Dataset Information

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

ABSTRACT: Crop residue burning (CRB) over northern India is a major air quality and human health issue. The present study assesses the impact of PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NO₂ and SO₂, emitted during CRB activities in Haryana on the air quality of Delhi. The transition from pre-burning to burning period, in both rabi and kharif seasons, shows considerable increase in pollutant concentrations. PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations exceeded NAAQS limits by 2-3 times, while NO₂ and SO₂ stayed within the limits. MODIS fire observations used to estimate CRB fire counts (confidence ≥80%) shows that rabi (burning period) fires in Haryana are ~3 times higher and more intense than in kharif. Furthermore, backward trajectories shows air mass movement from Haryana, Punjab and Pakistan. Thus, pollutants emitted reach Delhi via air masses, deteriorating its air quality. Meteorological conditions influence pollutant concentrations during both seasons. Frequent dust storms in rabi, and Dusshera and Diwali firework celebrations in kharif season exacerbate air pollution. In rabi, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 have a significant negative association with (relative humidity) RH and positive association with (air temperature) AT. High AT during pre-monsoon, accompanied by low RH, loosens up soil particles and they can easily disperse. Stronger winds in rabi season promote NO₂ and SO₂ dispersion. In kharif, lower AT, higher RH and slower winds exist. Both PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 have a negative association with AT and (wind speed) WS. With lower temperature and slower winds during winter, pollutants are trapped within the boundary layer and are unable to disperse. As expected, NO₂ has a significant negative association with AT in Haryana. However, in case of Delhi, the association is significant but positive, and could be due to the odd-even scheme imposed by the Delhi government. More research is needed to determine the health effects of Haryana's rabi CRB activities on Delhi.

SUBMITTER: Saxena P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8120930 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep global impact, not only from a social and economic perspective, but also with regard to human health and the environment. To restrict transmission of the virus, the Indian government enforced a complete nationwide lockdown except for essential services and supplies in phases from 25 March to 31 May 2020. Ambient air quality in and around New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities of world, was also impacted during this period.ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to assess and understand the impact of four different lockdown phases (LD1, LD2, LD3 and LD4) on five air pollutants (particulate matter (PM) PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3)) compared to before lockdown (BLD) at 13 air monitoring stations in and around New Delhi.MethodsSecondary data on five criteria pollutants for 13 monitoring stations in and around New Delhi for the period 1 March to 31 May 2020 was accessed from the Central Pollution Control Bard, New Delhi. Data were statistically analyzed across lockdown phases, meteorological variables, and prevailing air sources around the monitoring stations.ResultsPollutant concentrations decreased during LD1 compared to BLD except for O3 at all stations. PM2.5 and PM10 remained either close to or higher than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) due to prevailing high-speed winds. During lockdown phases, NO2 decreased, whereas O3 consistently increased at all stations. This was a paradoxical situation as O3 is formed via photochemical reactions among NOx and volatile organic compounds. Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted two principal components (PC1 and PC2) which explained up to 80% of cumulative variance in data. PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 were associated with PC1, whereas PC2 had loadings of either O3 only or O3 and SO2 depending upon monitoring station.ConclusionsThe present study found that air pollutants decreased during lockdown phases, but these decreases were specific to the site(s) and pollutant(s). The decrease in pollutant concentrations during lockdown could not be attributed completely to lockdown conditions as the planetary boundary layer increased two-fold during lockdown compared to the BLD phase. Such restrictions could be applied in the future to control air pollution but should be approached with caution.Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing financial interests.

Project description:BackgroundCrop residue burning adversely affects air quality and consequently human health. India, being one of the largest agro-economies of the world, produces around 500 Million tonnes of crop residue annually most of which is burnt on-farm. However, integrated studies that simultaneously quantify the effects of crop residue burning while exploring the subjective determinants of the practice are lacking in India. This paper describes the protocol for a longitudinal mixed methods research study employing a community-based participatory approach to fill this gap.MethodsBoth quantitative and qualitative data will be collected in a rural setting of the central Indian province of Madhya Pradesh, over 1 year. A steering committee comprising of the research team and community representatives will be formed. The proportion of cultivable land burnt in one crop burning season will be estimated. The association between crop residue burning, level of ambient air pollutants, and pulmonary function of village residents will be determined. Focus groups, interviews, and participatory rural appraisal methods will be used to explore stakeholder perspectives about crop residue burning. Potential barriers and opportunities for substituting burning with an alternative crop residue management technique will be ascertained as the basis for future interventions. Ethics approval has been obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee of the National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (No: NIREH/BPL/IEC/2019-20/1494, dt 06/01/2020).DiscussionThis manuscript describes the protocol for a novel community-based participatory study to investigate thoroughly the phenomenon of crop residue burning from the perspective of the agricultural community through their active collaboration. The lack of comprehensive evidence regarding the factors responsible for crop residue burning in India underlines the importance of implementing this study protocol to fill in this critical gap in knowledge. While acknowledging that findings of this study will be not generalizable to agricultural communities other than the one studied, it is expected that the study will generate baseline evidence that might be beneficial in developing and implementing an appropriate intervention strategy.

Dataset Information

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

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets