Abstract
Because of high emissions of anthropogenic as well as natural particles over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), it is important to study the characteristics of fine (PM2.5) and inhalable particles (PM10), including their morphology, physical and chemical characteristics, etc., in Delhi during winter 2013. The mean mass concentrations of fine (PM2.5) and inhalable (PM10) (continuous) was 117.6 ± 79.1 and 191.0 ± 127.6 μg m−3, respectively, whereas the coarse mode (PM10–2.5) particle PM mass was 73.38 ± 28.5 μg m−3. During the same period, offline gravimetric monitoring of PM2.5 was conducted for morphological analysis, and its concentration was ~37 % higher compared to the continuous measurement. Carbonaceous PM such as organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) were analyzed on the collected filters, and their mean concentration was respectively 33.8 and 4.0 μg m−3 during the daytime, while at night it was 41.2 and 10.1 μg m−3, respectively. The average OC/EC ratio was 8.97 and 3.96 during the day and night, respectively, indicating the formation of secondary organic aerosols during daytime. Effective carbon ratio was studied to see the effect of aerosols on climate, and its mean value was 0.52 and 1.79 during night and day, indicating the dominance of absorbing and scattering types of aerosols respectively into the atmosphere over the study region. Elemental analysis of individual particles indicates that Si is the most abundant element (~37–90 %), followed by O (oxide) and Al. Circularity and aspect ratio was studied, which indicates that particles are not perfectly spherical and not elongated in any direction. Trajectory analysis indicated that in the months of February and March, air masses appear to be transported from the Middle Eastern part along with neighboring countries and over Thar Desert region, while in January it was from the northeast direction which resulted in high concentrations of fine particles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agrawal A, Upadhyay VK, Sachdeva K (2011) Study of aerosol behavior on the basis of morphological characteristics during festival events in India. Atmos Environ 45:3640–3644
Andreae MO, Gelencser A (2006) Black carbon or brown carbon, the nature of light absorbing carbonaceous aerosols. Atmos Chem Phys 6:3131–3148
Andreae MO, Rosenfeld D (2008) Aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions. Part 1. The nature and sources of cloud-active aerosols. Earth-Sci Rev 89(1–2):13–41
Ault AP, Peters TM, Sawvel EJ, Casuccio GS, Willis RD, Norris GA, Grassian VH (2012) Single-particle SEM-EDX analysis of iron-containing coarse particulate matter in an urban environment: sources and distribution of iron within Cleveland, Ohio. Environ Sci Technol 46:4331–4339
Awasthi AR, Agarwal SK, Mittal N, Singh K, Gupta PK (2011) Study of size and mass distribution of particulate matter due to crop residue burning with seasonal variation in rural area of Punjab, India. J Environ Monit 13:1073–1081
Begum BA, Hossain A, Nahar N, Markwitz A, Hopke Philip K (2012) Organic and black carbon in PM2.5 at an urban site at Dhaka, Bangladesh. Aerosol Air Qual Res 12:1062–1072
Bernabe JM, Carretero MI, Galan E (2005) Mineralogy and origin of atmospheric particles in the industrial area of Huelva (SWSpain). Atmos Environ 39:6777–6789
Bian H, Tie X, Cao J, Ying Z, Han S, Xue Y (2011) Analysis of a severe dust storm event over China: application of the WRF-Dust model. Aerosol Air Qual Res 11:419–428
Birch ME, Cary RA (1996) Elemental carbon-based method for monitoring occupational exposures to particulate diesel exhaust. Aerosol Sci Technol 25:221–241
Bond TC et al (2004) A technology-based global inventory of black and organic carbon emissions from combustion. J Geophys Res 109, D14203
Bond TC, Zarzycki C, Flanner MG, Koch DM (2011) Quantifying immediate radiative forcing by black carbon and organic matter with the specific forcing pulse. Atmos Chem Phys 11:1505–1525
Bond TC et al (2013) Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: a scientific assessment. J Geophys Res Atmos 118:5380–5552
Campos-Ramos A, Aragón-Piñaa A, Galindo-Estrada I, Querol X, Alastuey A (2009) Characterization of atmospheric aerosols by SEM in a rural area in the western part of México and its relation with different pollution sources. Atmos Environ 43:6159–6167
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) (2006) http://www.cpcb.nic.in/S
Chandra S, Satheesh SK, Srinivasan J (2004) Can the state of mixing of black carbon aerosols explain the mystery of excess atmospheric absorption. Geophys Res Lett 31, L19109. doi:10.1029/2004GL020662
Chelani AB, Gajghate DG, Chalapati Rao CV, Devotta S (2010) Particle size distribution in ambient air of Delhi and its statistical analysis. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 85:22–27
Delumyea RG, Chu LC, Macias ES (1979) Determination of elemental carbon component of soot in ambient aerosol samples. Atmos Environ 14:647–652
Dey S, Girolamo LD, Donkelaar AV, Tripathi SN, Gupta T, Mohan M (2012) Variability of outdoor fine particulate (PM2.5) concentration in the Indian subcontinent: a remote sensing approach. Remote Sens Environ 127:153–161
Draxler RR, Rolph GD (2003) HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) model, report. Air Resource Laboratory, NOAA, Silver Spring (available at http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html). Environ 31:4103–4117
Duan JC, Tan JH, Cheng DX, Bi XH, Deng WJ, Sheng GY, Fu JM, Wong MH (2007) Sources and characteristics of carbonaceous aerosol in two largest cities in Pearl River Delta Region, China. Atmos Environ 41(14):2895–2903
Gautam R, Hsu NC, Kafatos M, Tsay SC (2007) Influences of winter haze on fog/low cloud over the Indo-Gangetic plains. J Geophys Res 112:D05207. doi:10.1029/2005JD007036
Gehrig R, Hill M, Buchmann B, Imhof D, Weingartner E, Baltensperger U (2004) Separate determination of PM10 emission factors of road traffic for tailpipe emissions and emissions from abrasion and resuspension processes. Int J Environ Pollut 22(3):312–325
Goyal P, Sidharta (2002) Effect of wind on SO2 & SPM concentration in Delhi. Atmos Environ 36:2925–2930
Guttikunda SK, Calori G (2013) A GIS based emissions inventory at 1 km × 1 km spatial resolution for air pollution analysis in Delhi, India. Atmos Environ 67:101–111
Hansen ADA (2005) The aethalometer manual. Magee Scientific, Berkeley
Hays DM, Fine MP, Geron DC, Kleeman JM, Gullett KB (2005) Open burning of agriculture biomass: physical and chemical properties of particle-phase emissions. Atmos Environ 39(36):6747–6764
Horvath H (1993) Atmospheric light absorption—a review. Atmos Environ 27A:293–317
Hsieh LT, Yang HH, Lin YC, Tsai CH (2012) Levels and composition of volatile organic compounds from the electric oven during roasting pork activities. Sustain Environ Res 22(1):17–24
Hyvarinen AP, Lihavainen H, Komppula M, Sharma VP, Kerminen VM, Panwar TS, Viisanen Y (2009) Continuous measurements of optical properties of atmospheric aerosols in Mukteshwar, northern India. J Geophys Res 114, D08207. doi:10.1029/2008JD011489
Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007) Changes in atmospheric constituents and in radiative forcing. In: Solomon S et al (eds) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Jacobson MZ (2001) Strong radiative heating due to the mixing state of black carbon in atmospheric aerosols. Nature 409:695–697
Jacobson MZ (2006) Effects of externally-through-internally-mixed soot inclusions within clouds and precipitation on global climate. J Phys Chem 110(6860):6873
Japar SM, Brachaczek WW, Gorse RA, Norbeck JM, Pierson WR (1986) The contribution of elemental carbon to the optical properties of rural atmospheric aerosols. Atmos Environ 20:1281–1289
Jung KH, Bernabé K, Moors K, Yan B, Chillrud SN, Whyatt R, Camann D, Kinney PL, Perera FP, Miller RL (2011) Effects of floor level and building type on residential levels of outdoor and indoor polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, black carbon, and particulate matter in New York City. Atmosphere 2:96–109
Kenny LC, Gussman R, Meyer M (2000) Development of a sharp-cut cyclone for ambient monitoring applications. Aerosol Sci Technol 32(4):338–358
Kirchstetter TW, Harley RA, Kreisberg NM, Stolzenburg MR, Hering SV (1999) On-road measurements of fine particles and nitrogen oxide emissions from light- and heavy-duty motor vehicles. Atmos Environ 33A:2955–2968
Lal DM, Patil SD, Singh HN, Ghude SD, Tiwari S, Srivastava MK (2013) Influence of aerosol on clouds over the Indo-Gangetic Plain, India. Clim Dyn 41:601–612
Liousse C, Penner JE, Chuang C, Walton JJ, Eddleman H (1996) A global three-dimensional model study of carbonaceous aerosol. J Geophys Res 101(D14):19,411–19,432
Mishra AK, Shibata T (2012) Climatologically aspects of seasonal variation of aerosol vertical distribution over central Indo-Gangetic belt (IGB) inferred by the space-borne lidar CALIOP. Atmos Environ 46:365–375
Moreno T, Gibbons W, Jones T, Richards R (2003) The geology of ambient aerosols: characterizing urban and rural/coastal silicate p M10–2.5 and PM2.5 using high volume cascade collection and scanning electron microscopy. Atmos Environ 37:4265–4276
Pandey P, Khan AH, Verma AK, Singh KA, Mathur N, Kisku GC, Barman SC (2012) Seasonal trends of PM2.5 and PM10 in ambient air and their correlation in ambient air of Lucknow City, India. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 88(2):265–270
Penner JE, Eddleman H (1993) Towards the development of global inventory for black carbon. Atmos Environ 27A:1277–1295
Pipal AS, Satsangi PG (2015) Study of carbonaceous species, morphology and sources of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) particles along with their climatic nature in India. Atmos Res 154:103–115
Pipal AS, Kulshrestha A, Taneja A (2011) Characterization and morphological analysis of airbornePM2.5 and PM10 in Agra located in north central India. Atmos Environ 45:3621–3630
Pipal AS, Jan R, Bisht DS, Srivastsvs AK, Tiwari S, Taneja A (2014a) Day and night variability of atmospheric organic and elemental carbon during winter of 2011–12 in Agra, India. Sustain Environ Res 24(2):107–116
Pipal AS, Tiwari S, Satsangi PG, Taneja A, Bisth DS, Srivastava AK, Srivastava MK (2014b) Sources and characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols at Agra “world heritage site” and Delhi, the capital city of India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21:8678–8691
Pipal AS, Jan R, Satsangi PG, Tiwari S, Taneja A (2014c) Study of surface morphology, elemental composition and origin of atmospheric aerosols (PM2.5 and PM10) over Agra, India. Aerosol Air Qual Res 14:1685–1700
Rastogi N, Sarin MM (2009) Quantitative chemical composition and characteristics of aerosols over western India: one-year record of temporal variability. Atmos Environ 43(22–23):3481–3488
Sachdeva KA, Attri AK (2008) Morphological characterization of carbonaceous aggregates in soot and free fall aerosol samples. Atmos Environ 42:1025–1034
Safai PD, Raju MP, Rao PSP, Pandithurai G (2014) Characterization of carbonaceous aerosols over the urban tropical location and a new approach to evaluate their climatic importance. Atmos Environ. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.04.055
Salma I, Chi X, Maenhaut W (2004) Elemental and organic carbon in urban canyon and background environments in Budapest, Hungary. Atmos Environ 38:27–36
Sharma M, Maloo S (2005) Assessment of ambient air PM10 and PM2.5 and characterization of PM10 in the city of Kanpur, India. Atmos Environ 39:6015–6026
Sielicki P, Janik H, Guzman A, Namiesnik J (2011) The progress in electron microscopy studies of particulate matters to be used as a standard monitoring method for air dust pollution. Crit Rev Anal Chem 41:314–334
Singh T, Khillare PS, Shridhar V, Agarwal T (2008) Visibility impairing aerosols in the urban atmosphere of Delhi. Environ Monit Assess 141:67–77
Slezakova K, Pires JCM, Pereira MC, Martins FC, Alvim-Ferraz M (2008) Influence of traffic emissions on the composition of atmospheric particles of different sizes—part 2: SEM–EDS characterization. J Atmos Chem 60:221–236
Slezakova K, Pires JCM, Martins FG, Pereira MC, Alvim-Ferraz MC (2011) Identification of tobacco smoke components in indoor breathable particles by SEM-EDS. Atmos Environ 45:863–872
Srivastava A, Jain VK, Srivastava A (2009) SEM-EDX analysis of various sizes aerosols in Delhi India. Environ Monit Assess 150:405–416
Srivastava AK, Singh S, Tiwari S, Bisht DS (2012) Contribution of anthropogenic aerosols in direct radiative forcing and atmospheric heating rate over Delhi in the Indo-Gangetic Basin. Environ Sci Pollut Res 19:1144–1158
Streets GD, Gupta S, Waldhoff TS, Wang QM, Bond CT, Yiyun B (2001) Black carbon emissions in China. Atmos Environ 35:4281–4296
Tiwari S, Singh AK (2013) Variability of aerosol parameters derived from ground and satellite measurements over Varanasi located in the Indo-Gangetic Basin. Aerosol Air Qual Res 13:627–638
Tiwari S, Srivastava AK, Bisht DS, Bano T, Singh S, Behura S, Srivastava MK, Chate DM, Padmanabhamurty B (2009) Black carbon and chemical characteristics of PM10 and PM2.5 at an urban site of North India. Int J Atmos Chem 62:3193–3209
Tiwari S, Chate DM, Srivastava MK, Safai PD, Srivastava AK, Bisht DS, Padmanabhamurty B (2012) Statistical evaluation of PM10 and distribution of PM1, PM2. 5, and PM10 in ambient air due to extreme fireworks episodes (Diwali festivals) in megacity Delhi. Nat Hazards 61(2):521–531
Tiwari S, Srivastava AK, Bisht DS, Parmita P, Srivastava MK, Attri SD (2013a) Diurnal and seasonal variations of black carbon and PM2.5 over New Delhi, India: influence of meteorology. Atmos Res 125–126:50–62
Tiwari S, Srivastava AK, Bisht DS, Safai PD, Parmita P (2013b) Assessment of carbonaceous aerosol over Delhi in the Indo-Gangetic Basin: characterization, sources and temporal variability. Nat Hazards 65:1745–1764
Tiwari S, Bisht DS, Srivastava AK, Pipal AS, Taneja A, Srivastava MK, Attri SD (2014a) Variability in atmospheric particulates and meteorological effects on its mass concentrations over Delhi, India. Atmos Res 145–146:45–56
Tiwari S, Srivastava AK, Chate DM, Safai PD, Bisht DS, Srivastava MK, Beig G (2014b) Impacts of the high loadings of primary and secondary aerosols on light extinction at Delhi during winter-time. Atmos Environ 92:60–68
Tiwari S, Pandithurai G, Attri SD, Srivastava AK, Soni VK, Bisht DS, Kumar AV, Srivastava MK (2015) Aerosol optical properties and their relationship with meteorological parameters during wintertime in Delhi, India. Atmos Res 153:465–479
Zhao X, Zhang X, Xu X, Xu J, Meng W, Pu W (2009) Seasonal and diurnal variations of ambient PM2.5 concentration in urban and rural environments in Bei**g. Atmos Environ 43:2893–2900
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully thank the Director of IITM, Pune, for his encouragement and support for doing this study. The corresponding author is thankful to the University Grant Commission (F1-17.1/2011-12/RGNF-SC-UTT-502/(SA-III/website), New Delhi, for financial support. We also acknowledge the use of the HYSPLIT model of NOAA-ARL for back trajectory analysis. The authors are very much thankful to the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments/suggestions, which helped to improve the manuscript.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Gerhard Lammel
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tiwari, S., Pipal, A.S., Hopke, P.K. et al. Study of the carbonaceous aerosol and morphological analysis of fine particles along with their mixing state in Delhi, India: a case study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 10744–10757 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4272-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4272-6