STUDY OF SMOG TOWER AND AMBIENT AIR QUALITY IN MEGACITY DELHI

Abstract

Residents of most cities throughout the world, including Delhi, have long been concerned about air pollution. The bad air quality in Delhi is a result of both meteorology and increased anthropogenic emissions. Heavy fog (smog), low wind speeds, and low boundary layer heights all contribute to poor air quality in the winter. To tackle the poor air quality, large air purifiers called Smog Towers were installed in Delhi in two different areas. These smog towers use either HEPA (High Efficiency particulate air) filtration or air ionization technologies. This simply means Polluted air passes through filters inside the tower and clean air is taken out. Meteorology also plays an important role in the variation of air quality. Proper analysis of various meteorological parameters like Temperature, Precipitation, Wind Speed and Wind Direction etc. has been done in the report using software’s like Environmental Lakes- WRPLOT View. This report discusses and compares the trend in local Air Quality before and after installation of Smog Towers using necessary Plots and Wind Rose diagrams. Along with that, an approximate effectiveness for the Smog Towers in Delhi has also been calculated to decide the future fate and long term usage of Smog Towers in India.