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Ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured using a high-resolution proton transfer reaction-time of flight-mass spectrometer at an urban site of Ahmedabad in India during the winter season in 2014. Mixing ratios of VOCs show large diurnal and day-to-day variations. Although strongly influenced by local emissions, periods of higher VOCs were observed during transport from the polluted Indo-Gangetic Plains than those from the cleaner Thar Desert. However with different rates, VOCs decreased exponentially with increasing wind speed. Relative abundance of methanol varied with weather conditions contributing highest and lowest under fog and clear-sky conditions, respectively. Among the compounds reported here, oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) contribute to a large fraction (67-85%) with methanol being most abundant (40-58%). In spite of predominant vehicular emissions, diurnal distribution and emission ratios (ERs) of several VOCs indicate the role of biogenic and secondary sources. The ratios of isoprene/benzene and OVOCs/benzene show significant enhancements during daytime suggesting their contributions from biogenic and secondary sources. During marathon and cyclothon events, mixing ratios of VOCs were 2-10 times higher compared to a normal Sunday. The ERs of VOCs estimated using the nighttime data on marathon day are well within the range of values reported for several megacities of the world. The average contributions of primary anthropogenic sources to acetaldehyde, acetone, and isoprene were 44 ± 06%, 45 ± 07%, and 63 ± 12%, respectively. During cloudy condition, the increase in anthropogenic contribution to acetaldehyde (~10%), acetone (9%) and isoprene (30%) is due to reduction in biogenic emissions and secondary formation of these VOCs.

The data from a high counting rate neutron monitor has been analysed to study the nature of galactic cosmic-ray transient modulation associated with three classes of magnetic clouds, i.e., clouds associated with shock, stream interface and cold magnetic enhancement.It is found that the decreases in cosmic-ray intensity which are associated with clouds preceded by a shock, are very high (Forbush-type) and these decreases start earlier than the arrival of the cloud at the Earth. From the study ofthetime profile of these decreases it is found that the onset time of a Forbush-type decrease produced by a shock-associated cloud starts nearly at the time of arrival of the shock front at the Earth and the recovery is almost complete within a week.The decreases in cosmic-ray intensity associated with clouds followed by a stream interface are smaller in magnitude and larger in duration. The depression starts on the day of the arrival of the don& The decreases associated with the third category of clouds, i.e., clouds associated with cold magnetic enhancement (a region in which plasma temperature is anomalously low and the magnetic field strength is enhanced) are of still smaller amplitude and duration. The decrease in this case starts on the day" the cloud arrives at the Earth.It seems that the Forbush decrease modulating region consists of a shock front followed by a plasma sheath in which the field intensity is high and turbulent. The amplitude of decrease is related to the field magnitude and the speed of the cloud. Both shocked plasma and the magnetic cloud are influential in determining the time profile of these decreases. In our view it is not the magnetic field strength or the topology alone which is responsible for the cosmic-ray depression. The most likely additional effect is the increased degree of turbulence.

The results based on the analysis of satellite fire counts detected by the Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) sensors over different regions of India during 1998-2009 have been presented. Generally, the activities of open biomass burning show large spatial and temporal variations in India. The highest and lowest values of monthly fire counts were detected during the periods of March-May and July-September, respectively over different regions of India. The activities of biomass burning in two central states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra were the highest and together accounted for about 25-45% of total annual fire counts detected over India during the study period. However, in opposite phases, the rainfall and fire count data show strong seasonal variation. In addition to large regional and seasonal variations, the fire data also show significant year-to-year variation. The higher annual fire counts exceeding the mean of entire period by about 16% and 43% were detected during the two periods of 1998-2000 and 2007-2009, respectively. We have estimated normalized anomaly of annual fire count data which shows large positive departures from long-term mean for the years 1999, 2007, 2008 and 2009, while negative departures for the years 2002, 2003 and 2005. Consistently, the mixing ratio of carbon monoxide (CO) typical peaks during winter but extended to pre-monsoon season during extensive fire years. The annual data over the entire region of India show lesser positive trend of about 3% yr −1 .T h ei n t e r-a n n u a l variation of fire count over entire India follows the trend in the ENSO Precipitation Index (ESPI) but shows opposite trend to the multivariate ENSO Index (MEI).

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Ambient mass concentrations of benzene and toluene were measured at 12 different road junctions of Ahmedabad city in India during the pre-monsoon season of year 2015. A Thermal Desorption-Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (TD-GC-FID) technique was used for the analysis of aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air samples. In each of both inner and outer ring roads, air samples were collected at 6 sites to investigate the spatial variation of benzene and toluene. The mass concentrations of benzene and toluene show strong site-to-site and day-to-day variations. The average mass concentration of benzene varied in the ranges of 11-35 µg m -3 and 4-12 µg m -3 along the inner and outer roads, respectively. The mass concentration of toluene varied in the ranges of 43-142 µg m -3 and 11-28 µg m -3 along the inner and outer roads, respectively. Overall, the mass concentrations of VOCs along the inner road were 3-5 times higher than those measured along the outer road.The mass concentrations of benzene and toluene show good correlation suggesting their common emission sources (mostly vehicular). However, the enhancement ratios of ∆Toluene/∆Benzene (~4.0 µg µg -1 ) along both the roads were higher than the typical ratios (1.5-3.5 µg µg -1 ) reported for vehicular emissions. The higher values of ∆Toluene/∆Benzene are due to the emissions of VOCs also from industrial and other non-traffic sources. During the daytime, the lower mass concentrations of VOCs and lower ∆Toluene/∆Benzene (~2 µg µg -1 ) indicate the role of photochemical aging. The combined diurnal trend of ∆Toluene/∆Benzene agrees well with that measured at central Ahmedabad using the proton-transfer-reaction time of flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS). However, compared to weekdays, the mass concentrations of VOCs show reduction and increase during the Sunday and Saturday, respectively. The mass concentration of VOCs and their ratio were towards the higher side of data reported for different urban sites of the world.