INvestigating air quality in the most polluted capital city in the world 

Speaker: jacqui hamilton 

Chair(S): scott osprey & maria russo

wednesday april 03, 2024, 13:00

ABSTRACT

The air quality in Delhi can be extremely poor, leading it to be crowned the most polluted capital city in the world in 2023. As part of the Air Pollution and Human Health program, the Dehli-FLUX project aimed to understand the sources of air pollutants, including NOx, ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and particulate matter. During intensive field observations at the Indira Gandhi Technical University for Women campus, situated in old Delhi, we carried out measurements of the concentration of pollutants at the surface alongside flux measurements from a 30 m tower during the pre- and post-monsoon period. The post-monsoon period was characterised by extreme levels of air pollution at night, which led to unusual nocturnal chemistry.  Source apportionment of the VOCs indicated this was dominated by vehicle exhaust and burning emissions, and exacerbated by a very low nocturnal boundary layer. To further investigate the emissions from burning sources, we determined the emissions from locally sources fuels using a stove at the National Physical Laboratory in Delhi. An India wide combustion VOC emission inventory was created and indicated that burning dung cakes represented a small fraction of the overall number of domestic users, but lead to disproportionately high emissions. The policy implications for reducing emissions in Delhi will be discussed. 

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