DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY

ASSESSING THE CHANGING URBAN AIR

QUALITY OVER THE CITY OF SURAT
USING SATELLITE DATA AND FIELD
OBSERVATIONS
NAME: DIPTI CHRISTIAN
R.NO: 21MEN004
GUIDED BY: DR. ANURAG KANDYA
Flow of Presentation
Air Pollution

Literature Review

Research Gap & Objectives

Methodology

Significance of Work
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical,

physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.

Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are common
sources of air pollution.

Pollutants of major public health concern include particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone,
nitrogen, and sulfur dioxide. 
Health Effects
Health Risk Assessment helps to evaluate risks associated with toxic pollutants and helps the
government to set regulatory policies to govern the causes and effects of these toxic pollutants.

HRA tool can give statistical associations with health effects due to prolonged exposure to
different pollutants, making the interventions quite target specific with respect to locations,
concentrations, and age-sex group of exposed personnel.

The inferences of the HRA tool could give away premature mortalities due to prolonged
exposure to certain harmful pollutants which is life threatening and disabling diseases.
 COPD

LC ALRI

HEATH
IMPACTS

STROKE IHD

Source - Health Risk Assessment and Value of Statistical Life for Emissions Effects for Surat City by WRI India
Source - Surat Clean Air Action Plan Comprehensive Report (2019)
Ambient Air Quality
Air pollution is a widespread issue that affects human health in urban areas. Reliable and
comprehensive studies need to be carried out to decide efficient air quality monitoring schemes.

The ambient air quality of Surat city has been analyzed by Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) for
the year 2019-2020. In this study, six locations were selected that included kerbside, industrial,
residential and commercial land use patterns.

The results from this study indicated a higher concentration of PM 10 and PM2.5 in winter season. In

summer season, the pollutant concentrations were reduced to much lesser amounts but PM 10
concentrations remained higher than the NAAQS limits.
Source - Surat Clean Air Action Plan Comprehensive Report (2019)
National Clean Air Program (NCAP)
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India,
launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) as a long-term strategy to tackle the air pollution
problem across the country in a comprehensive manner, with targets to achieve 20-30% reduction in
PM2.5/10 concentrations by 2024, keeping 2017 as the base year.

Under NCAP, 124 non-attainment cities have been identified across the country based on the air
quality data from 2014-2018. These cities do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS) and require focused attention on multiple fronts to deal with the rising air pollution. In the
state of Gujarat, the cities Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara were identified as non-attainment cities.
Surat Clean Air Action Plan (SCAP)
The Surat Clean Air Action Plan (SCAP) was initiated in a tripartite agreement between Gujarat Pollution
Control Board (GPCB) and Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), with WRI India and The Energy
Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi. The agencies were entrusted with the task of conducting source
apportionment studies and preparing city-specific clean air action plans. The SCAP has multiple objectives
and proposes cost-effective interventions to reduce emissions from identified air pollution sources.

The SMC has been working towards improving its air quality through both regulatory and voluntary
measures, such as implementing energy efficiency programs in industrial clusters, improving the green
cover by creating an ‘oxygen park,’ introducing electric mobility options in public transport, and
integrating non-motorized transport (NMT) in the city mobility plan.
 Literature Review
Sr.No Title Author Research Work
1. Spatio-temporal analysis of Hasan Raja Naqvi, 14 major hotspot places ( number of Covid-19 cases
air quality and its relationship Guneet Mutreja, Adnan was>1000, a representative mortality rate of 70% in India.
with major COVID-19 hotspot Shakeel, Masood Ahsan Pollutants like PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2 and AQI and
places in India Siddiqui tropospheric nitric oxide (NO2)
Satellite images: Sentinel-5
Surat city: PM2.5 -24.02,
PM10 -12.95, NO2 -44.23, SO2 -67.84, 03 -28.32 and AQI -
23.67

2. SARS-CoV-2 pandemic S. Selvam, PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO and 03

lockdown: Effects on air P. Muthukumar, 9 monitoring stations were set up in 4 different
quality in the industrialized S. Venkatramanan, P.D. industrialised zones within Gujarat.
Gujarat state of India Roy, Zone 1: Surat, Ankleshwar and Vadodra
K.Manikanda Bharath, PM2.5 and PM10 decreased by 51% and 48%, respectively. In
K. Jesuraja addition, SO2 (−54%) and NO2 (−30%) concentrations also
decreased.
Sr.No Title Author Research Work

3. Study of Black Carbon Ranjitkumar Solanki Giovanni platform developed by NASA: 5 years (January 2001 to
(BC) Mass and Kamlesh N. Pathak December 2005)
Concentration The mean annual variations of BC aerosol mass concentration:
Variation at a Coastal maximum December minimum July.
Region (Surat) In the case of seasonal mean BC mass concentration: lowest
concentration in the monsoon season while the highest in winter.

4. Aerosol Optical Depth Ranjitkumar Solanki Giovanni site which is developed by NASA: 5 years (January 2015
Comparison study from and K. N. Pathak to December 2019)
Satellite Observations AOD revealed peak value during the monsoon season
over the West-ern The seasonal mean AOD was least during the pre-monsoon season,
Indian Region-Surat and it was somewhat moderate in the winter season.

5. PM10 Dispersion Bari, C.S., Khode, B.V CO, PM10, PM2.5, SOX and NOX
Modelling at 12 monitoring stations set up at unsignalized intersections
Unsignalised Air Quality Index (AQI) and temporal variations in PM10 values
Intersection Using were analysed w.r.t traffic volume.
Caline4—A Case Study PM10 concentrations showed a peak in the morning hours and
continued decreasing with time until the peak is reached again in
the evening hours
Sr.No Title Author Research Work

6. Application of SIM-air Sarath K. Publicly available existing data is used to prepare a baseline of multi-
modeling tools to assess Guttikunda and pollutant emissions for each of these cities.
air quality in Indian Puja Jawahar Using these baseline emissions, a study regarding pollution
cities concentrations, health impacts and model alternative scenarios for the
year 2020 was carried out.
The measured annual PM10 concentrations in μg m-3 averaged 89.4 ± 12.1
in Surat and exceeded the annual standard of 60 μg m -3.

7. Assessment of VOC Vatsal Mistry and Volatile Organic compounds (VOC) and the BTEX compounds like
Emission at The Traffic Mitali Shah Benzene, Toluene, Xylene and Ethyl-Benzene on traffic volume were
Intersections of Central studied.
Zone of Surat City Two major intersections: Bhagal and Chowk
Higher temperature and Relative Humidity results in higher values of
VOCs and BTEX compounds.
Winter season: less as compared to post-monsoon. This is due to more
wind speed and relative humidity and lower temperature.

8. Assessment of Ambient Sadhana PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and NOX

Air Quality in the Chaurasia and Manufacturing processes like calcining, crushing, grinding, packing,
Vicinity of Cement Ashok Tiwari loading and unloading.
Industries Ambuja Cement Ltd. Magdalla and Ultratech cement Ltd unit
Sr.No Title Author Research Work
9. Effect of Meteorological Sonal S Verma, Wind Speed, Wind Direction, Temperature, Atmospheric Stability and
Conditions on Air Birva Desai Mixing Height -SPM, NOx and SO2
Pollution of Surat City 2 stations within Pandesara Industrial estate: The first station-
monitoring station (source for air pollution emissions) and the other
station-dilution station (6 to 7 km away from the source station)
Higher wind speed and temperature result in better dispersion of
pollutants and thereby a higher difference between pollutant
concentration at source and dilution station was observed.
Wind Speed is found to be the most prominent factor affecting air
pollution
10. Estimation of health Namrata Jariwala, Surface Ozone (O3) was estimated using AirQ+ in Surat city.
impact using AirQ+ model Drashti Kapadia Two monitoring stations: Limbayat and Varachha (January 2018 to
attributed to surface December 2019)
ozone in sub-regions of Respiratory Mortality (RM), Cardiovascular Mortality (CM), Total
Surat city, India Mortality (TM), Hospital Admissions with Cardiovascular Disease
(HACVD), and Hospital Admissions with Respiratory Disease
(HARD), as well as Respiratory Mortality-Long-Term (LT-RM)
An annual Sum of Maximum 8 h Ozone means over 35 ppb
(SOMO35), 70 µg/m3, used as a predictor of potential long-term
health effects.
The ozone concentration is more during winter and pre-monsoon
seasons than concentration observed during southwest monsoon and
post-monsoon seasons.
 Research Gap
1. Monitoring stations in Surat city are limited in number. Therefore, it becomes difficult to analyze
spatial variations/distributions of pollutants along with temporal variations.

2. Detailed study on the emission reduction observed due to the successful implementation of
different air quality mitigation schemes requires due validation.

3. Studies aimed to analyze the air quality using satellite images in Surat city are limited in number.
 Objectives
1. To determine the concentration of pollutants such as NOx, SOx and PM2.5 at ground level using
satellite images.

2. Identifying hotspots in Surat city using pollution concentration maps.

3. Explore/analyze realistic scenarios of pollutant concentration reduction due to the implementation

of air quality mitigation systems.
Study Area
Surat is Gujarat's second-largest city with a population of 4.6 million as per the 2011 census. It is
the eighth largest city and ninth largest metropolitan area of India.

Surat is the 34th largest city by area and the 4th-fastest developing city in a study conducted by the
City Mayors Foundation, an international think tank on urban affairs.

Ambient air quality monitoring is carried out in Surat City and surrounding industrial areas is
carried out using two sensor based CAQMS installed at Varachha Zone Office & Limbayat Zone
Office. In addition, GPCB installed seven manual air monitoring station across city.
Methodology
Download NOx and SOx data from GES DISC dataset that obtains data from Sentinel 5p Precursor

Download AOD data from LAADS DAAC dataset that obtains data from MODIS Satellite

Convert downloaded NetCDF files into excel/csv files using Python script

Apply corrections to remove noise from the collected data

Filter out data in excel file to obtain tropospheric column data

Correlate satellite data with ground observations obtained from GPCB for data validation process

Analyse data and prepare maps showing spatial and temporal variations using ArcGIS
Data Sources
In the present study, two sets of data will be acquired. First, satellite data will be obtained from open
sources like NASA Earthdata search, USGS Earth Explorer and Sentinel Open Access Hub.

This columnar data can be measured with the help of different sensors like Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Sentinel-5 Precursor or TROPOspheric Monitoring
Instrument (TROPOMI).

Second, ground observations will be obtained from CPCB and GPCB monitoring stations. In
addition, manual monitoring stations installed at different locations by Surat Municipal Corporation
(SMC) can also be used to obtain concentration data.
Hardware and Software used
In this study, different software will be used to analyse the data collected.

In order to visualise and explore satellite data, ArcGIS software developed by Environmental
Research Institute (ERI) will be used.

To obtain ground pollutant concentrations from the satellite data, a python script will be used.

To prepare maps and analyse data graphically, ArcGIS will be used.

 Possible Outcomes
1. An estimate of pollutant concentrations will be achieved using satellite data.

2. Study of air pollution maps plotted will help to determine possible emission reductions observed in
the past years.

3. Effectiveness of existing air pollution mitigation schemes will be analyzed.

 Significance of Work
1. Seasonal and annual variations in different pollution concentration levels can be analyzed. This
information can be used as an indicator of air pollution.

2. This research work can be used by government agencies to determine the effectiveness of existing
mitigation schemes and to plan and implement mitigation schemes.
References
Bari, C.S., Khode, B.V (2021) ‘PM10 Dispersion Modelling at Unsignalised Intersection Using Caline4—A Case Study’ Lecture Notes in Civil
Engineering, 87, pp. 531-539. (Book Chapter)

Dipa, L., Dhruti, P., Baiju, V., Nirmal, K.J.I., Rita, K.N. (2021) ‘Occurrence of aliphatic and aromatic compounds associated with atmospheric
particulate matter in three cities of Gujarat, India’ Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment, 25 (11), pp. 20-27.

G. S. Prakasa Rao, A. K. Jaswal and M. S. Kumar (2004) Effects of urbanization on meteorological parameters. Mausam, 55(3), 429-440.

Gajghate D G (1999) Characterization of airborne toxic constituents in ambient air of Surat City. Conference: Air and Waste 92 nd Annual
Meeting and Exhibition, St. Louis, MO (US)

Hasan Raja Naqvi, Guneet Mutreja, Adnan Shakeel, Masood Ahsan Siddiqui (2021) Spatio-temporal analysis of air quality and its relationship
with major COVID-19 hotspot places in India. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 22 (2021) 100473

Kapadia, D., Jariwala, N. (2022) Prediction of tropospheric ozone using artificial neural network (ANN) and feature selection techniques.
Modeling Earth Systems and Environment, 8 (2), pp. 2183-2192. Cited 2 times
Miyajan S. Juned and Desai Hemangi (2014) Assessment Of Ambient Air Quality Index Of Surat City During Early Morning Hours. Journal of
Environmental Research And Development Vol. 8 No. 3, 384-394.

Namrata Jariwala, Drashti Kapadia (2022) Estimation of health impact using AirQ+ model attributed to surface ozone in sub-regions of Surat
city, India. Journal of Air Pollution and Health; 7(3): 247-260.

Nihalani, S.A., Moondra, N., Khambete, A.K., Christian, R.A., Jariwala, N.D. (2020). Air Quality Assessment Using Fuzzy Inference Systems.
In: Venkata Rao, R., Taler, J. (eds) Advanced Engineering Optimization Through Intelligent Techniques. Advances in Intelligent Systems and
Computing, vol 949. Springer, Singapore.

Ranjitkumar Solanki and K. N. Pathak (2022) Aerosol Optical Depth Comparison study from Satellite Observations over the Western Indian
Region-Surat. Environ. Sci. Proc. (In Peer review)

Ranjitkumar Solanki and Kamlesh N. Pathak (2021) Study of Black Carbon (BC) Mass Concentration Variation at a Coastal Region (Surat).
Environmental Sciences Proceedings, 4, 16 p. 1-5.

Riya H. Shah, Nirmal Kumar J. I, Rita N Kumar, Dipa Lalwani, Nirali Goswami (2022) The Occurrence and Distribution of Organic
Compounds with Atmospheric PMs in Nine Cities of Gujarat, India. Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques; 10(1), Pages: 55-66.
 S. Selvam, P. Muthukumar, S. Venkatramanan, P.D. Roy, K. Manikanda Bharath, K. Jesuraja (2020) SARS-CoV-2 pandemic lockdown: Effects on
air quality in the industrialized Gujarat state of India. Science of the Total Environment 737 (2020) 140391

SA Jayesh, FS Umrigar and RC Yogesh (2011) Evaluation of air quality near traffic junctions in the city of Surat, India using air quality index.
Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment, 15(2) 594-596

Sadhana Chaurasia and Ashok Tiwari (2016) Assessment of Ambient Air Quality in the Vicinity of Cement Industries. International Journal of
Applied Research and Technology, 1(1): 39-46.

Sarath K. Guttikunda and Puja Jawahar (2012) Application of SIM-air modeling tools to assess air quality in Indian cities. Atmospheric
Environment, 62, 551-561.

Sharma, A., Kale, G.D. (2022) Assessment of urbanization impact on urban heat island effect and rainfall for the Surat city. Acta Geophys. 70,
243–264.

Sonal S Verma, Birva Desai (2008) Effect of Meteorological Conditions on Air Pollution of Surat City. J. Int. Environmental Application &
Science, Vol. 3 (5): 358-367

 
Tanushree Ganguly, Kurinji L. Selvaraj, Sarath K. Guttikunda (2020) National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) for Indian cities: Review and
outlook of clean air action plans. Atmospheric Environment: X 8 (2020) 100096.

Vatsal Mistry and Mitali Shah (2020) Assessment Of VOC Emission At The Traffic Intersections Of Central Zone Of Surat City. International
Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020 Vol. 5, Issue 1, Pages 649-655.