Monitoring of ambient air quality in relation to traffic density in Bareilly City (U.P.), India

Abstract

An ambient air quality study was undertaken in Bareilly city, U.P., India during the year 2010 and 2011. The seasonal air quality data was obtained from ten monitoring sites across the city considering sampling site of Cantt as control site. The maximum (713.06±55.64 µg/m3) suspended particulate matter (SPM), sulphur dioxide (SO2) (80.08±4.77 µg/m3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) (64.98±3.53 µg/m3) level was found at Choupla during the winter 2011. Among the annual mean values of air pollutants were analyzed, SPM level was found to be above the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) (200 µg/m3) at all the polluted sites. SO2 and NOx levels were below the threshold limits (80 µg/m3) as per NAAQS. The ambient air quality was correlated with the traffic density in the city. The pollution level was observed to be positively correlated with traffic density which is the major source of air pollution in the city. The ambient air quality at different monitoring sites was categorized into different pollution level on the basis of Oak ridge air quality index (ORAQI). Light to moderate air pollution conditions were present at different sites. Sampling site of Choupla (SVII) observe maximum ORAQI of 64.48 and 70.81 and falls under category of moderate pollution.