Connecting Crop Productivity, Residue Fires, and Air Quality over Northern India

Hiren Jethva,Omar Torres,Alexei Lyapustin,Vinay Kayetha,Robert D Field,Ritesh Gautam

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-52799-x

Abstract

Northwestern India is known as the “breadbasket” of the country producing two-thirds of food grains, with wheat and rice as the principal crops grown under the crop rotation system. Agricultural data from India indicates a 25% increase in the post-monsoon rice crop production in Punjab during 2002–2016. NASA’s A-train satellite sensors detect a consistent increase in the vegetation index (net 21%) and post-harvest agricultural fire activity (net ~60%) leading to nearly 43% increase in aerosol loading over the populous Indo-Gangetic Plain in northern India. The ground-level particulate matter (PM2.5) downwind over New Delhi shows a concurrent uptrend of net 60%. The effectiveness of a robust satellite-based relationship between vegetation index—a proxy for crop amounts, and post-harvest fires—a precursor of extreme air pollution events, has been further demonstrated in predicting the seasonal agricultural burning. An efficient crop residue management system is critically needed towards eliminating open field burning to mitigate episodic hazardous air quality over northern India.

Highlights

Crop residue burning over northwestern India is a serious concern leading to poor air quality and affecting the health of millions living in one of the most densely populated regions of the world
Our study finds that rice production in the northwestern state of Punjab has increased by 25%, and so has the vegetation index (NDVI) with a net increase of 21% derived from the MODIS sensor onboard Aqua satellite during 2002–2016
The reconstructed time-series of PM2.5 derived based on a regression between the ground-level particulate matter concentration visibility estimates in New Delhi has shown a simultaneous uptrend of 6 μg/m3 per year, leading to 60% increase during post-monsoon season

Summary

Introduction

Crop residue burning over northwestern India is a serious concern leading to poor air quality and affecting the health of millions living in one of the most densely populated regions of the world. The reconstructed time-series of PM2.5 derived based on a regression between the ground-level particulate matter concentration visibility estimates in New Delhi has shown a simultaneous uptrend of 6 μg/m3 per year, leading to 60% increase during post-monsoon season.

Results

Conclusion