Annual Dustfall Characterization in Kharagpur Region, India-A Case Study
Abstract
The wind-driven transport and deposition of dust particles can cause considerable physical and chemical changes to the atmospheric environment. It has been realized from the previous studies that study of dust aerosols are very important as they play a major role in atmospheric processes like irradiative forcing and acid rain. Despite evidences of its environmental significances, the studies on chemical characterization of dust fall and its sources are not extensively carried out through space and time in Indian region. The present work is aimed to study chemical composition of dust fall at Kharagpur region (22°30'N, 87°20'E) located in the eastern part of India to find out their association with anthropogenic and crustal sources. In the present study, an environmental assessment of dust fall rate and its morphological and chemical characterization was conducted during the period from July 2014 to the July 2015 at four different locations of Kharagpur. The dust fall stations were chosen on the basis of site characteristics and categorized into traffic and residential area. Dust fall measurement was conducted by using borosilicate glass jars with diameter 6 inch mounted on iron tripod at a height of above 5 feet above the ground level (ASTM, D1739-98). Sampling was done every month throughout one year. The dust fall rate was calculate seasonally for all four locations and found to be maximum of 16.70 t/km2/month during winter time and minimum of 0.34 t/km2/month during monsoon. Scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-Ray instrument (SEM/EDX) was used to obtain morphological information and to confirm the elemental composition of dust. Along with morphological analysis, this presentation also explores the mineralogical composition by using XRD analysis results for the deposited dust. Data from this study provide an observational basis to understand the air quality of Kharagpur region in terms of dust deposition rate and it also helps to identify the probable sources of elements present in the dust samples. Keywords: Dust fall rate; heavy metals; chemical characterization; seasonal variation; India.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFM.A21E0109R
- Keywords:
-
- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 3311 Clouds and aerosols;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSESDE: 1631 Land/atmosphere interactions;
- GLOBAL CHANGE