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| Assessment of Ambient Air Quality on the basis of Air Quality Index: A Case Study of Jaipur City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paper Id :
17154 Submission Date :
2023-02-04 Acceptance Date :
2023-02-21 Publication Date :
2023-02-25
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| Abstract |
There has been continuous deterioration in ambient air quality with increase in population, industrialisation and urbanisation. According to WHO, approximately 7 million premature deaths every year is due to air pollution. The effects of air pollution on the human body vary depending on the type of pollutant and the length and level of exposure. The paper focuses on capital city Jaipur (Rajasthan) which has shown tremendous growth and development in last couple of decades. In this paper, the effect of major air pollutants on the Air quality index (AQI) in Jaipur city was studied by using correlation analysis. Four air pollutants namely, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, PM2.5 and PM10 were monitored. Data provided by Central Pollution Control Board of India were used for the analysis from three stations of Jaipur city for the period 2018-2022. The aim of the research is to identify weaknesses in ambient air quality and observe its pattern for last five years. The results of the correlation analysis show that AQI has a positive correlation with PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NOx. It also highlights that PM10 and PM2.5 were significant pollutants to deteriorate ambient air quality.
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| Keywords | Air Pollutants, Air Quality Index, PM10, PM2.5, Correlation Analysis. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduction |
Air Pollution, according to the World Health Organisation, is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere [1]. Its sources could be both anthropogenic and natural. Anthropogenic sources include burning of traditional biomass such as wood, crop waste etc; burning of fossil fuels, fumes from paint, hair spray etc;waste deposition in landfills produces gases like methane; agricultural activities, etc. Its natural sources include dust from land where there is no or little vegetation, methane emission by animals during digestion, radioactive decay in Earth’s crust and mantle, wildfires, volcanic activities, etc.There is widespread exploitation of natural resources in the name of development without conducting any
consequence analysis. It results in deforestation, release of toxic materials which further leads to unhealthy environment to live in. This is more evident in cities where rapid urbanisation is taking place. Growing urbanisation is an inevitable process, especially for developing countries. This is then followed by growth in other sectors such as transport, construction, manufacturing, etc. In India most of metro cities are unplanned one which leads to higher population density towards the city centre [2]. The high population density resultsin more transportation activities [3], consequently more pollution. Air pollution has very alarming effects on human health. It is a significant risk factor for respiratory infections, heart diseases and lung cancer. It can also cause harm to animals and crops [4,6]. According to a report, “in India, air pollution is the third highest cause of death among health risks”. Because of it, life expectancy has gone down by 2.6 years. Growing evidence suggests that air pollution exposure may be associated with reduced IQ scores, impaired cognition, increased risk of psychiatric disorders such as depression, etc [5]. The effect of Air Pollution on human body vary depending on the type of pollutant and the length and level of exposure, as well as other factors including a person’s individual health risks and the cumulative impacts of multiple pollutants and stressors. Air Quality Index (AQI) is powerful tool which tells how clean or polluted air of a particular area is. Each country has their AQIs based on its air quality standards. In India, AQI was launched by the central government in 2014 as part of Swachh Bharat Campaign. There are generally five or six categories of AQI, ranging from Good/Safe to Severe. AQI works as an indicator of ambient air quality which general public could easily understand. It makes people aware of the detrimental effect of air pollution and stimulates them to take measures to reduce it on individual level.
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| Objective of study | The aim of the research is to identify weaknesses in ambient air quality and observe its pattern for last five years.
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| Review of Literature |
Bishoi et al [7] proposed the EPA method for the computation of AQI (EPAQI). The technique involved
index value calculation for each pollutant. Furthermore, the research involved the Factor Analysis method to
calculate the New AQI (NAQI) encompassing the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), which was used to
find out whether the air quality has worsened or improved over the months. Shivangi et al [8] performed a
comparative study, wherein the various formulae and methodologies used in the computation of AQI were
assessed. The study included an analysis of five different techniques to determine the most precise
calculation methodology. Anikender et al [9] proposed a forecasting model to predict the AQI value which
implemented the technique of Multiple Linear Regression and Principal Component Regression model. This
research model included the usage of the past days’ AQI values. These values were computed using the EPA,
1999 formula. Sai Reddy et al [10] have assessed ambient air quality of Delhi. They have compared air
quality for different seasons. |
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| Main Text |
Materials and Methods The data has been taken from Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB) directories. CPCB, along with its regional offices, undertakes
real time continuous monitoring of vital air pollutants at different sites in
India. The present study considers data from three monitoring stations of
Jaipur City (Rajasthan) for three years (1st Jan 2020-) Study Area Jaipur (26.55° N, 75.49° E) is the capital of
Rajasthan. It is at the elevation of 431 m above the mean sea level and expands
over an area of 467 sq. km. City is divided into 8 geographical zones with 91
wards. It is located in the semi-arid zone of India. It is characterised by high
temperature, low rainfall and mild winter. Its mean temperature is 36°C. The
normal rainfall of Jaipur is 600 mm. According to the Census 2011, its
population density is 598 humans per sq. km. Data Set For the present study, concentration of air pollutants,
namely PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 for
3 years (2020-2022) has been extracted from CPCB’s archives. The daily data has
been collected for three monitoring stations of Jaipur City, namely, Shastri
Nagar, Adarsh Nagar and Police Commissionerate. Methodology Calculation of AQI involves two steps, first the
formation of sub-indices of each pollutant and second the aggregation of
sub-indices. The sub-indices for the individual pollutants are calculated for
each monitoring station using their average concentration value over a 24-hour
period and their health breakpoint concentration range. The worst sub-index
value is taken to be the AQI for that particular location. Individual AQI for pollutant in calculated by the formula
(EPA, 1999) given below: where BHI: Breakpoint concentration greater or equal
to given concentration BLO: Breakpoint concentration smaller or equal
to given concentration IHI: AQI value corresponding to BHI ILO: AQI value corresponding to BLO Finally, AQI = max (Ip); where p denotes
different pollutants Table 1: Proposed sub-index and
breakpoint pollutant concentration for Indian Air Quality Index
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| Result and Discussion |
PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 are
the most significant air pollutants among other pollutants. Average
concentration of ambient air pollutants PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 has
been obtained season-wise for understanding the overall pollution level in
Jaipur city. Table2: Season-wise average concentration of pollutants
from 2018 to 2022
Data obtained from monitoring of ambient air at three
stations is used to calculate the Air Quality Index for critical parameter. The
resultant correlation matrix between the pollutants PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and
NO2 and AQI is tabulated in Table 2. Table3: Correlation matrix of pollutants (2018-2022)
It can be seen that all pollutants considered, namely, PM10,
PM2.5, SO2 and NO2, have a positive
correlation with AQI. Clearly, PM10 and PM2.5 show
significant correlation with AQI. It can also be noted that all the pollutants
have a positive correlation with each other. It implies that a rise in the
concentration of any of the pollutants will lead to the rise in the
concentration of other pollutants as well. Over the span of five years, AQI has been observed. The
years 2018, 2019 and 2022 were normal years, whereas years 2020 and 2021 were
COVID-affected years. There was hardly any sector which was not affected by
coronavirus pandemic. During pandemic years, there was bare minimal movement of
people. Industrial activities too got stalled. Air Pollution remained at
minimum levels during these two years, which also reflects in the graphs given
below:
Chart 1: Daily computed values of AQI for the years
2018-2022
Table 4: Average AQI for different seasons for the years
2018-2022.
Chart 2: Season-wise trend of AQI for the years 2018-2022
Overall pollution level is high during winters. This is
because in winters, there is the presence of cold air. Cold air is denser and
moves slower. Denser cold air traps the pollution and doesn’t allow it to
disperse away. Thus, air pollution in winter remains in place for much longer.
Fog conditions aggravate air pollution even more. It leads to smog (fog +
Smoke). It makes the atmosphere difficult to breathe and harmful for health. In
summers, generally air pollution levels are even higher as compared to winters.
This is because of the widespread windblown dust and lack of rain. Rain
acts as natural cleanser. Thus during monsoon, pollution levels are lower.
Again, pollution levels tend to increase in post monsoon period. |
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| Conclusion |
Air quality Index can provide clear understanding about ambient air and critical pollutant mainly responsible for the quality of air. The AQIs were calculated according to CPCB break point concentration. The AQI study reveals that PM10 was the dominant pollutant in the index value. Season-wise variations of AQI are shown for 5 years (2018-22). There urgent need to address the growing air pollution which could cause major health risks like asthma, lung cancer etc. |
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| References | 1. www.who.int. World Health Organization
2. Chadchan, J. & Shankar, R., 2012. An analysis of urban growth trends in the post-economic reforms period in India. International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 1(1), pp.36–49.
3. Dadhich, P.N. & Hanaoka, S., 2012. Spatial investigation of the temporal urban form to assess impact on transit services and public transportation access. Geo-Spatial Information Science, 15(3), pp.187–197.
4. Cropper, M.L. et al., 1997. The Health Effects of Air Pollution in Delhi, India. The World Bank, (December 1997), p.40.
5. Allen, J.L.; Klocke, C.; Morris-Schaffer, K.; Conrad, K.; Sobolewski, M.; Cory-Slechta, D. A. (June 2017). "Cognitive Effects of Air Pollution Exposures and Potential Mechanistic Underpinnings". Current Environmental Health Reports. 4 (2): 180–191.
6. Singh HR, Sharma RC, et al (2014). A retrospective approach to assess human health risks associated with growing air pollution in urbanized area of Thar Desert, western Rajasthan, India. Journal of Environmental health science Engineering. 2014,12:23.
7. Biswanath Bishoi, Amit Prakash, and V.K.Jain, "A Comparative Study Of Air Quality Index Based On Factor Analysis And US-EPA Methods for an Urban Environment", Bishoi et al., Aerosol and Air Quality Research, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-17, 2009.
8. Shivangi Nigam, B. P. S. Rao, Navneet Kumar,and V. A. Mhaisalkar, "Air Quality Index – A Comparative Study for Assessing the Status of Air Quality", Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, pp. 267-274, 2016.
9. Anikender Kumar and Pramila Goyal, "Forecasting of air quality in Delhi using principal component regression technique", Atmospheric Pollution Research, Vol. 2 , pp. 436-444, 2011.
10. Sai Reddy, Pragya Verma and Mithilesh Waghulade, “Air Quality Index – A Study to Assess the Air Quality”, International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), Vol. 7, Issue 2, 2020
11. Central Pollution Control Board https://cpcb.nic.in/ |
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