According to a forecast by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), with the rising temperature in national capital Delhi, surface ozone pollution is expected to increase in coming days .
- The Air Quality Index (AQI) on May 28, 2019 was in the ‘moderate’ category and is expected to slowly deteriorate to the higher end of moderate category in the next two days with ozone as a lead pollutant, according to SAFAR, a wing of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
What is surface ozone?
- There is a good ozone and bad ozone. Stratospheric ozone is good ozone which occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere, where it forms a protective layer that shields us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.
- Surface or Tropospheric, or Ground level ozone, is not emitted directly into the air, but is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). This happens when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources chemically react in the presence of sunlight. It is a bad ozone.
- When temperature increases, the rate of production of ozone also increases. It can cause fatigue, breathlessness, and asthma.
- According to an expert, Surface ozone can lead to cough, shortness of breath, throat pain in short term and cause corrosion of linings of lungs and make lungs vulnerable to further infections in case of long-term exposure.
About SAFAR
- Under the plan scheme “Metropolitan Advisories for Cities for Sports, Tourism (Metropolitan Air Quality and Weather Services), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Govt. of India, has introduced a major national initiative, “System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research” known as “SAFAR” for greater metropolitan cities of India to provide location specific information on air quality in near real time and its forecast 1-3 days in advance for the first time in India.
- It has been combined with the early warning system on weather parameters. The SAFAR system is developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, along with ESSO partner institutions namely India Meteorological Department (IMD) and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).
Air Quality Index (AQI)
- Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms, which are easy to understand.
- It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour.
- There are six AQI categories, namely Good + Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe. Each of these categories is decided based on ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints). AQ sub-index and health breakpoints are evolved for eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb) for which short-term (upto 24-hours) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.
