Open AccessAtmospheric Carbonaceous Matter over South Asian Region: A Review of Variation in its Thermal, Optical and Molecular Properties During Last Two-Decades
Author(s) -
Sushant Ranjan Verma,
Shamsh Pervez,
Mohan L. Verma,
Princy Dugga,
Archi Mishra,
Aishwaryashri Tamrakar,
Yasmeen Fatima Pervez,
Manas Kanti Deb,
Kamlesh Shrivas,
Indrapal Karbhal
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
asian journal of chemistry/asian journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 0975-427X
pISSN - 0970-7077
DOI - 10.14233/ajchem.2022.23629
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , particulates , environmental science , aerosol , total organic carbon , altitude (triangle) , organic matter , atmospheric sciences , physical geography , glacier , biomass (ecology) , seasonality , earth science , climatology , geography , environmental chemistry , chemistry , ecology , oceanography , geology , meteorology , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , biology , organic chemistry
Linear growth of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) over south Asia is one of the significant problemsaffecting human health and climate change. In addition, these particulate matters have the potential toabsorb and scatter solar radiation, causing a disturbance in the earth radiation budget resulting in thisregion facing several floods and droughts, excessive glacier melting, loss of a million lives, and manymore in the last two decades. This context aim to provide a brief knowledge of PM2.5 chemicalcomposition and their optical properties. To assess, existing field studies conducted after the year2000 were reviewed and summarized in terms of geographical, temporal and seasonal variation acrossthe region. It is seen that PM2.5 were significantly increased by 25.04% in the last two decades. AnnualPM2.5 was up to 10 times the prescribed limit set by world health organization (WHO) guidelines.Annual PM2.5 was higher in the northern than southern cities, and more increased in Indo-Gangeticplains (IGP) than coastal and southern region (CASR) and high altitude (HA) regions. The highestseasonal variation occurred in the winter months. Organic carbon and elemental carbon contributenearly 31% of the annual average PM2.5 ranged from 14 to 70%. Higher variability in the percentagecontribution of organic carbon and elemental carbon suggests different sources mainly influences thisregion. Biomass and fossil fuels, vehicular emission, and secondary aerosol are the major source factorsin the inland region, while marine salt and soil dust are dominant fractions observed in a coastal area.Light absorbing brown carbon contributes significant amount in this region, and it’s clearly seen byaerosol optical depth, varied from 0.04 to 1 in the entire region.