Air quanity monitoring system launched

India launched the air quality monitoring system for the Commonwealth Games. The system will provide real time pollution data at 11 key locations in the city during the mega-event.

Developed by scientists at the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), the System of Air Pollution Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) was launched at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here by Shailesh Nayak, secretary in the ministry of earth sciences.

SAFAR will provide information on air quality on an hourly basis and forecast pollution levels 24 hours in advance through wireless colour digital display panels located at 11 key points near the Games venues and the Games Village.

The IITM has also prepared an emission inventory for the Games to provide accurate air quality information.

The inventory has been prepared using data – number of vehicles, industries, shanties, hotels and restaurants and other sources – collected from near Games venues and the Games Village after a two-month long exercise.

Some 7,000 athletes and officials from 71 countries and territories are expected to participate in the Games, India’s biggest sporting event since the 1982 Asian Games.

Color code to indicate quality of air

Delhi will soon have color coded air quality meters. Green to indicate the air is safe to breathe. Red to warn when air quality is bad. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Management (IITM) in Pune are ready to launch the air quality measuring and forecasting system in New Delhi, ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

This is beneficial to the common man who may not be familiar with technical terminology (like ppm /ppb /ppt or µg/mg 3 ).

The project, part of the System of Air Pollution Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), will be unveiled next week. It includes a technical report that scientifically evaluates air quality standards and defines air quality index. Scientists have used mathematical models and evaluated Indian air quality guidelines to design a national Air Quality Index (AIQ). The scale is designed to help one understand how air around affects health, says Dr Gufran Beig, Project Director of SAFAR.

It is a health protection alarm to help one protect health by limiting short-term exposure to air pollution by adjusting activity levels to low during increased air pollution.

It pays particular attention to people sensitive to air pollution and advices them on how to protect health.

The AQI reports current air quality based on a specific level of an individual air pollutant and communicates a number from 1 to 500 indicating quality. Higher the number, greater the health risk. When pollution is very high, the number will be above 300, explains a scientist.

UN praise Delhi pollution watch before CWG

A pollution monitoring system developed by Indian scientists has come in for praise from the United Nations as an important step to ensure clean air during the Commonwealth Games.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a specialised agency of the UN, said the System of Air Pollution Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) will serve as an example within India, South Asia and globally.

Aimed at managing air quality, it has been developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.

"The WMO recognises SAFAR as a very important activity in the region and will make all efforts to get international visibility for the project," L. Jalkanen, head of the WMO's Atmospheric Environment Research Division, wrote in a letter to SAFAR project director Gurfan Beig in March.

The UN recognition holds significance as some athletes have hinted at skipping the Games, as they fear that Delhi's air is unsafe to breathe.

Scientists at IITM are elated and confident that the system will help in ensuring clean air during the Games, dubbed as the first ever Green Games.

"SAFAR will make India one of the few countries to take a big leap in environmental research," Beig told.

"The system will tell us the quality of air at a given moment and also what it will be 24 hours later, thus alerting people and helping them avoid immediate exposure to unhealthy air."

SAFAR will provide information on air quality on an hourly basis and forecast pollution levels 24 hours in advance through wireless colour digital display panels located at 11 key points in the city during the Games.

"On any day, if the pollution level is high, the Delhi government might order closing of shops or reducing traffic flow," Indian Meteorological Department director Ajit Tyagi told.

Only a few developed countries have the technical knowhow to use such a system. It was used during the Olympic Games in Beijing and also at the last Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The Indian capital is among the most polluted cities in the world. Its major problem is an ever-growing number of cars, three- and two- wheelers, which occupy a staggering 75 percent of the road space, although only 20 percent of the commuting public use them.

Delhi has over five million vehicles and another one million come to the metropolis from towns in the national capital region in adjoining states.

China had a tough time battling air pollution during the Olympic Games last year and there are doubts whether Delhi can be as effective as Beijing in enforcing traffic curbs, raising emission standards and stopping Games' construction work well in time to improve air quality.

SAFAR will provide air quality levels in a four-kilometre stretch around the Games village and other major venues. Instruments like ozone and carbon monoxide analysers and real time analysers for various other pollutants would be used for collecting the data.

The system will provide details about oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, black carbon and benzene present in Delhi air.

"Exposure to the pollutants will affect human health, increased respiratory symptoms, heart and lung diseases, allergies being some of them," said Beig.

SAFAR's inputs will greatly help in identifying the major sources of air pollutants and recommending measures to help improve the air quality.

Delhi to be first Indian city to forecast air quality

India’s capital, which will host the Commonwealth Games in October, isn’t just getting a fresh coat of paint, several overpasses, hotels and roads, and assorted sports infrastructure towards this. It is also getting its own air quality forecasting system.

New Delhi will become the first city in the country to be able to provide, 48 hours in advance, a pollution forecast, much like a weather forecast.

French firms Aria Technologies SA and Leosphere SA, which created a similar forecasting system for the Beijing Olympics (2008), are helping New Delhi create its pollution forecast. India doesn’t have an official pollution forecasting system.

“Our goal in Beijing was to put together a pollution index for the Games. Paris, which has a similar system, uses the information to control pollutants in the near future. This (the pollution forecasting system in New Delhi) is a first for South Asia,” said Sarath Guttikunda, deputy programme manager, Aria.

The two French firms are working with India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to create the system. Leosphere manufactures hardware and software for the laser-based monitoring systems and Aria Technologies develops and distributes air quality modelling systems.

The New Delhi project is sponsored by the French government. Officials at its embassy in New Delhi declined comment, saying they were not authorized to speak to the media.

“After the Games, CPCB will take it forward. We will be training the board so that they will be able to continue the forecasting,” added Guttikunda.

CPCB has the mandate for collecting and releasing data on air pollution. It does provide real-time data on the concentration of various pollutants in New Delhi. However, this is point-in-time data, not a forecast.

The new initiative will help it do better, said an official at CPCB. “The focus is on better understanding of pollution for national, regional and urban areas. This will be continued after the Games also. Delhi is just the pilot and we hope we can replicate it for other cities,” said Prashant Gargava, environmental engineer and in charge for computer division, CPCB. “Advance warning and information on ambient air quality can help citizens in planning outdoor activities. It can be used for planning air quality management systems, understanding sources of pollution and how to manage them.”

However, it wasn’t clear whether New Delhi would emulate Beijing’s aggressive environmental management.

In Beijing, where the forecasts were available five days in advance, officials “used it as a policy tool, through which they planned their short-term pollution control methods. They had a clear target, which was to meet air quality standards during games,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhary, associate director, Centre for Science and Environment, an environmental activist organization.

“They ordered three million cars off the roads and shut down industries to meet the standard,” she said, adding that New Delhi should have a similar plan.

Guttikunda, too, would like to see CPCB or other agencies use the data to good effect. “Our objective is to persuade the agencies to make an informed decision on pollution control rather than an ad hoc one.”

The forecasting system that is being put in place will use Lidar (light detection and ranging) technology. The process involves a laser beam which is released and captured, with the before-after difference being converted into concentrations of various pollutants.

The system will also factor in regional data because it is needed to make an accurate forecast, said Guttikunda. For instance, data from Rajasthan can help predict dust storms in New Delhi.

Guttikunda said the main aim of air quality forecasting should be public health. “For instance, Delhi is known as the asthma capital of the country. Air pollution, especially particulate, is linked to respiratory disorders and advisories could be based on such advance warning system for better public health.”

Several cities in other parts of the world do issue such health advisories.