Temporal variability of MODIS aerosol optical depth and chemical characterization of airborne particulates in Varanasi, India

Temporal variation of airborne particulate mass concentration was measured in terms of toxic organics, metals and water-soluble ionic components to identify compositional variation of particulates in Varanasi. Information-related fine particulate mass loading and its compositional variation in middle Indo-Gangetic plain were unique and pioneering as no such scientific literature was available. One-year ground monitoring data was further compared to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 3 retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) to identify trends in seasonal variation. Observed AOD exhibits spatiotemporal heterogeneity during the entire monitoring period reflecting monsoonal low and summer and winter high. Ground-level particulate mass loading was measured, and annual mean concentration of PM₂.₅(100.0 ± 29.6 μg/m³) and PM₁₀(176.1 ± 85.0 μg/m³) was found to exceed the annual permissible limit (PM₁₀: 80 %; PM₂.₅: 84 %) and pose a risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Average PM₂.₅/PM₁₀ratio of 0.59 ± 0.18 also indicates contribution of finer particulates to major variability of PM₁₀. Particulate sample was further processed for trace metals, viz. Ca, Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb, Co, Mn, Ni, Cr, Na, K and Cd. Metals originated mostly from soil/earth crust, road dust and re-suspended dust, viz. Ca, Fe, Na and Mg were found to constitute major fractions of particulates (PM₂.₅: 4.6 %; PM₁₀: 9.7 %). Water-soluble ionic constituents accounted for approximately 27 % (PM₁₀: 26.9 %; PM₂.₅: 27.5 %) of the particulate mass loading, while sulphate (8.0–9.5 %) was found as most dominant species followed by ammonium (6.0–8.2 %) and nitrate (5.5–7.0 %). The concentration of toxic organics representing both aliphatic and aromatic organics was determined by organic solvent extraction process. Annual mean toxic organic concentration was found to be 27.5 ± 12.3 μg/m³(n = 104) which constitutes significant proportion of (PM₂.₅, 17–19 %; PM₁₀, 11–20 %) particulate mass loading with certain exceptions up to 50 %. Conclusively, compositional variation of both PM₂.₅and PM₁₀was compared to understand association of specific sources with different fractions of particulates.