Weak coupling of observed surface PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR with rice crop residue burning in Punjab and Haryana

Weak coupling of observed surface PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR with rice crop residue burning in Punjab and Haryana | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Weak coupling of observed surface PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR with rice crop residue burning in Punjab and Haryana Poonam Mangaraj, Yutaka Matsumi, Tomoki Nakayama, Akash Biswal, and 21 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4561233/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science → Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Air pollution impacts on human health are of serious concern in northern India, and over the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) in particular. The Kharif crop residue burning (CRB) is often blamed for degradation of Delhi-NCR’s seasonal air quality. However, the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) remained stable in Delhi, while the fire detection counts (FDCs) from satellites over Punjab and Haryana declined by 50% or more during 2015-2023. We further analysed measurements of PM2.5, carbon monoxide (CO) and related parameters in Delhi-NCR, Haryana and Punjab from a network of 30 low-cost sensors (CUPI-Gs) in a selected period (September–November) of 2022 and 2023. Measured PM2.5 showed lower concentration in 2023 compared to 2022 at Punjab and Haryana sites, in compliance with FDC reductions. We have conducted airmass trajectories, particle dispersion and chemistry-transport model simulations to depict the formation of air pollution events from CRB emissions. Using model sensitivity simulations, we estimated meagerly ~14% of PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR was contributed directly by the emissions from CRB in Punjab during October-November 2022. Model-observation comparisons of PM2.5, and day-night variations of PM2.5 and CO suggest emissions from incomplete combustion dominate in Delhi-NCR, which explains the effectiveness of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Atmospheric science/Atmospheric chemistry Full Text Additional Declarations (Not answered) Supplementary Files CRBPM2.5supplementary20240611.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: revise 25 Sep, 2024 Review # 3 received at journal 19 Sep, 2024 Reviewer # 4 agreed at journal 03 Sep, 2024 Reviewer # 3 agreed at journal 31 Aug, 2024 Review # 2 received at journal 18 Jul, 2024 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 03 Jul, 2024 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 03 Jul, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Jul, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 16 Jun, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Jun, 2024 First submitted to journal 11 Jun, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4561233","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":321692683,"identity":"dae9849e-3f63-4e6b-8fb0-6325c2f3da18","order_by":0,"name":"Poonam 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