Air Quality Interpretation of Four Geographically Distinct Hot Spot States of India-An Appraisal Using Aerosol Optical Depth and Particulate Matter

Abstract

The application of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Aerosol Optical Depth (MODIS-AOD) for Air Quality (AQ) assessment has contributed significantly by making use of a spatiotemporal relationship between ground-level particulate matter and aerosol optical density at both city and state levels.  Traditional ground-based site-specific particulate matter monitoring method has found a profound gap in their spatial coverage. Such challenging situations prevail over the progressive development of the combined usage of ground monitoring technique along with the MODIS-AOD product (with 10 km spatial resolution). This was achieved and derived by assembling the satellite sensor, Terra as a tool for the regional-based specific studies for monitoring airborne particles. Their analytical linear association was evaluated and explored their feasibility for monitoring either Respirable Suspended organic Matter (RSPM) or AQI in spatiotemporally distinct geographical sites situated in four States of India. Examined the interrelationship between RSPM-AOD against meteorological drivers through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) of the focussed four zones. Elevated Air Pollution was noticed in the urban and industrial cities of Pune, Kochi, and Chennai. They were flanked by various industrial clusters and the substantial personal handling of vehicles. A region-wise RSPM-AOD correlation was recorded for the categorized areas: WS1, WS2, SW, and ES. Each zone was subsequently judged and a noteworthy association was linked between the ground-monitored RSPM data and the retrieved AOD output. This means of records could represent the aerosol component; consequently, infer their sources of origin and in later days could come up with reasonable emission control channels. States of India Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, are categorized as WS1, WS2, SW, and ES respectively.