Inter-annual Variation of Ambient Ammonia and Related Trace Gases in Delhi, India

Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2017 Aug;99(2):281-285. doi: 10.1007/s00128-017-2058-x. Epub 2017 Mar 20.

Abstract

In this study, ambient NH3, NO, NO2, CO and SO2 were measured continuously from February, 2008, to December, 2016. The annual average mixing ratios (mole/mole) of NH3, NO, NO2, CO and SO2 were 17.8 ± 3.4 ppb; 21.2 ± 2.3 ppb, 18.1 ± 3.2 ppb; 1.7 ± 0.3 ppm and 2.0 ± 0.3 ppb, respectively. All the trace gases (NH3, NO, NO2, CO and SO2) showed significant annual variation during the study. A significant increasing trend in mixing ratios of ambient NH3 and NO2 were observed at the observational site of Delhi, whereas, increasing trend were recorded in case of NO, CO and NO2 mixing ratios. The results emphasized that traffic could be one of the significant sources of ambient NH3 at the urban site of Delhi, as illustrated by positive correlations of NH3 with traffic related co-pollutants (NO and CO).

Keywords: Ammonia; Annual variation; Meteorological parameters; Trace gases.

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants / analysis
  • Air Pollution / statistics & numerical data*
  • Ammonia / analysis*
  • Environmental Monitoring*
  • Gases / analysis
  • Humans
  • India
  • Trace Elements / analysis*

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Gases
  • Trace Elements
  • Ammonia