Abstract
In recent times, a significant number of studies on the composition and sources of fine particulate matters and volatile organic compounds have been carried out over Delhi, either initiated by or in association with the researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), in collaboration with researchers from within and outside India. All these studies utilized highly time-resolved, campaign-mode observations made with state-of-the-art instrumentation during the late winter months (mid-January to March) of 2018. Individually, each of these studies were rigorous in nature, containing explicit detailing about different types of ambient air pollutants in Delhi such as organic aerosols, inorganic elements, metals, carbonaceous aerosols, and volatile organic compounds. This study consolidates the extremely useful knowledge on source attribution of these air pollutants in the Delhi National Capital Region currently contained in these fragmented studies, which is vital to further enhancing our understanding of composition, characteristics, and sources of air pollutants over Delhi, as well as to designing appropriate mitigation measures tailored to local specifics.
Highlights
Delhi, the capital of India, experiences extreme level of air pollution
solid fuel combustion (SFC)-1 consists of ions of chemical compounds that come from coal combustion, and contains a small contribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are usually emitted during incomplete combustion processes, whereas SFC-2 is found associated most likely with wood-burning emissions [10]
secondary organic aerosol (SOA) have been estimated through an indirect method, based on the fact that elemental carbon (EC) can be used as a tracer for anthropogenic primary organic carbon (POC), as EC comes from primary emissions and is mostly inert in nature
Summary
The capital of India, experiences extreme level of air pollution. In a recent study [1]. The common period in all these studies was between mid-January andmid-March of 2018, which is considered the late winter period Most importantly, all these studies investigated the chemical composition and source apportionment of fine particulate matter, carbonaceous aerosols, elements in aerosols, and gaseous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) [10,11,12,13,14,15]. Singh et al and Puthussery et al conducted their study in 2019, but in the rest of the studies, the common period of sampling/measurements was the late winter months (mid-January to mid-March) of 2018 These extensive research works individually presented exclusive details about different types of air pollutants in Delhi. The discussions will focus on the components of fine pollutant particulate matter and VOCs, and their measurement and source apportionment precisely
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