Influence of aerosol spectrum and air pollutants on fog formation in urban environment of megacity Delhi, India

Abstract

Urban areas are facing increasing fog frequencies that may result due to increased air pollution emanating from variety of sources. The increased pollution levels may lead to the atmospheric reactions resulting into the formation of secondary pollutants that may also lead to increased aerosol number concentrations (ANC) in the atmosphere. This could cause enhanced water aerosols in the presence of favourable meteorological conditions and high relative humidity. This study deals with the atmospheric pollution and visibility during winter season of megacity Delhi in order to assess the relationship between the two specifically during fog episodes. Thus, this study analyses the levels of air pollutants, aerosol spectrum and meteorological conditions during one week each in the winter season of the years 2004 and 2006 in order to have an improved understanding of their role in fog formation in mega-city Delhi. More than 300 h of measurements which included episodes of dense, thick and moderate fogs of about 25 h, were studied. The measurements cover most of the accumulation mode and greater size spectrum of aerosols. Thus, the analysis is performed for the entire period, specifically, before the fog sets up, during and afterwards. In general, the relatively small variations in number concentration show larger variations in visibility prior and post dense fog formation than during dense fog episodes. Preliminary analysis of monthly averaged RSPM (Respirable Suspended particulate Matter or PM(10)) concentration values for four winter months for a period of 6 years (1996-2001) and visibility did not show a good correlation with total occurrences of fog. However, daily averaged RSPM concentration showed a good correlation with the occurrences of thick fog. Diurnal variation of Sulfur-dioxide and Nitrogen dioxide were found to have inverse relationship with visibility during fog which may be due to formation of secondary pollutants such as sulfate and to a lesser extent nitrates. Amongst, the daily averaged concentrations of all the criteria pollutants, RSPM was found to be best correlated with the fog in comparison to other pollutants.