ASL751
Dispersion of Air Pollutants
Ravi Kumar Kunchala
Centre for Atmospheric Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Ref:UN Environment Programme
Consequences
Urbanization has resulted in many critical issues like increase in pollution levels, sudden climatic changes
and the rise of temperature in the urban area, that is the formation of Urban Heat Islands (UHI).
Research for urban heat island (UHI) in India has accelerated in past few years covering not only
megacities but small towns as well.
India, which is the second largest populated country and one of the top growing economies in the world.
UHI quantification across India from multiple assessment methods, possible impacts, mitigation strategies
and finally, identifies future research directions.
In India, UHI intensities up to 8–10°C have been reported in areas with dense urban and commercial
pockets.
The varied methods of determination of UHI (such as fixed instruments, mobile surveys, and satellite-
derived measurements) at surface and canopy layer are discussed while noting the paucity of research for
the boundary layer UHI in India.
Measurements alone are not adequate due to limitations of instrumental installation and errors and
spatiotemporal continuity.
So, mathematical tools such as empirical models and numerical mesoscale weather prediction models are
used to understand the UHI phenomenon at region of interest, assess major causative factors, and design
mitigation strategies.
Climatic scales and vertical layers found in urban areas. PBL: Planetary Boundary Layer. UBL:
Urban Boundary Layer. UCL: Urban Canopy Layer.
Emissions
Ø Natural Sources
Gases Primary Pollutants
Ø Mobile Sources
Ø Stationary sources Aerosols Secondary Pollutants
Ø Area sources
ASL 751- Dispersion of Air Pollutants
Ref: National Wildlife Refuge System
[email protected]; IIT Delhi
Ref: Marion et al 2022
Source: EPA
ASL 751- Dispersion of Air Pollutants
Residence/Life time
Averaging the life histories of all molecules of a substance yields an average
lifetime or average residence time for that substance.
This residence time tells us on average how long a representative molecule of
the substance will stay in the atmosphere before it is removed.
The fundamental physical principle governing the behavior of a chemical in
the atmosphere is conservation of mass. In any imaginary volume of air the
following balance must hold:
rate of
Rate of the Rate of the rate of
Species flowing - Species flowing + introduction
- removal of
(emission) of
in out species
species
rate of
= accumulation
of species in
imaginary volume
Ref: World Health Organization
Short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) are a set of chemically and physically reactive
compounds with atmospheric lifetimes typically shorter than two decades but
differing in terms of physiochemical properties and environmental effects.
SLCFs can be classified as direct or indirect, with direct SLCFs exerting climate effects
through their radiative forcing and indirect SLCFs being precursors of direct climate
forcers.
Direct SLCFs include methane (CH4), ozone (O3), shortlived halogenated compounds,
such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and aerosols.
Indirect SLCFs include nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane
volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and ammonia (NH3).
Aerosols consist of sulphate (SO2–), nitrate (NO– ), ammonium (NH+4), carbonaceous
aerosols (e.g., black carbon (BC), organic aerosols (OA)), mineral dust, and sea spray
and can be present as internal or external mixtures and at sizes from nano-meters to
tens of micro-meters.
SLCFs can be emitted directly from natural systems and anthropogenic sources
(primary) or can be formed by reactions in the atmosphere
ASL 751- Dispersion of Air Pollutants
Relative regional and sectoral contributions to the present day (year 2014) anthropogenic emissions of short-
lived climate forcers (SLCFs). Ref: IPCC, Chapter 6
ASL 751- Dispersion of Air Pollutants
Relative regional and sectoral contributions to the present day (year 2014) anthropogenic emissions of short-
lived climate forcers (SLCFs). Ref: IPCC, Chapter 6
ASL 751- Dispersion of Air Pollutants
Relative regional and sectoral contributions to the present day (year 2014) anthropogenic emissions of short-
lived climate forcers (SLCFs). Ref: IPCC, Chapter 6
ASL 751- Dispersion of Air Pollutants
Sources of emission data
Pollution levels can be grouped according to their emissions from the various different
sources, collectively call it as emission data, may be used in two ways
1. To identify the main sources of individual pollutants
2. To estimate levels of pollutants where such levels cannot be easily measured on
their own- in which case mathematical models based on emission data are employed
The variety of air pollution sources makes estimating the emissions of specific
atmospheric pollutants a demanding and time-consuming process. The basis of the
process is the systematic compilation of detailed information on pollutant emissions in a
given area in the form of an emission inventory.
An air pollutant emissions inventory is a schedule of the sources of an air pollutant or
pollutants within particular geographical area.
The inventory usually includes information on the amount of the pollutant released from
major industrial sources, as well as average figures for the emission from smaller sources and
from transport throughout the area.
Sources emission data
In an emission inventory, data are collected for the three types of sources ( line, area
and point) within the selected geographical area.
Clearly, it is difficult/impractical to measure at each and every emission source
In a large area. The majority of the emissions are therefore estimated from other
local information such as fuel consumption figures, vehicle kilometers travelled or
some other activity relating to pllutant emissions.
Emission factors are then applied to the activity data in order to estimate the likely
emissions.
It is a number that represents the relationship between the mass of a given pollutant
emitted from a particular sources and given amounts of raw material processed
This is given as
Activity rate X Emission factor= Emission rate
Fig. 2. (a) Vehicle density over major roads, (b) Vehicular composition and (c) Survey locations. Ref: Sahu et al., 2023
Fig. 4. (a) Gridded annual PM10 emissions, (b) PM10 contribution from major and minor sectors. . Ref: Sahu et al., 2023
Fig. 7. (a) Gridded annual NOx emissions, (b) NOx contribution from major and minor sectors.
AIR POLLUTANTS
The substances which are responsible for causing air pollution are called air
pollutants.
Air pollutants can be categorized by various means:
A. Based on source of origin
B. Based on method of origin
C. Based on chemical composition
D. Based on state of matter
1. Natural air pollutants: Natural air pollutants are emitted from natural sources such as
volcanic activity, dust, sea-salt, forest fires, lightening, soil outgassing etc.
2. Anthropogenic air pollutants: These pollutants include the emissions from stationary
point sources (e.g. emission from industries), mobile sources (e.g. vehicular emission, marine
vessels, airplanes etc.), waste disposal landfills, controlled burning etc. 0
B. Based on method of origin
1. Primary air pollutants: Those pollutants which are emitted directly from any
emission source in the atmosphere are termed as Primary air pollutants. E.g. Sulphur
dioxide (SO2), Carbon monoxide (CO), Lead (Pb), Ammonia (NH3) etc.
2. Secondary air pollutants: Secondary pollutants are formed by the reactions between
primary air pollutants and normal atmospheric constituents. In some of the cases, these
pollutants are formed by utilizing the solar energy. E.g. Ozone, Peroxyacetylnitrate
(PAN), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Smog etc.
C. Based on chemical composition
1. Organic air pollutants: Examples are hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones,
amines, and alcohols etc.
2. Inorganic air pollutants: Examples are carbon compounds (CO and
carbonates), nitrogen compounds (NOX and NH3), sulphur compounds (H2S,
SO2, SO3, H2SO4), halogen compounds (HF, HCl etc.), flyash, silica etc.
D. Based on state of matter
1. Gaseous air pollutants: Pollutants which are in the form of gas are termed as
gaseous air pollutants. E.g. SO2, NOX, O3, CO etc.
2. Particulate air pollutants: Particulate air pollutants or particulate matter
(PM) can be defined as the microscopic solid or liquid matter suspended in the
earth’s atmosphere.
There are various subtypes of particulate matter:
a. Total suspended particulate matter (TSPM): The concentration of particulate
matter which is obtained when a high volume bulk sampling is done on a filter
substrate. It includes particles of all sizes.
b. PM10: These are the particles less than 10 µm in diameter.
c. PM2.5: These are the particles less than 2.5 µm in diameter.
d. PM1.0: These are the particles less than 1 µm in diameter.
Particles which lie between 10 µm to 2.5 µm are termed as Coarse
particles whereas particles with diameter less than 2.5 µm are called Fine
particles. Fine particles also include ultra-fine particles of size less than 0.1 µm
(PM0.1).
