[H-CG26] Air Pollution and Health Effects of Agricultural Residue Burning and Pathways to Solutions

[HCG26-04] Development and installation of a network of low-cost instruments (32 units, PM2.5, CO and O3) to study rice straw burning impact in north-west India

*Yutaka Matsumi^2,1, Tomoki Nakayama^3,2, Prabir Patra^2,4, Sachiko Hayashida², Akash Biswal², Poonam Mangaraj², Natsuko Yasutomi², Hikaru Araki², Mizuo Kajino⁵, Kazuyo Yamaji⁶, Tanbir Singh⁷ (1.Nagoya University, 2.Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 3.Nagasaki University, 4.Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 5.Meteorological Research Institute, 6.Kobe University, 7.SCVB Government College)

Keywords:Crop residue burning, PM2.5, India, Atmopsheric measurement, Compact sensors, Aakash

Aakash Project at Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (2020-2024) aims to address the problem of burning rice straw in northern India, to achieve clean air, public health and sustainable agriculture. The impacts of rice straw burning (RSB) on air pollution in the vicinity of Delhi national capital region (NCR) will be quantitatively assessed and the scientific basis will be clarified by determining the distribution of air pollutants generated from RSB over this wide area. The wide-range observation network of this project will provide a more concrete scientific basis in this connection, as the lack of scientific evidence has been causing confusion in the community. Limited monitoring data in rural areas is a bottleneck in establishing scientific knowledge. Therefore, large units of compact air quality monitoring devices (named CUPI-G) were installed in rural areas of the target region to observe ambient PM2.5 and other pollutant levels resulting from RSB. We have installed 32 CUPI-Gs in rural sites between Punjab and New Delhi, that is, 400 km x 200 km wide range area. While usual public atmospheric observation sites are at the center of the large cities and their observation results are influenced by extremely high local emission of pollutants, the CUPI-G sites located in rural areas can detect relatively wide range concentrations. Data from each station can be obtained daily in real time via mobile phone lines. Using this observation network, high concentrations of PM2.5 and CO due to rice straw burning were observed in October-November 2022 and 2023, and their spread and transport from straw burning emissions in Punjab and Haryana to the Delhi metropolitan area could be observed in real time. The results are analyzed in atmospheric chemical transport models and will be presented in separate presentations in this session.
[Acknowledgements]
This research is financially supported by Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN: a constituent member of NIHU) Project No. 14200133 (Aakash). The intensive field campaign of 2022 and 2023 was conducted with supports from CIPT, India.
We also acknowledge various supports of Yuki Kurogi, Makoto Kuji, Kanako Muramatsu, Ryoichi Imasu, Anamika Ananda, Ardhi A. Arbain, Ravindra Khaiwal, Sanjeev Bhardwaj, Sahil Kumar, Sahil Mor, Surendra K. Dhaka, A. P. Dimri, Aka Sharma, Narendra Singh, Manpreet S. Bhatti, Rekha Yadav, Kamal Vatta, Suman Mor, Takayuki Yamasaki, Wataru, and Okamoto.
[Reference]
[1] Singh, T., et al., Scientific Reports (2023) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39471-1