Development and Evaluation of Control Strategies for Reduction of Ambient PM10 Levels in Urban Environment: Application of GIS and Dispersion Modeling

Geographic information system (GIS) based emission inventory of particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm (PM10) for the base, 5 th and 10 th year was developed for Kanpur, an urban area in India. It has been observed that the 5 th and 10 th year will experience increased emission by factors of 1.5 and 2.2 of the base year. Twenty one control options (e.g. introduction of Euro 6 to vehicles, banning of 15 year old private vehicles, use of natural gases as fuels for industries etc.) were considered for evaluation. The effectiveness of each control option was assessed in terms of PM10 reduction potential using Industrial Source Complex Short Term (ISCST3) model. A total of four control scenarios were developed as combination of several control options and these scenarios were evaluated for their effectiveness. The evaluation process through air quality modeling revealed that the control scenario comprising control options of: (i) implementation of Euro 6 for vehicles, (ii) compressed natural gas (CNG) to commercial and public vehicles, (iii) banning of 15 year old private vehicles, (iv) particulate control systems in industries etc., was found to be most effective in reducing the ambient PM10 levels that could attain 24 hr average air quality standard.