Publications

Soni, M; Verma, S; Mishra, MK; Mall, RK; Payra, S (2022). Estimation of particulate matter pollution using WRF-Chem during dust storm event over India. URBAN CLIMATE, 44, 101202.

Abstract
This study estimates the ground-level PM10 concentration by effectively combining the Aerosols Optical Depth (AOD) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite retrievals and Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). The model simulates typical dust storm events 17th-22nd April 2010 and 05th-10th May 2010 which has severely affected air quality in North and Northwestern India. The satellite retrievals shows high AOD (>1.0) over Indo Gangetic Plains and nearby Thar Desert. The model captures the spatial pattern of AOD very well however, it underestimates high aerosol loading in comparision to MODISAOD. The modeled AOD (MODELAOD) shows an underestimation by 37% with MODISAOD over the study region. Therefore, the WRF-Chem model Particulate Matter (PM10) and MODELAOD are scaled using satellite MODISAOD to provide a better estimation of the particulate pollution. The results shows better estimation, trend and correlation (R = 0.83) of the PM10 with hourly observations at Delhi monitoring station and a Mean Bias (MB) of 61 mu g/m3 during the satellite overpass time. The comparison of estimated PM with daily averaged observations of PM10 from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at stations of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, and Delhi showed a strong agreement with an correlation of (R) of 0.81, 0.70, 0.77 and 0.78, respectively.

DOI:
10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101202

ISSN: