Singh Abhijeet, Vishnoi Ashok Singh, Banday Anwar Hameed, Bora Pratyashee, Pandey Puneeta
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Punjab-151401, India.
Environ Monit Assess. 2023 Mar 20;195(4):487. doi: 10.1007/s10661-023-11027-w.
Stubble burning is an emerging environmental issue in Northern India, which has severe implications for the air quality of the region. Although stubble burning occurs twice during a year, first during April-May and again in October-November due to paddy burning, the effects are severe during October-November months. This is exacerbated by the role of meteorological parameters and presence of inversion conditions in the atmosphere. The deterioration in the atmospheric quality can be attributed to the emissions from stubble burning which can be perceived from the changes observed in land use land cover (LULC) pattern, fire events, and sources of aerosol and gaseous pollutants. In addition, wind speed and wind direction also play a role in changing the concentration of pollutants and particulate matter over a specified area. The present study has been carried out for the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and western Uttar Pradesh to study the influence of stubble burning on the aerosol load of this region of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). In this study, the aerosol level, smoke plume characteristics, long-range transport of pollutants, and affected areas during October-November from year 2016 to 2020 were examined over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (Northern India) region by the satellite observations. By MODIS-FIRMS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Fire Information for Resource Management System) observations, it was revealed that there was an increase in stubble burning events with the highest number of events being observed during the year 2016 and then a decrease in the number of events in subsequent years from 2017 to 2020. MODIS observations revealed a strong AOD gradient from west to east. The prevailing north-westerly winds assist the spread of smoke plumes over Northern India during the peak burning season of October to November. The findings of this study might be used to expand on the atmospheric processes that occur over northern India during the post-monsoon season. The pollutant, smoke plume features, and impacted regions of biomass-burning aerosols in this region are critical for weather and climate research, especially given the rising trend in agricultural burning over the previous two decades.
秸秆焚烧是印度北部一个新出现的环境问题，对该地区的空气质量有严重影响。虽然一年中会发生两次秸秆焚烧，一次是在4月至5月，由于焚烧水稻，10月至11月还会再次发生，但10月至11月期间的影响最为严重。气象参数的作用以及大气中逆温条件的存在加剧了这种情况。大气质量的恶化可归因于秸秆焚烧的排放，这可以从土地利用土地覆盖（LULC）模式、火灾事件以及气溶胶和气体污染物来源的变化中看出。此外，风速和风向在改变特定区域内污染物和颗粒物浓度方面也发挥着作用。本研究针对旁遮普邦、哈里亚纳邦、德里和北方邦西部开展，以研究秸秆焚烧对印度 - 恒河平原（IGP）该地区气溶胶负荷的影响。在本研究中，通过卫星观测对2016年至2020年10月至11月期间印度 - 恒河平原（印度北部）地区的气溶胶水平、烟羽特征、污染物的长距离传输以及受影响区域进行了研究。通过中分辨率成像光谱仪 - 资源管理系统火灾信息（MODIS - FIRMS）观测发现，秸秆焚烧事件有所增加，2016年观测到的事件数量最多，随后在2017年至2020年期间事件数量有所减少。MODIS观测显示从西到东存在很强的气溶胶光学厚度梯度。在10月至11月的焚烧高峰期，盛行的西北风有助于烟羽在印度北部扩散。本研究的结果可能用于进一步阐述印度北部季风后季节发生的大气过程。该地区生物质燃烧气溶胶的污染物、烟羽特征和受影响区域对于天气和气候研究至关重要，特别是考虑到过去二十年农业焚烧呈上升趋势的情况。
