The impact of crop residue burning (CRB) on the diurnal and seasonal variability of the ozone and PM levels at a semi-urban site in the north-western Indo-Gangetic plain

Abstract

Ozone and particulate matter (PM), PM 10 and PM 2.5 , were monitored along with meteorological parameters at a semi-urban location, Patiala, in the northwestern Indo-Gangetic plain from December 2013 to November 2014. The annual mean concentration levels of PM 10 , PM 2.5 and ozone were recorded as 178 μg m −3 , 88 μg m −3 and 39 ppb, which also exceeded the national standards on a 24-h average basis, by 77.3% (335 days), 53.2% (338 days) and 20 days, respectively. High levels of PM (PM 10 and PM 2.5) were observed in winter (58-381 and 42-270 μg m −3) and in the post-monsoon (71-320 and 39-320 μg m −3) season and a rise in the level of ozone was observed in summer (22-72 ppb) and in the post-monsoon season (23-73 ppb), respectively. The rate of ozone production was the highest during the post-harvest fire period (3.94 ppb O 3 /h in May and 4.23 ppb O 3 /h in November). A Pearson correlation study showed the strong dependency of PM and ozone on meteorological variables. Relative humidity has the highest ranking for ozone and PM 10 , while wind speed has the lowest rank for ozone, PM 10 and PM 2.5 in the order of factors affecting the level of pollutants. The generalised linear model and the neural network model (for ozone) and the random forest model (for PM) outperformed on the basis of performance indices and further cross-validation was done.

COVID-19 lockdown and its impact on tropospheric NO2 concentrations over India using satellite-based data

“…As highlighted in several studies, fossil fuel and biomass burning, including crop residue burning, are the primary sources of NO 2 emissions in India ( Ghude et al., 2008 , 2013a , b ; Ravindra et al, 2019a , b , 2020 ; Gurjar et al., 2016 ; Rana et al, 2019 ; Sembhi et al, 2020 ). NO 2 plays a significant role in atmospheric chemistry and reactivity, and the chemical budget of tropospheric ozone largely depends on NOx concentrations ( Van der et al., 2008 ).…”

Impact of crop residue burning in Haryana on the air quality of Delhi, India

“…Biomass burning is an important source of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) and trace gases, which has a significant impact on local and global climate, in addition to causing severe health risks for humans ( Zhang et al., 2011 ; Wang et al., 2013 ). Biomass burning includes various types of forest fires and agricultural burning after crop harvest, typically known as crop residue burning (CRB) ( Singh et al., 2010 ; Rana et al., 2019 ). At a global scale, as much as 90% of wildfires are attributed to CRB and forest removal activities, are mostly restricted to Amazonia, Africa and Asia ( Prabhu et al., 2020 ).…”

“…At a global scale, as much as 90% of wildfires are attributed to CRB and forest removal activities, are mostly restricted to Amazonia, Africa and Asia ( Prabhu et al., 2020 ). The remaining 10% is largely due to fires in wild forests and grasslands ( Rana et al., 2019 ). Moreover, biomass burning, particularly, during and after crop harvest, emits massive quantities of gaseous and particulate pollutants, which often increases pollution at local and regional scales ( Crutzen and Andreae, 1990 ; Langmann et al., 2009 ; Wang et al., 2013 ; Tsay et al., 2016 ; Jethva et al., 2019 ).…”