E-Paper
Real-time satellite data to help Bengal curb pollution
This is the first such instance when real-time satellite data would be used for round-the-clock air quality management by any state pollution control board.
The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has signed a memorandum of understanding with IIT-Delhi scientists to manage air quality in eight polluted cities using real-time satellite data.
This is the first such instance when real-time satellite data would be used for round-the-clock air quality management by any state pollution control board.
“Till date satellite data have been used by scientists for research, the findings of which have often been used by various state pollution control boards for air quality management. But this is for the first time that real-time satellite data would be used for air quality management in cities on a day-to-day basis,” said Sagnik Dey, coordinator of Center of Excellence for Research on Clean Air (CERCA) and associate professor at Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS) at Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has listed all eight cities -- Kolkata, Howrah, Durgapur, Raniganj, Asansol, Haldia and Barrackpore – among 122 non-attainment cities. These cities do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and need to focus attention on multiple fronts to deal with high air pollution.
“We have signed a MoU with the IIT Delhi. For the first time a GIS-based air quality management system would be used. Initially we would start with Kolkata but later we plan to include all eight cities in phases. We are also coming with a separate set up (a GIS laboratory) for this,” said Kalyan Rudra, WBPCB chairman.
Senior WBPCB officials said that satellite data would be used to identify hotspots in these cities, major sources of pollution including crop-burning, trans-boundary movement of pollutants including those coming from Bangladesh, identify peak pollution periods and manage air quality round-the-clock. Satellite data would be also used to identify encroachment in the wetlands and garbage dumping.
Trained WBPCB officials would identify sources of pollution using real time satellite data. Once the sources are identified, civic bodies and other government agencies will be tasked to verify them and take immediate action. Once actions are taken on the ground, real time satellite data and data from low cost sensors would be used to measure if there is a dip in pollution levels after the mitigating actions.
“In another first, our staff would be trained by the CERCA-scientists so that they are equipped to carry out this job. This would help to reduce dependency on any third party for air quality management, as we would have dedicated trained staff and a set up,” said a senior WBPCB official.
The memorandum assumes significance as the Union environment ministry in January 2019 had launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) with an aim to cut the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 particles by at least 20% in the next five years, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.
“We are now getting higher resolution satellite data and the processing time has also come down drastically. So this is a very good use of satellite data, which were primarily used for trend analysis till date. It also shows the future forward for such collaborations between pollution control boards and academic institutions for effective air quality management,” said SN Tripathi, head of the civil engineering department at IIT-Kanpur and an expert member (steering committee) of NCAP.
