Emissions inventory of anthropogenic PM2.5 and PM10 in Delhi during Commonwealth Games 2010

As part of the System of Air quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) project developed for air quality forecasting during the Commonwealth Games (CWG) – 2010, a high resolution Emission Inventory (EI) of PM10 and PM2.5 has been developed for the metropolitan city Delhi for the year 2010. The comprehensive inventory involves detailed activity data and developed for a domain of 70 km × 65 km with a 1.67 km × 1.67 km resolution covering Delhi and surrounding region using Geographical Information System (GIS) technique. The major sectors considered are, transport, thermal power plants, industries, residential and commercial cooking along with windblown road dust which is found to play a major role for Delhi environment. It has been found that total emissions of PM10 and PM2.5 including wind blown dust over the study area are found to be 236 Gg yr−1 and 94 Gg yr−1 respectively. The contribution of windblown road dust is found to be as high as 131 Gg yr−1 for PM10.

► A high resolution inventory of PM10 and PM2.5 are developed for mega city Delhi. ► Inventories are used for air quality forecasting during Commonwealth Games 2010. ► Inventory incorporate the activity data generated during one year field campaign. ► Total emission of PM10 and PM2.5 is found to be 236 Gg yr−1 and 94 Gg yr−1 for year 2010. ► Surprisingly emission from paved and unpaved roads is as high as 131 Gg yr−1 for PM10.