents xi
3. Atmospheric dust deposition and biogeochemistry 4. Impact of dust particles on surrounding
of the ocean 488 environment 511
4. Chemical characterization of atmospheric mineral 5. Conclusion 518
dust 489 Acknowledgments 519
5. Isotopic characterization of atmospheric dust 493 References 519
6. Mineral dust over western India:
A case study 497 27. Effect of cyclones on atmospheric and
7. Conclusion 499 meteorological parameters
Acknowledgments 499
References 499 AKSHANSHA CHAUHAN, RAJESH KUMAR, YUEI-AN LIOU, AND
RAMESH P. SINGH

26. The optical and microwave 1. Introduction 521

characteristics of dust storms over the 2. Data used 525
Indo-Gangetic Plains 3. Results and discussion 526
4. Conclusion 541
FENG JING AND RAMESH P. SINGH
Acknowledgments 544
1. Introduction 505 References 546
2. Dust storms over the IGP 505
3. Aerosols characteristics of dust storm 506 Index 549
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 Contributors
Madhoolika Agrawal Department of Botany, Labo-
ratory of Air Pollution and Global Climate Change,
Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, India
S.B. Agrawal Department of Botany, Laboratory of
Air Pollution and Global Climate Change, Institute
of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi,
India
Mohammad Arif Directorate of Green India Mis-
sion, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change, New Delhi, India
Pradip Kumar Bhuyan Centre for Atmospheric
Studies, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam,
India
Karen E. Cady-Pereira Atmospheric and Environ-
mental Research (AER), Lexington, MA, United
States
Abhijit Chatterjee Environmental Sciences Section,
Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
Akshansha Chauhan Center for Space and Remote
Sensing Research, National Central University,
Taoyuan, Taiwan
Xin Cheng The State Key Laboratory of Geohazard
Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Col-
lege of Ecology and Environment, Chengdu Uni-
versity of Technology, Chengdu, China
Sourangsu Chowdhury Centre for Atmospheric
Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,
New Delhi, India; Max Planck Institute for Chemis-
try, Mainz, Germany
Enrico Dammers TNO, Climate Air and Sustain-
ability, Utrecht, Netherlands
Reshmi Das School of Environmental Studies,
Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India; Earth Obser-
vatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological Uni-
versity, Singapore, Singapore
xiii
Sagnik Dey Centre for Atmospheric Sciences;
Centre of Excellence on Research on Clean Air;
School of Public Policy, Indian Institute of Technol-
ogy Delhi, New Delhi, India
Suresh Pandian Elumalai Department of Environ-
mental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad,
Jharkhand, India
Ashraf Farahat Department of Physics, College of
General Studies, King Fahd University of Petro-
leum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Imran Girach Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram
Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram,
India
Sergey Gromov Max Planck Institute for Chemis-
try, Mainz, Germany
Manisha Hariram Department of Environmental
Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Tech-
nology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad,
Jharkhand, India
Yi Huang The State Key Laboratory of Geohazard
Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection,
College of Ecology and Environment, Chengdu
University of Technology, Chengdu, China
Feng Jing Institute of Earthquake Forecasting,
China Earthquake Administration, Beijing,
China
Sandhya Jose Environmental Sciences and Bio-
medical Metrology Division, CSIR-National
Physical Laboratory; Academy of Scientific
and Innovative Research (AcSIR), CSIR-
National Physical Laboratory Campus, New
Delhi, India
Shailesh K. Kharol AtmoAnalytics Inc.; Environ-
ment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON,
Canada
xiv Contributors
Umer Khayyam Department of Development Stud-
ies, School of Social Sciences and Humanities (S3H),
National University of Sciences and Technology
(NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
Umesh Kulshrestha School of Environmental Sci-
ences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi,
India
Anil Kumar Department of Environmental Science
and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
(Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, Jharkhand,
India
Ashwini Kumar CSIR-National Institute of Ocean-
ography, Dona Paula, Goa; Academy of Scientific
and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
Manish Kumar Stockholm University, Stockholm,
Sweden
Rajesh Kumar Department of Environmental Sci-
ence, School of Earth Sciences, Central University
of Rajasthan, Ajmer, India
Ramesh Kumar Department of Environmental Sci-
ence, School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda
University, Greater Noida, India
Vinod Kumar Max Planck Institute for Chemistry,
Mainz, Germany
Jos Lelieveld Max Planck Institute for Chemistry,
Mainz, Germany
Yuei-An Liou Center for Space and Remote Sensing
Research, National Central University, Taoyuan,
Taiwan
Neelesh K. Lodhi Centre for Environment Science
and Climate Resilient Agriculture (CESCRA),
ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute,
New Delhi, India
Jianzhong Ma Chinese Academy of Meteorological
Sciences, Beijing, China
Amit Kumar Mishra School of Environmental Sci-
ences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi,
India
Manisha Mishra School of Environmental Sciences,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Srishti Mishra Department of Botany, Laboratory
of Air Pollution and Global Climate Change, Ins-
titute of Science, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, India
Arideep Mukherjee Department of Botany, Labora-
tory of Air Pollution and Global Climate Change,
Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, India
Ramsha Munir Department of Development Stud-
ies, School of Social Sciences and Humanities
(S3H), National University of Sciences and Technol-
ogy (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
Narendra Ojha Physical Research Laboratory,
Ahmedabad, India
Satyendra K. Pandey School of Earth, Ocean, and
Climate Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology
Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Binita Pathak Department of Physics; Centre for
Atmospheric Studies, Dibrugarh University,
Dibrugarh, Assam, India
Kirpa Ram Institute of Environment and Sustain-
able Development, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, India
Kamna Sachdeva Department of Energy and Envi-
ronment, TERI School of Advanced Studies,
New Delhi, India
L.K. Sahu Physical Research Laboratory (PRL),
Ahmedabad, India
Ravi Sahu Department of Environmental Science
and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
(Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, Jharkhand,
India
Anu Rani Sharma Department of Energy and
Environment; Department of Natural Resources,
TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi,
India
Rohit Sharma Department of Energy and Environ-
ment, TERI School of Advanced Studies,
New Delhi, India
Mark W. Shephard Environment and Climate
Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
Garima Shukla CSIR-National Institute of Oceanog-
raphy, Dona Paula, Goa; Academy of Scientific and
Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
Arvind Singh Physical Research Laboratory,
Department of Space, Ahmedabad, India
Narendra Singh Aryabhatta Research Institute of
Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital, India
 Contributors
Ramesh P. Singh School of Life and Environmental
Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technol-
ogy, Chapman University, Orange, CA, United
States
Sachchidanand Singh Environmental Sciences and
Biomedical Metrology Division, CSIR-National
Physical Laboratory; Academy of Scientific and
Innovative Research (AcSIR), CSIR-National Phys-
ical Laboratory Campus, New Delhi, India
P.R. Sinha Indian Institute of Space Science Tech-
nology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, India
Meghna Soni Physical Research Laboratory, Ahme-
dabad; Indian Institute of Technology Gandhina-
gar, Gandhinagar, India
Atul Kumar Srivastava Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences,
New Delhi, India
xv
V. Vinoj School of Earth, Ocean, and Climate Sci-
ences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubanes-
war, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Xiangde Xu Chinese Academy of Meteorological
Sciences, Beijing, China
Xiaobin Xu Chinese Academy of Meteorological
Sciences, Beijing, China
Hongmei Zhao Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology
and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geogra-
phy and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sci-
ences, Changchun, Jilin, China
Xiuji Zhou Chinese Academy of Meteorological
Sciences, Beijing, China
Eric Zusman Sustainability Governance Centre,
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies,
Miura, Japan
This page intentionally left blank
 About the editor
Ramesh P. Singh is a professor at the School
of Life & Environmental Sciences, Chapman
University, California, United States. He was a
professor at George Mason University, Virginia,
United States from 2007 to 2009 and a distin-
guished visiting professor from 2003 to 2005 at
the Centre of Earth Observing Space Research.
He was a professor in the Department of Civil
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur, India from 1986 to 2007. His main areas
of interests are remote sensing, natural hazards,
seismic risk evaluation and urban environment,
and atmospheric pollution.
While working at the Indian Institute of Tech-
nology (IIT), Kanpur, India, located in the cen-
tral part of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, Dr. Singh
experienced dense haze, smog, and fog espe-
cially during winter and dust events during pre-
monsoon seasons. The night visibility, less than
5 m, during winter and dust storms during pre-
monsoon season prompted Dr. Singh to study
the dynamics of pollutants in the northern parts
of India. He is one of the few Indian scientists
to investigate the problems of atmospheric
xvii
pollution over the northern parts of India. Under
a joint agreement between IIT Kanpur and
NASA, the first AERONET station was
deployed on the IIT Kanpur campus on January
21, 2001 and data was made freely available to
scientists. More than 1000 scientific papers are
published by International scientists using Kan-
pur AERONET station data.
He has supervised master and PhD students
in the fields of remote sensing, engineering geos-
ciences, natural hazards and atmospheric pollu-
tion, and applied geophysics. Dr. Singh has
published more than 250 journal publications
and edited several books. He is the recipient of
the Indian National Remote Sensing, National
Mineral, and Hari Om Ashram Prerit awards.
He visited Free University Berlin, Germany, as
an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and Hiro-
saki University, Japan, as a JSPS Fellow. He
was the president of the AGU Natural Hazards
Section from 2016 to 2018. He is a member of the
International Committees on GeoRisk Commis-
sion and EMSEV Bureau and has been the editor
of several remote sensing journals.
This page intentionally left blank
 Foreword
Atmospheric pollution has been affecting
human health from ancient times. Burning of
wood causes emissions of particles, carbon mon-
oxide, and oxides of nitrogen. Coal has been
used for various purposes for centuries. Coal
and oil have been key factors behind industrial-
ization. The desire to reduce the use of coal has
also a long history, for example, in 1306 King
Edward I prohibited the burning of coal in Lon-
don, punishable by torture or hanging. The use
of coal has led to severe health consequences. In
1952 the London smog led to 12,000 casualties
and hospitalization of 150,000 people. Europe
is still suffering from air quality problems
despite successful emission reductions.
The World Health Organization has esti-
mated that poor air quality leads annually to 7
million premature deaths worldwide, being
the 4th highest mortality risk factor; 1 out of 10
premature deaths are caused by air pollution.
In 2020 the casualties caused by air pollution
were almost four times higher than that caused
by the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides, air pollution
also leads to hospitalizations due to pulmonary
and heart symptoms and loss of working
resources.
Today the most severe air quality problems
are found in Asia. Big Asian cities are nowadays
suffering from the poorest air quality globally.
This is caused by the use of fossil coal and oil,
xix
biomass burning, and fine particles from soil.
The negative trend during recent decades is
mostly a consequence of enhanced use of
coal in energy production and industry,
growth of transportation based on oil products,
as well as population growth. Also, agriculture,
fuel supplies, and buildings are contributors.
Besides carbon emissions, the use of fossil
sources of energy contribute to the emissions
of various air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon
monoxide, and volatile organic compounds.
These air pollutants have negative impacts on
nature and human health. The NOx and VOCs
also contribute to the formation of surface
level ozone.
The World Meteorological Organization is
responsible for monitoring air quality and global
greenhouse gas concentrations as a part of its
Global Atmosphere Watch network run by
national meteorological and research institutes
and academia at 193 member countries and ter-
ritories of WMO. Also, satellite programs and
atmospheric models are a part of the activity.
The WMO has also dedicated activities related
to urban air quality, disasters, and climate adap-
tation. The WMO and WHO are jointly investi-
gating the health effects of atmospheric
pollutants. WMO runs three regional centers
for dust and sandstorm forecasting.
xx Foreword

One of the biggest challenges of the 21st
century is to limit climate change to the limits
of the Paris Agreement. A growing number of
major emitters have agreed to aim at reaching
national carbon neutrality by 2050 or 2060. There
is a great opportunity to mitigate the air quality
problem by reducing the use of coal, oil, and nat-
ural gas at the same time.
I thank Professor Ramesh Singh for compiling
this very important book and I am looking for-
ward to successful solutions to both climate
and air quality challenges in Asia and
worldwide.
Prof. Petteri Taalas
Secretary General
The World Meteorological Organization
 Preface
The book “Asian Atmospheric Pollution”
focuses on atmospheric pollution and air quality
issues with special reference to Asian countries,
home of one-third of the population of the
world. The intense urbanization and industrial-
ization have enhanced in the last two decades to
take care of growing demand of population in
this region. The book deals with major sources
of air pollution (anthropogenic, wildfires, dust,
crop residue, cyclones, etc.) in Asia. The book
also discusses large-scale transport of pollutants
and their influence on air quality and seasonal
weather patterns away from the source region.
In the Asian countries, sources of pollutants
vary widely, and their characteristics change
from country to country and season to season,
and are highly dependent on meteorological
conditions. The atmospheric pollution as such,
has no boundary and pollutants are often trans-
ported from one country to another, even across
continents. The atmospheric pollutants in Asian
countries dominate during the winter and pre-
monsoon seasons. During the winter season,
anthropogenic activities are the major sources
of emissions and, in contrast, dusts are prevalent
during the premonsoon and summer seasons.
The atmospheric pollution during the winter
and summer seasons has impacted significantly
Delhi, the capital of India, and Beijing, the capi-
tal of China, two top-polluted capitals of Asian
countries, in the last three decades. The geo-
graphical situation of the two capital cities is dif-
ferent. Delhi is located in the Indo-Gangetic
valley surrounded by the towering Himalaya
in the north, far away from the ocean coast. In
xxi
contrast, Beijing is located in the plains, close
to the Bohai Sea. Both cities suffer from local
anthropogenic activities during the winter sea-
son and long-range transport of dust. Beijing,
the capital of China, is influenced by the Bohai
Sea; sometimes even the outflow of the pollut-
ants influences the ecology of the Bohai Sea. In
recent years, China has made efforts to move
their industries from Beijing city to cut down
the atmospheric pollution and improve air qual-
ity. Further, the Chinese government has strictly
implemented a temporary road space, odd-even
rationing policy, by allowing cars that have an
even last number on their license plates to drive
on roads on one day while the cars that have an
odd last number on their license plates could go
on the road the next day. Such policy has
improved the air quality of Beijing in China. In
contrast, the Government of Delhi also imple-
mented odd and even numbers, but it did not
work. In Delhi, the dominant westerly winds
bring pollutants from neighboring cities and
even from neighboring countries, severely
affecting the air quality of Delhi. Due to intense
winds and favorable meteorological conditions,
the outflow of the Indo-Gangetic valley affects
the air quality of Bangladesh and even the east-
ern parts of India. The outflow of the Indo-
Gangetic Plains affects the ecology of the Bay
of Bengal. During the premonsoon season,
depending on the tracks and wind intensity,
dust reaches over the Himalayan region and
blankets snow/glaciers.
During the winter season, anthropogenic
activities are very prevalent; depending on the
xxii
boundary layer and meteorological conditions,
the atmospheric aerosol characteristics vary
from place to place. In two major countries
(China and India), atmospheric pollution is
mainly caused by coal-based power plants and
industrial sources. During the summer and win-
ter seasons, often the dust shows strong aerosol
mixing, which has a direct impact on weather
conditions and atmospheric chemistry.
Currently, we do not have any book that
treats this issue comprehensively and provides
information about the sources, long-range trans-
port of dust, seasonal variability, and impacts of
pollutants on climate and health related to Asia
and the globe in general.
This book provides a concise and yet compre-
hensive treatment of all aspects of atmospheric
pollution and air quality in Asian countries such
as the sources of atmospheric pollution, dust,
forest fires, crop residue burning, emissions
from coal-based power plants, coal mining,
brick kilns, etc. The long-range transport of dust
and forest fires are also discussed. The chapters
are written by experts from different countries
who have worked for a long time on different
topics of atmospheric pollution and air quality.
The book will be of great help to atmospheric
and environmental scientists, educators, stu-
dents, environment institutions, public adminis-
trators, and policy makers. In Asian countries,
the atmospheric pollution hotspots are located
using satellite images. Various space agencies
have launched multisatellite sensors to map pol-
luted hotspots, and to study the dynamics of
atmospheric pollution, optical properties of
aerosols, seasonal variability, and radiation bud-
get. Under the AERONET program sponsored
by NASA, a number of AERONET stations were
deployed in many countries in all the continents
to collect quality of aerosol data. The purpose of
these AERONET stations was to study the aero-
sol optical characteristics and to validate satellite
data. Satellite and ground data have helped the
atmospheric scientific community to quantify
Preface
the impacts of extreme events, such as dust
storms, wild forest fires, biomass burning,
cyclone/hurricanes/typhoons, volcanic erup-
tions, etc., and to study their influence on atmo-
spheric aerosols and air quality. Further, efforts
are being made to develop algorithms to retrieve
air quality parameters from satellite data. Such
data will be of great help to the scientific com-
munity to monitor air quality and take steps to
improve air quality. Poor air quality is a threat
to human health.
The book contains 27 chapters contributed by
authors from India, China, Pakistan, and Saudi
Arabia.
Singh and Chauhan introduce sources of
atmospheric pollution, dynamics, and aerosol
characteristics during summer and winter sea-
sons in Chapter 1. Srivastava further discusses
impacts of air pollution on climate systems,
human health, and ecosystems and the recent
policies implemented by the Government of
India to mitigate the potential impacts of air pol-
lution in Chapter 2.
In Chapter 3, Kulshrestha and Mishra discuss
some of the important issues such as atmo-
spheric processes, air pollution sources and their
transformation, transportation, acid rain, high
ozone, and trans-boundary pollution problems.
An integrated approach is explored to improve
air quality utilizing cleaner energies, efficient
fuel burning, solar, hydro, wind, and geother-
mal energy in Asian countries.
Kumar and Ojha discuss one of the serious
problems of atmospheric pollution associated
with open crop burning, forest fires, and the
combustion of municipal wastes in Chapter 4.
The impacts of open burning aerosols on air
quality and health are serious issues from mid-
Oct. to mid-Nov. During this period, the smoke
from the source region, i.e., Punjab and adjacent
states affects the cities located in the Indo-
Gangetic Plains and beyond, even a greater part
of India is affected (see Chapter 1, by Singh and
Chauhan). The monitoring of open burning and
 Preface
the need of synergizing measurements with
chemistry-climate models in India and in other
countries in the South Asia are highlighted.
Vinoj and Pandey discuss the role of meteoro-
logical parameters on atmospheric pollution
and air quality over South Asia, as well as strong
seasonal variability. They observed weakening
of wind anomalies of the prevailing westerly
winds during premonsoon and an increase of
aerosol loading due to the long-range transport
of dust. The detailed discussion in Chapter 5 will
help in policy decisions to mitigate air pollution.
Carbonaceous aerosols are increasing due to
various human activities, transport, biomass
burning, and energy demand, across the whole
world, particularly in the Asian countries, a
detailed discussion of which is presented in
Chapter 6 by Kripa Ram. The atmospheric load-
ing and chemical composition of aerosols are
changing, which influence the atmospheric
chemistry. The carbonaceous aerosol and inor-
ganic ions play a significant role in the degrada-
tion of air quality and poor visibility and play an
important role in fog/haze formation events.
Chapter 7 authored by S. Singh covers discus-
sion on atmospheric pollution and its impact on
ultraviolet radiation flux reaching the Earth’s
surface, which is important for human and veg-
etation health.
Ojha and coauthors discuss observations and
results based on modeling, distribution of react-
ive trace gases and governing processes, air pol-
lution, human health, and climate change in
general, in Asian countries, and in the Indo-
Gangetic Plain (IGP), in particular, in Chapter 8.
The primary trace gases show enhanced levels
over the IGP during winter season, whereas
O3 over the IGP is found to be highest during
the spring season due to favorable meteorologi-
cal conditions and could be due to emissions
from biomass burning.
The northern parts of India, especially the
Indo-Gangetic Plains, cover all kinds of plants
and agricultural crops and green vegetation.
xxiii
The growing atmospheric gases and particulate
matter (PM) pose serious concerns over the
health of vegetation and plants. In Chapter 9,
Mukherjee and coauthors discuss the response
of different plants in Asian countries to growing
atmospheric pollution.
The current scenario of air quality and its
impacts on the oil-rich six Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) countries in the Arabian Penin-
sula are discussed by Farahat in Chapter 10.
In the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the ammonia
(NH3) gas is one of the most common forms of
reactive nitrogen and the primary alkaline gas
in the atmosphere. The use of fertilizer in agri-
cultural farms is the main source of ammonia
gas with strong interannual and seasonal vari-
ability. In Chapter 11, Kharol and coauthors dis-
cuss the spatio-temporal variations of ammonia
in the atmosphere over India. The air pollution
in Asian countries is one of the main causes of
morbidity and mortality in India. There are a
number of ground-based monitoring stations
in India, which are limited in view of the popu-
lation, and natural and human activities. Efforts
are being made to estimate and monitor air qual-
ity, by identifying local hotspots and delineating
airsheds, facilitating the expansion of the exist-
ing ground-based network, and to study the
health impacts. Dey and Chowdhury give an
overview of the aerosol optical depth measured
by the multisatellite data and estimation of air
quality over India in Chapter 12. In India, elec-
tric power is produced from coal-based power
plants. The poor-quality coal used in these
power plants and their proximity to coal mining
activities are the major sources of air pollution
over India, which is discussed in Chapter 13
by Hariram and coauthors. The coal power
plants are also sources of NO2 emissions, and
details of ground and satellite measurements
of NO2 over India are discussed by Vinod
Kumar in Chapter 14. The Tibetan Plateau
(TP), an elevated and clean region in Asia, is
affected by the growing atmospheric pollution
xxiv
in the surrounding areas. Ma and coauthors dis-
cuss the regional and seasonal variations in sur-
face ozone and black carbon aerosols, formation
of regional ozone, deep convection as a vertical
transport mechanism, and the chemical charac-
teristics of the TP Tropopause Aerosol Layer
(TP-TAL) in Chapter 15. The authors also dis-
cuss the transport of aerosols and their impacts
on the Asian monsoon system.
In Chapter 16, Sahu and Sinha discuss vertical
distributions of CO and O3 pollutants measured
from balloon, aircraft, and remote sensing over
India. Surface ozone in Indian urban regions is
discussed in Chapter 17 by Sharma, Sachdeva,
and Sharma. Biomass and crop residue burning
is common in Asian countries. Zhao discusses
the problem of biomass burning and its impact
on air quality, human health, and climate change
in China in Chapter 18.
Munir and Khayyam explore the sources of
pollutants and ozone pollution over Pakistan
in Chapter 19. The Northeast India (NEI), part
of Northeastern South Asia, is a unique region
affected by biomass burning, forest fires, and
by the outflow of pollutants from the Indo-
Gangetic Plains. The region is very close to the
Bay of Bengal. Pathak and Bhuyan cover
dynamics of pollutions and aerosol characteris-
tics in Chapter 20. Arif and coauthors discuss the
emissions from the transport sector in the major
cities of the Indo-Gangetic Plains in Chapter 21.
Preface
The sources and characteristics of atmospheric
pollution and health risk in Southwest China
are discussed by Huang and Cheng in
Chapter 22. Das discusses the problem of atmo-
spheric lead pollution in major cities in India in
Chapter 23. Chatterjee in Chapter 24 investigates
long-term variability of air pollution in Kolkata,
one of the mega cities in India. Kumar, Shukla,
and Singh discuss problems of long-range tra-
nsport of dust and its characteristics and impact
on ocean biogeochemistry in Chapter 25. The
optical and microwave characteristics of dust
over India is discussed by Jing and Singh in
Chapter 26. Finally, Chauhan and coauthors
discuss the pronounced changes in air quality
associated with frequent cyclones hitting the
eastern coast of India in Chapter 27.
The editor gratefully acknowledges support
of all the contributors and their timely resp-
onses. The book provides a broad picture of
sources, characteristics, monitoring, dynamics,
and impacts of air pollution on human health,
marine ecology, and climate change in Asian
countries.
Ramesh P. Singh
School of Life and Environmental Sciences,
Schmid College of Science and Technology,
Chapman University,
Orange, CA, United States
 Acknowledgments

The editor Ramesh P. Singh acknowledges PhD students who helped Ramesh Singh
his appreciation of and thanks to each contrib- when he was at George Mason University,
utor for writing chapters through multiple revi- Virginia, United States (2003–05):
sions and comments. The editor is grateful to the
authors who made efforts in contributing chap- Alok Sahoo R. Chokngamwong
ters based on their studies. Anup Prasad Ritesh Gautam
Ramesh Singh acknowledges efforts of all his Guido Cervone S. Dasgupta
BTech, MTech, and PhD students and project H. El-Askary Sanjib Bhoi
scientists, as well as national and international P.S. Bhattacharjee Sudipta Sarkar
collaborators for their contributions and help
in ground and satellite data analysis related to
atmospheric pollution problems of the northern Ramesh Singh thanks his collaborators for
parts of India and over India. their contributions on atmospheric pollution
MTech and PhD students and project scien- problems in Bangladesh, India, and China
tists who worked with him when he was on
Collaborators from India:
the IIT Kanpur campus during 1986–2007:
Manish Sharma Sanjay Kumar, Sarvan
Alok Sahoo Sanjib Bhoi
(Sharda University, Kumar, and A.K Singh
Anup Prasad Senthilkumar, J.
India) (BHU)
Ashok K Keshari Shatrughan Singh
P.R. Sinha (India) Shukla Acharjee
Deepak R. Mishra Sudipa Roy
Rajesh Kumar (Central (Dibrugarh Univ.)
N.C. Mishra Sudipta Sarkar
University, Ajmer, Ajeet Rai, D.P. Shukla,
Prasanjit Dash V.K. Kayetha
India) H.K. Romana, and
Rahul Kanwar S.S. Chauhan
S.N. Tripathi and Sharad Gupta (IIT
Sagnik Dey
Vinod Tare (IIT Mandi)
Kanpur) Akshansha Chauhan
PhD Students from Sharda University, Greater Sachchidanand Singh (Taiwan)
Noida who worked with Ramesh Singh: (NPL, New Delhi)

Akshansha Chauhan Manish Sharma

xxv
xxvi Acknowledgments

International Collaborators: of India. Contributions in this book are based on

the ground, satellite, and modeling work associ-
Ashbindu Singh Means Kafatos (GMU) ated with Asian countries.
(UNEP) P. Goloub (France) Ramesh Singh is grateful to the Alexander
Abdus Salam Prasanjit Dash (NOAA) von Humboldt Foundation, Germany for
(Bangladesh) R. Shaiganfar, S. Beirle, awarding AvH Fellowship, which facilitated
Brent Holben (NASA, and T. Wagner (MPIC, him to work with the late R. Furrer, German
United States) Germany) astronaut, during 1994 and the Max Planck Insti-
C. Cao (China) S. Mukai (Japan) tute, Mainz, Germany and other German institu-
C. Olbert, M. Schaale S. Zheng (China) tions using airborne, satellite, and modeling
and Late R. Furrer (Free S.K. Kharol (Canada) related to atmospheric pollution studies. Thanks
University Berlin, Samara C. de Azevedo to Thomas Wagner, MPIC for his support for
Germany) (Brazil) NOx measurements in Delhi and surroundings
C.A. Varotsos (Greece) Sudipta Sarkar (NASA) and long-term measurements of NOx on the
D. G. Kaskaoutis Thomas Eck (NASA, campus of Sharda University, Greater Noida.
(Greece) United States) Ramesh Singh acknowledges the help of his
Donglian Sun (GMU) V. Villa (UCLA) wife, Alka Singh, for sacrificing her time to sup-
A. Farahat (Saudi Z.Y. Liu (NASA) port him during the preparation of this book.
Arabia) The efforts of Harish Vishwakarma in day-to-
Felix Kogan (NOAA) day running of the Kanpur AERONET station
Feng Jing (China) are gratefully acknowledged. This young person
was always running to fix some of the problems
The editor acknowledges support of the Indian related to the AERONET station and communi-
Space Research Organization, Bangalore and cating with Brent Holben and his staff since the
ISRO_GBP program for their support for OCM start of the AERONET station. This was unique
and MWR data and support to deploy Sun Pho- and the first station in India and surrounding
tometer on the IIT Kanpur campus, which regions to provide high-quality data, which
helped him to start atmospheric pollution stud- helped the scientific community to understand
ies on the IIT Kanpur campus. In this regard, he the dynamics and optical properties of aerosols,
acknowledges support of K. Krishna Moorthy especially over the Indo-Gangetic Plains. This
and the motivation of the late D.R. Sikka. book provides a glimpse of atmospheric pollu-
The editor Ramesh Singh also expresses his tion in India and other Asian countries.
gratitude to Brent Holben (NASA) who got Ramesh Singh thanks Laura S. Kelleher,
approval from NASA HQ, Washington, for a acquisitions editor, for her efforts in the initial
joint agreement between IIT Kanpur and NASA, stage for bringing this book contract and Lind-
to deploy the first AERONET station on the IIT say Lawrence, editorial project manager, for
Kanpur campus, which was in operation as of her motivation to complete this book in this pan-
January 21, 2001. He thanks the late Wayne demic time. Finally, thanks to all the staff in the
Newcomb (member of the NASA AERONET production and design departments for taking
team) who visited the IIT Kanpur campus and care of everything in bringing out this book.
made the CIMEL Sun photometer operational The editor is grateful to Petteri Taalas, Secre-
on the campus. The AERONET station provides tary General, World Meteorological Organiza-
quality data that have helped the Indian and tion for writing the Foreword.
International scientific community to under- Ramesh P. Singh
stand dynamics of aerosols in the northern parts Editor
 C H A P T E R

1
Sources of atmospheric pollution in India
Ramesh P. Singha and Akshansha Chauhanb
a
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman
University, Orange, CA, United States bCenter for Space and Remote Sensing Research, National Central
University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

1 Introduction India are surrounded by Bangladesh, Myan-

The atmospheric pollution and poor air qual-
ity are attributed to the population. India and
China, two major countries of the world, occupy
about one-third of world population. These
countries and other countries such as Pakistan,
Bangladesh, and Nepal are the major contribu-
tors to atmospheric and air pollution in the
Asian countries. In the last two decades, due
to rapid economic growth in the Asian coun-
tries, the pollution level has increased. In India,
the census data is updated every 10 years and
the current population of India is about 1.38 bil-
lion (up to December 2020); the decadal growth
of Indian population is shown in Fig. 1 (source:
https://www.censusindia.gov.in). The growing
population is the main cause of pollution, all the
anthropogenic activities, industrialization, and
energy demands are very much associated with
the population.
Fig. 2 shows Google image of India, sur-
rounded by ocean on three sides, the northern
parts of India is surrounded by the towering
Himalayas and Nepal. The northwest side of
India is surrounded by Pakistan and
Afghanistan, and the northeastern parts of
mar, Thailand, and Vietnam (Fig. 2). The emis-
sions by human and anthropogenic activities,
vehicles, industries, coal-based power plants,
and brick kilns contained only over India;
the outflow of emissions influence Indian
coastal areas, surrounding ocean water, and
neighboring Bangladesh, whereas the emis-
sions from the neighboring countries adjacent
to western parts of India and southeastern
neighboring countries influence the atmo-
spheric pollution loading over India. During
winter season, the anthropogenic activities in
Pakistan affect the atmospheric pollutants
over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and
depending on the meteorological conditions,
pollutants move in the IGP which is a valley
due to low terrains. During premonsoon sea-
son, the long-range transport of dust brings
dust over the IGP, affecting the weather condi-
tions and visibility.
The atmospheric pollution and poor air qual-
ity especially in the northern parts of India
become apparent especially during winter sea-
son. The northern parts of India, especially the
IGP, are densely populated; human activities
are the sources of atmospheric pollution.

Asian Atmospheric Pollution 1 Copyright # 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816693-2.00029-9
2 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India

1.40
1.21
1.20
1.03
1.00

Population (109)
0.85
0.80
0.68
0.60 0.55
0.44
0.40 0.36
0.32
0.25 0.25 0.28
0.24
0.20

-
1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011
Year

FIG. 1 Decadal population growth in India (https://www.censusindia.gov.in), the current population of India is about 1.38
billion. In 2021, the census data will be updated. Source of data 1900–2011, Census of India: Office of the Registrar General and
Census Commissioner, India.

FIG. 2 Google image showing India surrounded by ocean on three sides. The northern parts are surrounded by the tow-
ering Himalayas and Nepal. The northwest side of India is surrounded by Pakistan and Afghanistan, the northeastern parts of
India is surrounded by Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
 1 Introduction 3
Besides population, the following activities are pollution and poor air quality. Following are
the sources of atmospheric pollution in India: the adverse impacts of pollution:
– anthropogenic activities – poor air quality
– biofuel cooking – deteriorating human health
– biomass burning – changing weather conditions
– brick kilns – uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall
– burning of dead bodies – rapid snow/glaciers melting
– burning of wood especially during winter – poor visibility
season – impact on ocean ecology
– coal-based thermal power plants. – low agricultural productivity
– crop residue burning – danger of acid rain
– cyclone activities in the Bay of Bengal
The atmospheric pollution and air quality
– diesel boats in the rivers
also causes ozone depletion, reduction in biodi-
– diesel generators
versity, economic losses, precipitation, changes
– factories
in monsoon, and air and land pollution, which
– forest fires
lead to Global Change and Global warming
– garbage burning
(Fig. 3). The poor visibility during winter season,
– grass burning in the hilly areas
especially in the northern parts of India, when
– heating of houses
the buses and trains are reported running late,
– mining especially in the eastern parts of
attracts attention of common people. The poor
the IGP
visibility is caused by dense haze, fog, and smog
– rice mills
especially in Kanpur city (Kanpur longitude
– road construction activities
80.20°E and latitude 26.26°N), which is in the
– road dust and long-range transport of dust
center of the IGP. This city is one of the industrial
– underground coal fires
cities known for textile industries. The Indian
– vehicular emissions
Institute of Technology Kanpur, one of the excel-
In recent years, the agricultural activities have lent academic institutions, was started in collab-
grown due to the growing demand for food, oration with the American universities in 1962.
which have also contributed to atmospheric Kanpur city with 3.2 million people is situated

FIG. 3 Impacts of the atmospheric and air pollution. Courtesy: A.K. Prasad.
4 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India
in the southern flank of the central part of the
IGP. The IGP is one of the agriculturally produc-
tive regions with largest drainage in the world
and is bordered by the towering Himalayas in
the north and Vindhya-Satpura ranges in the
south. The IGP is traversed by two main rivers,
Ganga and Yamuna and their tributaries. In the
last four decades, due to growing urbanization
and economic growth, the rural population tend
to move to the urban areas, especially in India,
China, and other Asian countries.
Due to growing population, especially in the
IGP, in the last four decades, all kinds of
demands have increased many folds for the peo-
ple living in India to have good and comfortable
life along with the industries and dense trans-
port network. As a result of the migration of
people from rural to urban areas, urban areas
expanded, industries developed, and dense
road work and dense transport increased, which
resulted in an increase in atmospheric pollution
and the urban and surrounding areas suffered
from poor air quality. The dense fog, smog,
and haze over the IGP were first time observed
by the ADEOS POLDER satellite (Goloub et al.,
2001). The limited POLDER data clearly shows
very high aerosol optical depth (Fig. 4) over
the IGP especially during winter season
(Goloub et al., 2001). The large amount of aerosol
loading over the IGP is the cause of dense fog,
haze, and smog during winter season; during
this period visibility is very low resulting in
trains running late or the cancellation of trains
(Goloub et al., 2001; Di Girolamo et al., 2004;
Massie et al., 2004; Gautam et al., 2007, 2013;
Prasad and Singh, 2007a).
With the booming of the economic condi-
tions, people started having two and four
wheelers and slowly density of vehicles on the
road increased many folds in the last decades.
The normal time to commute a small distance
of 17 km from the Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur campus to the Kanpur Railway station
during daytime increased from 20 min to even
90 min by car.
The growing population, the land use/land
cover, and density of industries in the northern
parts of India, especially in the IGP, increased
many folds in the last 40 years, as a result the pol-
lution level enhanced which was reflected from
the cloudy conditions due to high air pollution
during daytime and due to poor visibility less
than 5 m due to dense fog in the late evening
(after 10 pm) during winter season. The fog,
haze, and smog are very dynamic in nature,
and swing in the IGP valley from west to east
depending on the meteorological conditions
(Fig. 5).
In the northern parts of India, generally, west-
erly winds are dominant, which brings pollut-
ants from the western parts of India and from
the neighboring countries in the western side.
During winter season smoke plumes from crop
burning in the western parts and during pre-
monsoon season, long-range transport of dust
blankets over the IGP and beyond, and at many
places in the IGP (Fig. 6). The whole northern
parts are one of the most polluted areas. The lead
(Pb) concentration in the atmosphere over the
IGP is found to be very high; recently, Salam
et al. (2008) found a decreasing trend in Dhaka
due to the ban on the use of leaded fuel. The
overall trace metal concentrations of Pb, Zn,
Cu, Fe, As, and Cd in Dhaka was higher than
those found in European (e.g., Spain, Norway)
and East Asian (e.g., Taiwan) locations, but
lower than those measured in the Southeast Asia.
During winter season the fog, smog, and haze
move in the IGP valley, causing poor visibility.
The human activities in the IGP cause huge
amount of particulate matters and trace gas
emissions (Di Girolamo et al., 2004; Jethva
et al., 2005; Prasad et al., 2006a; Gautam et al.,
2007, 2010; Nair et al., 2007; Kar et al., 2008,
2010; Balakrishnan et al., 2011; Shaiganfar et al.,
2011; Ghude et al., 2011, 2012; Ghosh et al.,
2013). In general, the atmospheric aerosol load-
ing is very high in the Asian countries. The
indoor and outdoor human activities (Fig. 7) in
the Asian countries including India are the main
 1 Introduction 5

FIG. 4 ADEOS-1 Polder image showing pollution over the northern parts of India (Goloub et al., 2001).
6 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India

20 Dec 2002 21 Dec 2002 22 Dec 2002

23 Dec 2002
FIG. 5 MODIS images from December 20–23, 2002 showing movement of fog over the Indo-Gangetic Plains depending on
the favorable meteorological conditions. Source: NASA Worldview.

FIG. 6 Spatial variations of wind rose diagrams showing wind directions in major cities—the rose diagram. The rose dia-
gram was overlaid on MODIS Terra satellite image of January 1, 2007. Courtesy: A.K. Prasad.
 1 Introduction
FIG. 7 (A) Burning of wood and coal for cooking purpose in the rural area. (B) The right panel image shows the production of
jaggery at a local crusher in Indian village.
causes of the atmospheric aerosol loading and
poor air quality. In the last two decades, several
ground-based aerosol monitoring stations have
been established in East and Southeast Asia,
and the long-term measurements of aerosol
climatology have been reported by Merrill and
Kim (2004) for East Asia and India
(Di Girolamo et al., 2004; Dey and Di Girolamo,
2010). Fig. 7 shows the cause of indoor and out-
door atmospheric pollution in rural areas. To
curb the air pollution due to biofuel burning in
villages, the Government of India under
“Ujjawala Yojana” promoted the use of liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking to improve the
air quality.
Extensive use of biofuels in the rural area, bio-
mass burning, and emissions from power plants
and industries are the sources for the formation
of more CO, NOx, O3, HC, and other secondary
pollutants in this region (Prasad et al., 2006b;
Badarinath et al., 2009). The pollution level has
increased over the IGP, which has a direct
impact on climatic conditions, enhances haze,
fog, and cloudy conditions especially during
the winter season (Di Girolamo et al., 2004).
The major pollutants in the IGP are sulfate aero-
sols due to growing anthropogenic activities
(Sharma et al., 2003). In the northern parts of
7
India, suspended particulate matter concentra-
tion is higher during the summer season than
during the winter season, reducing the neutral-
ization capacity of the atmosphere (Sharma
et al., 1994). The recent Central Pollution Con-
trol Board (CPCB) measurements have shown
very high annual average concentrations
(>210 mg/m3, in the critical range compared
to the air quality standard in India) of particu-
late matter of diameter less than 10 mm (PM10)
in the atmosphere of the major cities of the IGP
(http://www.cpcbenvis.nic.in/annual_report/
AnnualReport_7_annualreport2002-03.pdf). In
addition to the urban-industrial pollution,
desert dust is another major source of aerosols
over the IGP (Dey et al., 2004; Prasad and Singh,
2007a).
Several studies have been carried out using
satellite observations and chemical transport
model simulations to characterize O3 (both
surface and atmospheric) over the IGP
(Di Girolamo et al., 2004; Jain et al., 2005;
Ghude et al., 2006, 2008; Kunhikrishnan et al.,
2006; Beig and Ali, 2006; Roy et al., 2008; Ojha
et al., 2012). Beig and Brasseur (2006) established
an emission inventory of tropospheric ozone
over IGP using a chemical transport model
and have studied changes in pollutant trace
8 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India
gases. Kar et al. (2008, 2010) used multisatellite
data to study carbon monoxide (CO) and tropo-
spheric ozone (TO) distributions particularly
over the eastern parts of IGP. Ghude et al.
(2011) studied regional CO emissions and trans-
port during the summer/winter monsoon over
the Indian subcontinent using long-term satel-
lite data. Detailed analysis of data from 16 flights
with the CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular
Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an
Instrument Container, https://www.caribic-
atmospheric.com) aircraft between Frankfurt
and Chennai, India have been carried out during
a short period from April to December 2008
(Schuck et al., 2010). An enhancement of CH4
mixing ratios and elevated levels of N2O and
CO were observed throughout the monsoon sea-
sons south of 40°N at the altitudes between 8
and 12.5 km over the Indian continent.
The IGP is also polluted by the long-range
transport of air mass from the western countries.
Sometimes the source of the pollutants is local
from the Thar Desert located in the western
parts of India and from the Arabian Peninsula
over the land through Afghanistan and Paki-
stan, sometimes the airmass enters the western
parts of India crossing over the Arabian Sea
from the Arabia Peninsula (Prasad and Singh,
2007a; Singh et al., 2008). The pollutants in the
IGP, depending on the meteorological parame-
ters (wind direction and speed, relative humid-
ity, air temperatures), reach up to the eastern
parts of the IGP and further reach over Bangla-
desh and the central parts of India (Dey et al.,
2004; Singh et al., 2004; Prasad and Singh,
2007a; Aloysius et al., 2008; Sarkar et al., 2019;
Chauhan and Singh, 2020; Singh and
Chauhan, 2020; Chauhan et al., 2020). The pol-
lutant outflow from the IGP reach over the
neighboring country Bangladesh and beyond
over the northeastern state, Assam, and the
Bay of Bengal; the intensity and the extent
depend on the meteorological conditions which
in turn depend on season.
Understanding the dynamic behavior of
atmospheric aerosols over the IGP is a great
challenge since numerous parameters control
the dynamics of aerosols. The ground observa-
tion of aerosol optical parameters is almost non-
existent prior to January 2001. In January 2001,
under a joint collaboration between IIT (Indian
Institute of Technology) Kanpur and NASA, a
ground based AERONET station was estab-
lished and AOD parameters were made avail-
able to scientists (Singh et al., 2004). The
AERONET provides quality data, which was
freely used by Indian and international scien-
tists, which have helped the scientific commu-
nity to understand the aerosol properties,
radiative budget, dynamics of pollution, fog
formation, long-range transport of dust, and
outflow of the pollutants from IGP.
2 Brick kilns
In many of the Asian countries, including
India, China, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh,
buildings are built with bricks. The brick molds
are made using alluvial soils and are baked in
coal-fired brick kilns, such brick kilns are
densely located in the IGP. The Indian coals
are of poor quality and their use causes intense
emissions of CO2. The emissions are dispersed
in the local area due to low height of chimney
and such brick kilns are located closely, some-
times five kilns are found within 2 km radius.
These brick kilns emit huge amount of black car-
bon (BC) (UNEP, 2011; Arif et al., 2018a). The
CO2 emissions from brick kilns are a threat to
local people and have long-term impacts on cli-
mate change from local to regional levels. Fig. 8
shows the emission of black plume from dense
brick kilns in the IGP. Brick kilns are also known
as the source of SO2 emissions, and the amount
is estimated to increase many folds by 2040 than
what was found in 2015 due to the growing use
of coal in brick kilns (Arif et al., 2018a).
 3 Coal-based thermal power plants 9

FIG. 8 (A) Brick kilns located in the northern parts of India, along the Varanasi—Singrauli road. The black plumes from
closely spaced brick kilns, which are one of the sources of atmospheric pollution. The smoke plume directly poses
threat to people living close to these brick kilns. (B) Pile of heated dust bricks is placed just in front of the brick kiln.
Panels (A) and (B): Photo taken by Ramesh Singh.

3 Coal-based thermal power plants
In India and China, coal-based thermal power
plants are the major sources for electric power
generation. A dense network of power plants
in China and India is shown in Fig. 9A and B.
Prasad et al. (2006a) using satellite data found
high aerosol optical depth over these power
plants which are considered as one of the major
sources of atmospheric pollution. These power
plants are also the source of very high concentra-
tions of black carbon and NO2 (Prasad et al.,
2012; Singh et al., 2018; Kumar, 2021).
Thermal power plants are also the major
source of NO2 and SO2 and other gases
(Prasad et al., 2006a, 2012; Singh et al., 2018;
Romana et al., 2020). Singh et al. (2018)
observed elevated concentrations of black car-
bon in and around coal-based power plants in
Singrauli areas. Arif et al. (2018b, 2020) found
high indoor concentrations of black carbon in
the eastern parts of the IGP where coal mining
activities are very high. China has coal-based
power plants of capacity 1,022,877 MW, whereas
India has about 1.44 times lower capacity
(228,157 MW) coal-based power plants. China
and India are the major populated countries in
Asia. Both countries are known to be highly
atmospheric polluted countries in the world
especially Beijing and New Delhi, capitals of
China and India, respectively (Zheng et al.,
2017). The rapid urbanization and industrializa-
tion led to a rise in air pollution in recent years
(Guo et al., 2011; He et al., 2019; Zhao et al.,
2019). China has been suffering from serious
air pollution which is the main cause of dense
haze and fog in China (Luo et al., 2018; Tong
et al., 2018a,b) during winter season. In the past
two decades, such dense haze and fog were very
common; late running and cancellation of flights
were common due to poor visibility.
In recent years, after 2011, China made efforts
to cut down atmospheric pollution by closing
and shifting some of the industries from Beijing,
consequently the atmospheric pollution
reduced in China (Li et al., 2020). These efforts
10 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India

FIG. 9 (A) Distribution of a total of 1959 coal-fired power plants in India. Of these, some plants are closed, some are
operational, and some are under construction. (B) Location of a total of 5416 coal-fired thermal power plants in China,
including closed, operational, and new proposed locations. Panel (A): https://endcoal.org/tracker/, accessed on December 26,
2020. Panel (B): https://endcoal.org/tracker/, accessed on December 26, 2020.

have been made by the Chinese Government
due to adverse effects of air pollution on human
health and daily life. Chinese government has
implemented continuous emission control mea-
sures. Since 2011, the anthropogenic emission
sources and their amount in China have under-
gone dramatic changes due to both the rapid
transition of economic structures and environ-
mental policies (Li et al., 2019, 2020). The coal-
based power plants appear as hot spots for
NOx emissions in satellite images (Fig. 1 of
NOx, Chapter authored by Vinod Kumar, in this
book). Singrauli area is hot spot for NOx emis-
sion where several coal power plants (Fig.
10A) are located (Prasad et al., 2006a). The BC
emissions and ground measurement of aerosol
optical depth were found to be elevated com-
pared to the surrounding areas, coal mines
(Fig. 10B) exist in the proximity of power plants.
The ground measurements of AOD and black
carbon (BC) measurements were carried out in
the Singrauli area (Sarvan Kumar took the mea-
surements of AOD using Microtops sun pho-
tometer instrument). The coal is used in these
power plants. The emissions are from power
plants and coal mining activities; the Singrauli
area is one of the highly polluted areas (Singh
et al., 2018) (Fig. 10B).
During winter season, the Singrauli area
appears to be covered with smoke and BC and
thick smoke/fog can be seen (Fig. 10B). High
atmospheric pollution and BC emissions from
coal power plants and dust emissions are clearly
apparent. The green vegetations, mud houses,
and vehicles are covered by thick layer of fly
ash and road dusts. The vegetation cover in
the surrounding areas of the power plants is
impacted. The emissions from power plants
are the source of acid rain. Not much informa-
tion is available about the acid rain, detailed
measurements, chemical analysis, and impact
studies will provide a better understanding of
the short- and long-term changes associated
with the power plant emissions. Fig. 10C shows
locality of poor people covered by layers of fly
ash and road dusts. People living in such a
highly polluted environment (Fig. 10D) suffer
from all kinds of diseases.
 4 IOC fire of October 29, 2009 11

FIG. 10 (A) Sarvan Kumar taking measurements using Microtops sun photometer close to coal-based power plants in Sin-
grauli area. (B) The image of atmospheric pollution from Singrauli coal mining area. (C) Locality of poor people close to coal-
based power plants in Singrauli. (D) The poor people use free coal for cooking purposes. The burning of coal is polluting the
surroundings and within such an intense smoke people live in this area. Panels (A) and (B): Photo taken by Ramesh Singh.

4 IOC fire of October 29, 2009
Accidental and natural fires due to unknown
reasons are common and sometimes it becomes
difficult to control such fires and takes 1 or
2 days. A huge fire occurred at Indian Oil Corpo-
ration (IOC) (Fig. 11A) located at Sitapur near
Jaipur city on October 29, 2009 around 6:00 p.
m. High flames up to 70 m were seen and emis-
sion of black plumes were observed over the
next few days.
The huge fire killed few and injured a dozen
of people. Soon after this huge fire, people living
in the adjoining areas escaped and a spurt of
patients complaining respiratory problems were
reported, who were taken to the nearest hospital
for medical care. The people living in the sur-
rounding villages suffered eye irritation and
rashes and were also rushed to the nearest hos-
pital for emergency care. Huge amount of car-
bon soot was seen in the atmosphere, which
was deposited in the field and houses. Huge
emission of toxic gases such as CO, CO2, SO2,
NOx was due to the burning of oil; these gases
modify the atmospheric composition initially
over the IOC region and with time dispersed
in the direction of wind toward southeastern
parts affecting major cities (Kota, Gwalior, etc.)
(Fig. 11B). Soon after the fire, cloudy conditions
were observed over Delhi, which is northeast of
IOC, with a thick smog, which interrupted road
and air traffic for a couple of days. Detailed
12 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India

FIG. 11 (A) Photo of Jaipur IOC fire. (B) Terra satellite image of October 30, 2009. The inset image shows dispersion of heavy
plume in southeast direction. The plume continued for 2 days.
(Continued)
 4 IOC fire of October 29, 2009 13

FIG. 11—CONT’D (C) Higher value of TOMS-derived aerosol index and ozone column compared to the average value of
AI and ozone column for the months January to May during 1979–93. Panel (A): Photo taken on October 29, 2009. Panel (B): https://
worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/. Panel (C): Plot generated by A.K. Prasad using TOMS AI and Ozone Column Data.

analysis of multisatellite data (MODIS, AIRS,
OMI AURA, AMSER) were carried out. Terra
MODIS image (1 km and 250 m resolution)
clearly shows the dispersion of plume. The
plume dispersed in the southeast direction due
to the dominance of northwesterly wind in the
region. Numerous atmospheric (aerosol optical
depth, angstrom coefficient, water vapor and
CO mixing ratio, total ozone column) and mete-
orological parameters (air temperature, relative
humidity) were changed associated with this
fire. The AIRS data show increase in the concen-
trations of carbon monoxide and changes in
atmospheric parameters around 500 hPa pres-
sure level in the nearby cities due to winds in
the southeastern areas affecting major cities such
as Kota, Gwalior, etc., located in downwind
sides.
It has also been found that after the fire the
temperature increased significantly near Jaipur
and reached to a maximum of 44°C. Even the
adjoining regions such as Agra, Delhi, and Kota
also suffered due to rise in the temperature. The
suspended particles in the air, which are respon-
sible for health problems, did not move away
due to steady air movement, and in turn affected
many people who are prone to allergy, asthma,
and heart decease. On November 6, 2009, Delhi
was badly affected by fog and visibility reduced
to 500 m. Scientists have claimed that the thick
fog layer is due to suspended particles and the
IOC fire may be an important reason for such
unusual fog layers. People living in the areas
complained about eye irritation on November
6, 2009. During 10 days of fire, huge amount of
sulfur oxide suffused in the air along with sev-
eral other lethal gases within a 10–20 km radius.
Such accidental fires occur in different parts of
India, which have short-term impacts. Like
these fires, crop residue burning is common in
the western parts of India and the impacts are
visible over some of the major cities in IGP.
A detailed discussion on crop residue burning
is included in this chapter.
The long-range transport of smoke was
observed over the Himalayan foothill region in
1991. A huge oil well fire in Kuwait occurred
in February 1991. Thick dark smoke clouds asso-
ciated with this burning oil well have been seen
in data from weather satellite METEOSAT
(Limaye et al., 1991). The thick smoke plume dis-
persed over a wide area and further the plume
14 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India
even reached the Himalayan foothills. Due to
the long-range transport of smoke plume, the
aerosol index was observed to be higher than
the average value of January to May 1979–93.
Similarly, the total ozone column also enhanced
due to smoke plume compared to the average
ozone column value for the months January to
May during 1979–93 (Fig. 11C).
5 Forest fires in the Himalayan region
All along the Himalayan region, thick forests
are located, these forests suffer from fires due to
strong wind, dry conditions, heat waves, and
strong lightning especially when the vegetations
are dry (Vadrevu, 2012). Forest fires are caused
by both natural (dry seasons and lightning) and
human-induced (burning of forest for crop)
causes. The uneven distribution of the rainfall
and dry weather conditions are the major causes
of rise in forest fire episodes. The dense forest in
the Himalayan region, dry vegetation, and
favorable meteorological conditions (relative
humidity, air temperature, and wind speed)
during the summer season are the causes of for-
est fires that severely affect the air quality
(Chand et al., 2007; Kumar et al., 2019). Some-
times people living in the mountain areas burn
surrounding vegetations to regenerate green
vegetation to use as fodder for animals. In some
cases, such small fires spread in the area and the
surrounding areas are covered with thick smoke
and clouds. Depending on the wind direction,
the smoke spreads over the foothill areas affect-
ing the air quality.
Sometimes forest fires are very wild and con-
tinue for a week or two due to poor logistics
(facilities, roads and due to hilly terrains).
The forest fires cause atmospheric pollution.
In recent years, increase in the frequency of
the forest fire episodes has been observed glob-
ally. The 2020 California and Australian forest
fires and the 2021 Nagaland Forest Fire and Odi-
sha forest Fire of India are some of the important
forest fires. Forest fires are responsible for the
emission of 3.33 Tkg of carbon per year and
8 Bkg of nitrogen emission per year (Van-der
Werf et al., 2004).
A case of forest fire which occurred on April
12–15, 2016 can be clearly seen in MODIS true
color image (Fig. 12), which shows smoke from
the forest fire along the Himalayan foothill
region. The smoke plume is dispersed toward
the higher altitude in the Himalayan region and
to the northeastern parts of India. The red and
blue lines show the 48-h forward trajectory
obtained using HYSPLIT trajectory model. The
red dots show the MODIS fire and thermal anom-
aly. In India, forest fires occur mostly in the west-
ern Himalayan region due to human activities,
such as cultivation in forest, trekking, camping,
lightning, cooking, and other carelessness. Forest
fires are responsible for the large-scale emission
of various gases such as CO2, CO, CH4, H2,
CH3Cl, NO, HCN, CH3CN, COS, and atmo-
spheric aerosols (Crutzen et al., 1979). The natural
forest fires are important for the ecosystem of the
forest but depending on the meteorological con-
ditions, the fire can be unmanageable and can
devastate the whole ecosystem (Yell, 2010;
Moritz et al., 2014; Alexandre et al., 2015). Uncon-
trolled large-scale and intense forest fires can
make noteworthy impacts over a large region
(Salis et al., 2014). Large fires also affect a large
population residing close to the landscape dam-
aged by it (Vitousek et al., 1997; Weng, 2007;
Hendrychová and Kabrna, 2016). Mega fires
can change the local climate for short and long
terms. Depending on the scale of the fire, ecosys-
tem, nutrient cycles, the rate and amount of gas
emissions and PM concentrations (Chuvieco
and Martin, 1994; Tansey et al., 2002; Adams,
2013; Hurteau et al., 2014; Rocca et al., 2014) are
impacted. The large- and mega-scale forest fires
have various effects from loss of human life to
damage to property, and changes in fundamental
characteristics to loss of the whole ecosystem
(Yell, 2010; Moritz et al., 2014; Newman et al.,
2014). The change in land cover due to fires can
 6 Air pollution associated with civil aviation 15

FIG. 12 MODIS true color image taken on April 12–15, 2016 showing smoke from the forest fire in the Himalayan foothill
region. The smoke plume can be clearly seen which has dispersed toward the higher altitudes in the Himalayan region and to
northeastern parts of India. The red and blue lines show the 48-h forward trajectory obtained using HYSPLIT model. The red dots
show the MODIS fire and thermal anomaly.

be more critical if it reaches the urban area or
densely populated region (Adams, 2013; Moritz
et al., 2014).
6 Air pollution associated with civil
aviation
With the growing industrialization and eco-
nomic developments all over the world, the civil
aviation industries have grown. In Asian
countries, including India, number of flight
routes has grown in the last two decades and
major cities have been connected through
domestic flights. India is connected with differ-
ent countries through international flights.
A number of airplane companies are covering
flight routes connecting major cities in different
countries in different continents. The air jets
routes can be seen in the sky especially during
winter season, it is easy to see the jet routes,
and one can see contrails. Soon after the flight
16 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India
passes, narrow contrails spread, showing wider
contrails depending on the meteorological condi-
tions. The airplanes fly at an altitude of 10–11 km,
the airplanes take off and land at the airport. The
emissions from large airplanes are higher than
that from smaller airplanes. The MOZAIC pro-
gram was initiated in 1993 by European scien-
tists, aircraft manufactures, and commercial
airlines to understand anthropogenic and air
traffic emissions and their impact on the atmo-
sphere. Efforts were made since 1993 to carry
out continuous and automated measurements
of temperature, pressure, wind, relative humid-
ity, water vapor mixing ratio, and ozone from
these aircrafts (Airbus A340 aircraft) along five
long-range aircraft routes (Marenco et al.,
1998). All these sensors are deployed onboard
airplanes and operate continuously from taking
off from the airport to landing at the airport. O3
is measured with a modified commercial dual
beam UV-absorption photometer. The overall
uncertainty is estimated to be about 2 ppbv
+ 2% of the observed reading, which corresponds
to 2 ppbv for 10 ppbv O3 mixing ratio and
4 ppbv for 100 ppbv O3 mixing ratio (Thouret
et al., 1998). Temperature is measured with a
platinum sensor with an estimated uncertainty
of +0.01°C (Helten et al., 1998). MOZAIC mea-
sures relative humidity (RH) with respect to liq-
uid water with compact airborne humidity
sensing devices (Helten et al., 1998). In the mid-
dle troposphere, the overall uncertainty lies
within 4% RH and around 7% RH between
9 and 13 km. Beginning of 2001, regular measure-
ments of CO and nitrogen oxide (NOx) were also
added into this program (Nedelec et al., 2003).
The CO instrument has a 30-s response time
(300-m vertical resolution) and an accuracy of
about 5ppbv (5%) (Nedelec et al., 2003).
MOZAIC observations are available since mid-
1994 and cover large parts of Europe, North
America, and East Asia; the measurements of
each flight are divided into three sets: ascent,
cruise, and descent.
Sahu et al. (2009) used MOZAIC aircraft data
for the period 1996–2001 over Delhi and have
observed strong seasonal variations in tropo-
spheric ozone (TO) and water vapor. However,
considerable uncertainties remain in the vertical
characteristics of O3, CO, NOx, HC, CH4 over
IGP. The close relationship between the source-
sinks of the pollutants (O3 and CO) and effects
of meteorology in the mixing ratios are impor-
tant to understand the detailed characteristics
and dynamics. Simultaneous measurements of
O3, water vapor, and CO vertical profiles over
Delhi are analyzed using aircraft Measurements
of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In-service
Aircraft (MOZAIC) program (http://mozaic.
aero.obs-mip.fr). They have also compared
MOZAIC measurements of CO vertical mixing
ratios from MOPITT (Measurements of Pollution
in the Troposphere) with AIRS (Atmospheric
Infrared Sounder) data. Coupled Model Inter-
comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) model sim-
ulations are also evaluated against MOZAIC
measured O3 profiles in different seasons. The
role of meteorology in the distribution of O3
and CO over Delhi has also been investigated
using long-term reanalysis data over India.
Bhattacharjee et al. (2015) analyzed more than
300 MOZAIC aircraft vertical profiles (combin-
ing individual ascending and descending
flights) over Delhi during the period 2003–06.
Number of profiles (combining ascending and
descending flights) were highest in the month
of September (45 in total), followed by the month
of June (36) and the month of October (30), the
number of profiles were lowest during the
month of April (8 in total), December (18), and
November (19) during the period 2003–06. CO
data are available for 65% of the total ascending
profiles and 81% of the total descending profiles.
Both ascending and descending profiles have
measurements at the pressure levels 980 to
about 220 mb at narrow regular pressure inter-
vals (12–15 mb). Since the profile data intervals
are frequent, each of the daily measurements
 7 Crop residue burning
was averaged at 50 mb equal intervals (at an alti-
tude equivalent to the pressure level
1000–200 mb). From these data, they examined
monthly and seasonal vertical variations of
various parameters for both ascending and des-
cending flights.
Vertical distributions of O3, CO, and H2O
mixing ratios for both ascending and des-
cending flights at Delhi international airport
were investigated. O3 mixing ratio was found
to be highest during premonsoon season
(March-April-May: MAM) at the pressure levels
900–450 mb (between boundary layer and mid-
troposphere) compared to all other seasons.
During premonsoon season, meteorological
conditions over Delhi were generally higher
sunlight (250 h per month), warm temperature
(37–40°C), and low humidity (30%); these con-
ditions favor the formation of tropospheric O3
through photolysis reactions. During premon-
soon season higher value of CO was observed,
which shows that higher mixing ratio of precur-
sors and favorable meteorological conditions
both contribute to higher production of O3. At
the time of onset of monsoon (beginning from
the end of July), moisture in the atmosphere is
higher (Singh et al., 2004; Prasad and Singh,
2007a, 2007b, 2009; Kumar et al., 2013); O3 is
destroyed by OH radical and washed out of
the atmosphere. O3 is low during monsoon sea-
son compared to premonsoon (MAM) because
of low sunlight availability (217 h per month)
and lower temperature (20°C). During winter
season, the atmospheric conditions are stable
over Delhi below the boundary layer which
restricts mixing near surface air and provide
higher concentration of ground level pollutants.
Bhattacharjee et al. (2015) have carried out
detailed studies about the dynamics of vertical
profiles of O3 over Delhi. During premonsoon
season (MAM), ozone concentration over Delhi
was higher at the pressure levels 900–400 mb
than the postmonsoon (ON) and winter season
(DJF) concentrations at the same altitude. At
17
the pressure levels 900–400 mb, O3 varies in
the range 55–57 ppbv during premonsoon sea-
son (MAM), 47–50 ppbv during winter season
(DJF), and 52–53 ppbv during postmonsoon sea-
son (ON). O3 increases from 55–57 ppbv (below
400 mb) to around 80 ppbv during premonsoon
season (MAM) in the upper troposphere (at
pressure levels 200–400 mb). An enhancement
of O3 was observed in both ascending and des-
cending flights from MOZAIC data, the findings
of Bhattacharjee et al. (2015) was also obtained
from aircraft, balloon, and satellite observations
(Gupta et al., 2007; Sahu et al., 2009; Fadnavis
et al., 2010, 2011; Ganguly and Tzanis, 2011)
over Delhi and northern parts of India during
winter-premonsoon season. The enhancement
of ozone in the upper troposphere was likely
due to the stratospheric influence/strato-
sphere-troposphere exchange (STE).
Using MOZAIC data based on hundreds
of ascending and descending modes during
2003–05, Bhattacharjee et al. (2015) found
vertical distribution of pollutants and their
interconnection over urban locations in the
IGP. The MOZAIC data show an increasing
trend of pollutants which corresponds to
the growing emissions from industry, power
plants, vehicles, and aviation industries and
increasing international flights over most of
the IGP.
7 Crop residue burning
Crop residue burning is a common practice in
Asian countries due to mechanized farming (Li
et al., 2010a,b). In India, prior to 1986, harvesting
was done manually (Fig. 13A), the rice and
wheat crop was cut manually leaving root in
the ground. The mechanized harvesting started
in India sometime in 1986, when the farmers
found economical ways to burn the residues of
rice and wheat crops in the field. The rice is har-
vested during prewinter season (mid-October to
18 1. Sources of atmospheric pollution in India

FIG. 13 (A) Farmers in India harvesting the wheat crop with hands. (B) NASA world view image of October 30, 2013 show-
ing the spread of crop residue burning smoke over the whole IGP and Pakistan. The red dots within orange circle show burning
spots. The plume also go toward Pakistan depending on the wind component, over India the smoke plume is seen to spread
through dominant westerly winds over the eastern parts of the IGP and over Bangladesh. Panel (A): https://www.india-aware.
com/latest/government-turns-pandemic-crisis-to-good-account-by-pushing-through-long-sought-legislative-changes-amends-essential-
commodities-act/.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
General description and date of
structure:—
No. 10 was not built by 20th November, 1777, for a lease[723] of
No. 9, granted on that date, refers to the northern boundary as
“ground contracted to be built upon.” It does not find a place in the
parish ratebooks until 1781.
This house is the northernmost of the eastern block. The plan
has been considerably altered, especially on the ground floor.

The alterations made on that floor include the removal of the

partition at the rear of the front room, the formation of a passage to
the modern premises at the rear, the closing of the windows in the
rear wall, the shifting of the fireplace from the flank to the rear wall,
and the construction of a large bay window in its place. On the first
floor a portion of the external wall has been removed, and a small
addition constructed for use as offices.
Fortunately the beautiful ceilings on this floor have been
preserved. That to the front room is segmental in shape and
ornamented with plaster decorations and three painted circular
panels (Plate 74). The frieze and ceiling of the rear room are similar
to those of No. 1, Bedford Square,[724] even to the painted panels. The
paintings are well preserved. The central panel, reproduced below,
should be compared with that illustrated in Plate 68.
Condition of repair.
The premises are in good repair.
Biographical notes.
The names of the occupants of the house during the latter part of the
18th century are given by the ratebooks as follows:—

1781–83. —— Lande.
1783–89. —— Lyde.
1789–90. Chas. Shaw Lefevre.
1790–97. John Lefevre.
1797–98. Chas. Lefevre.
1798– Henry Davison.

The “Chas. Shaw Lefevre” and “Chas. Lefevre” shown in the parish
ratebooks as occupying the house in 1789–90 and 1797–98[725] respectively
was Charles Shaw, a barrister, who, on his marriage with Helena, only
daughter of John Lefevre (possibly the occupier in 1790–96), assumed the
additional name of Lefevre. His eldest son, Charles, afterwards Viscount
Eversley, was born in 1794, and, therefore, while the family was not resident
here; but the birth of his second son, John George (afterwards Sir John
George Shaw-Lefevre) took place at this house on 24th January, 1797.[726]
John George had a distinguished career as a public official. He had a
passion for acquiring languages, and mastered fourteen. He died in 1879.
In the Council’s collection are:—
[727]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[727]General view of front room on first floor showing paintings on
ceiling (photograph).
[726]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in rear room on
first floor (central panel reproduced) (photograph).
LXXIII.—No. 11, BEDFORD SQUARE.[728]
Ground landlord and lessee.
Ground landlord, The Crown; lessee, George Frederick
Hatfield, Esq.
General description and date of
structure.
This house (Plate 76) is situated at the south-eastern end of
Gower Street, with its entrance in Montague Place. It has no
connection with the Bedford Square blocks. The boundary between
the parishes of St. Giles-in-the-Fields and St. George, Bloomsbury,
passes through the house, and is indicated by two tablets fixed to the
flank wall.
The house has an interesting plan (Plate 75). The small hall is
entered through a semi-octagonal bay, and beyond is the staircase
lighted by a lantern. To the left is the original dining room with a
cleverly screened serving door at the head of the basement stairs.
The white marble and inlay chimneypiece in this room is a fine
specimen of carving (Plate 77).
The room to the right is now used as the dining room. It has
been considerably altered in appearance by a modern partition, but
its original form can be seen by the plan. The eastern side is circular,
and has a casement window affording access to a verandah, which is
screened by the two small rooms on either side. A curious feature to
note is that the northern room impinges upon the first house in
Gower Street.
The drawing room on the first floor has a sculptured white
marble chimneypiece, and an enriched frieze and cornice (illustrated
below).
Condition of repair.
The premises are in good repair.
Biographical notes.
The ratebooks show that the occupants of this house before 1800
were as follows:—

1782–84. Dr. Tye.

1784–86. Hon. John Cavendish.
1786– Hon. Henry Cavendish.

Henry Cavendish was the elder son of Lord Charles Cavendish,

brother of the third Duke of Devonshire, and was born in 1731. His only
interest in life seems to have been in natural philosophy, and his manners
were characterised by extraordinary reticence and timidity. His scientific
discoveries were remarkable, and his work was not only exceedingly wide in
scope, but marked by extreme accuracy. In 1766 he began a brilliant series
of communications to the Royal Society on the chemistry of gases,
containing amongst others his discoveries of the compound nature of water
and the composition of nitric acid. He apparently anticipated Black in the
discovery of latent heat and specific heat; and he will ever be known to fame
as the first man to determine accurately the density of the earth. He died on
10th March, 1810. Most of his time seems to have been spent at his
residence near Clapham Common, No. 11, Bedford Square serving as a town
house. In 1904, the Duke of Bedford affixed on the latter house a bronze
tablet commemorative of Cavendish’s residence.
In the Council’s collection are:—
[729]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[729]Exterior(photograph).
General view of staircase from entrance hall (photograph).
[729]Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
Rear room on ground floor (photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in drawing room on first floor (photograph).
[729]Detail of frieze and cornice in drawing room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXIV.—No. 13, BEDFORD SQUARE.
Ground landlord and lessee.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee,
Halsey Ricardo, Esq., F.R.I.B.A.
General description and date of
structure.
Thomas Leverton, the architect, took the building lease of
these premises in 1775,[730] and subsequently resided here. The
house, however, is not mentioned in the parish ratebooks until 1781.
It has been much altered by the original staircase having been
removed, and a wooden one substituted, enabling some small rooms
to be formed at the front and rear.
The front room on the ground floor has a white marble
chimneypiece with Ionic columns, having Siena marble shafts. The
frieze is omitted in this case with good effect. The cornice of the room
is similar to that of the ground floor back room of No. 1, being
decorated with diminutive Greek Doric columns, suspended by their
capitals, as in No. 1.
The first floor front room has a white marble chimneypiece of
19th-century design, but the ornamental plaster ceiling (Plate 78) is
original. It has painted panels after the manner of Antonio Zucchi or
Angelica Kauffmann, and is probably by the latter artist.
Condition of repair.
The premises are in good repair.
Biographical notes.
The occupants of this house during the end of the 18th century were,
according to the ratebooks, as follows:—

1781. Jas. Richardson.

1782–83. Richard Walker.
1784–91. Marchant Tubb.
1791–95. Mrs. Royal.
1796– Thos. Leverton.

Thomas Leverton, son of Lancelot Leverton, a builder, was born in

1743 at Woodford. He became an architect and gradually acquired an
extensive practice. His share in the design of houses in Bedford Square has
already been noticed.[731]
Before settling at No. 13, Bedford Square, his chief residences seem
to have been in Great Queen Street and Charlotte Street.[732] He died at the
house in Bedford Square in 1824.
In the Council’s collection are:—
Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor (photograph).
[733]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in front room on
first floor (photograph).
LXXV.—No. 14, BEDFORD SQUARE.
Ground landlord and lessee.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee,
Arthur Rhuvon Guest, Esq.