Tirthankar Banerjee

Application of water quality index for assessment of surface water quality surrounding integrated industrial estate-Pantnagar

Water pollution as a consequence of accelerated industrial growth has drawn concerns over public health and environment. In order to assess the extent of environmental impact due to integrated industrial estate-Pantnagar (IIE-Pantnagar), surface water was monitored for duration of one year. Grab surface water samples from 12 locations were collected, processed and analyzed for 11 pre-identified variables. Besides providing the raw baseline data, the information was normalized and integrated by applying Water Quality Index (WQI). The average surface water quality surrounding IIE-Pantnagar was found to be satisfactory in terms of its potability after conventional treatment and disinfection. During summer season, the WQI of Baigul River at Haldi Road illustrated good water quality (83.3), which however, deteriorates in its downstream at Rudrapur (55.5), signifying moderate quality. The WQI inside IIE-Pantnagar varied from 47.4 to 66.6, revealing moderate to good surface water quality. However, in monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, WQI demonstrated a modest increase in quality for all sampling points, with a few exceptions due to dilution caused by monsoonal rainfall. In this period, average WQI varied from 49.6 to 81.7. During winter season, WQI further declined due to cumulative effects of industrial discharge from IIE-Pantnagar and other adjacent industrial set-ups coupled with municipal waste water from Rudrapur city. The lowest WQI for entire sampling network was found within IIE-Pantnagar as 37.1, revealing poor water quality. The application of WQI to assess temporal variations in surface water quality was therefore found satisfactory.

Application of air pollution dispersion modeling for source-contribution assessment and model performance evaluation at integrated industrial estate-Pantnagar.

Source-contribution assessment of ambient NO₂ concentration was performed at Pantnagar, India through simulation of two urban mathematical dispersive models namely Gaussian Finite Line Source Model (GFLSM) and Industrial Source Complex Model (ISCST-3) and model performances were evaluated. Principal approaches were development of comprehensive emission inventory, monitoring of traffic density and regional air quality and conclusively simulation of urban dispersive models. Initially, 18 industries were found responsible for emission of 39.11 kg/h of NO₂ through 43 elevated stacks. Further, vehicular emission potential in terms of NO₂ was computed as 7.1 kg/h. Air quality monitoring delineates an annual average NO₂ concentration of 32.6 μg/m³. Finally, GFLSM and ISCST-3 were simulated in conjunction with developed emission inventories and existing meteorological conditions. Models simulation indicated that contribution of NO₂ from industrial and vehicular source was in a range of 45-70% and 9-39%, respectively. Further, statistical analysis revealed satisfactory model performance with an aggregate accuracy of 61.9%.

Process Optimization of Catalyst Removal and Characterization of Waste Water After Alkali-Catalyzed Transesterification of Jatropha Oil

Raw jatropha oil was transesterified in the presence of different alkaline catalyst solutions. A solution of 3-wt% KOH with methyl alcohol was found to be optimum for producing ester with lowest viscosity. Methyl alcohol was also found to be more effective over ethyl alcohol for converting raw oil to corresponding esters. After separation of the glycerol layer from ester under room temperature, three consecutive washings were carried out using single distilled water in the ratio of 5 to remove catalyst from the produced ester. Nearly 75% catalyst removal from ester was recorded within 30 min of contact period. Among the chemical characteristics of the waste water, its pH, chemical oxygen demand, and concentrations of oil and grease, and phenol were measured. Waste water was found to be alkaline in nature, and its chemical oxygen demand ranged from 684 to 792 mg/l. The phenol concentration varied between 103 and 163 mg/l, while oil and grease concentration ranged from 1433 to 1640 mg/l, representing a significant pollutant load in biodiesel waste water.

Airing 'clean air' in Clean India Mission.

The submission explores the possibility of a policy revision for considering clean air quality in recently launched nationwide campaign, Clean India Mission (CIM). Despite of several efforts for improving availability of clean household energy and sanitation facilities, situation remain still depressing as almost half of global population lacks access to clean energy and proper sanitation. Globally, at least 2.5 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation facilities. There are also evidences of 7 million premature deaths by air pollution in year 2012. The situation is even more disastrous for India especially in rural areas. Although, India has reasonably progressed in developing sanitary facilities and disseminating clean fuel to its urban households, the situation in rural areas is still miserable and needs to be reviewed. Several policy interventions and campaigns were made to improve the scenario but outcomes were remarkably poor. Indian census revealed a mere 31% sanitation coverage (in 2011) compared to 22% in 2001 while 60% of population (700 million) still use solid biofuels and traditional cook stoves for household cooking. Further, last decade (2001–2011) witnessed the progress decelerating down with rural households without sanitation facilities increased by 8.3 million while minimum progress has been made in conversion of conventional to modern fuels. To revamp the sanitation coverage, an overambitious nationwide campaign CIM was initiated in 2014 and present submission explores the possibility of including ‘clean air’ considerations within it. The article draws evidence from literatures on scenarios of rural sanitation, energy practises, pollution induced mortality and climatic impacts of air pollution. This subsequently hypothesised with possible modification in available technologies, dissemination modes, financing and implementation for integration of CIM with ‘clean air’ so that access to both sanitation and clean household energy may be effectively addressed.

Aerosol, Climate, and Sustainability

Aerosols, a typical multicomponent mixture originating from varying sources, potentially modify the physiochemical properties of atmosphere and thereby induce modifications in insolation, lower tropospheric heating, changes in atmospheric thermal structure, and interruption in circulation systems that both directly and indirectly link it with sustainability of the environment. Among many driving forces, aerosols are continuing to pose largest uncertainties in terms of understanding and quantifying Earths energy budget and thereby, its implications to climate change. To address the possible repercussions of aerosols-induced climate change on human and ecological sustainability, improved understanding and implementation both in terms of science and policy-level are required.

Chapter 3 – Remote Sensing of Aerosols From Space: Retrieval of Properties and Applications

Abstract Atmospheric aerosols are multicomponent mixtures typically composed of liquid and/or solid particles suspended in the atmosphere. Aerosols originate from numerous sources, having successively evolved through various microphysical processes before being removed either by wet or dry depositions. The implications of these airborne particulates on the regional and global climate are many but most notably through regulating the atmospheric heat budget either by absorbing/scattering insolation or by modifying cloud microphysical properties. Global distributions of aerosols are typically regional; thereby, they pose a strong regional signature that induces additional uncertainties in estimating aerosols, induced climate forcing. Satellite remote sensing of aerosols has extensive applications in identifying aerosol columnar properties, especially in terms of optical depth, composition, morphology, and vertical distribution. This ultimately provides evidence in establishing the source-transport-receptor relations of aerosols over a synoptic scale. Further, satellite data of atmospheric compositions are often used for identifying pollutant emissions, transboundary movement, forecasting air quality, and, more recently, in associating air quality with human health. The principles of remote sensing of aerosols are quite different from that of trace gases as the extinction of light by aerosols is a function of wavelength. With the gradual advancement of sensing technologies, monitoring of atmospheric aerosols has become more precise. Therefore, it has become more widely applied in various academic disciplines, studies, policies, and decision-making processes. This article emphasizes the state of the art in the field of satellite remote sensing, specifically in terms of polar-orbiting satellites for tropospheric aerosols including both active- and passive-based observations; associated complexities and uncertainties; brief descriptions of data products; and the subsequent applications in climate science.

Plastics waste management and resource recovery in India

Exponential growth in plastic production and consumption has evoked concerns for its effective management. Within a decade, India has witnessed a substantial growth of 890% and 340% in plastic production and per capita consumption, respectively. Plastic recycling industries have mushroomed autonomously and accounts for 47% of annual recycling. Further, unscientific collection, transportation, uncontrolled disposal of plastic waste has grave environmental implications. This paper reviews contemporary research done on the integrated management of plastic waste and also considers the potential options available for optimum resource recovery. Other innovative waste management technologies are also considered to find out their adaptability under Indian circumstances.

Simulation modeling and climate change: issues and challenges

The importance of climate has increased with the realization that climate change is not restricted to the Holocene or Pleistocene era but is a reality in a time scale that has affected present human civilization. Particularly extreme climatic events emphasize the importance of climate to society and demonstrate associated vulnerabilities. Anthropogenic impacts on the Earth system are mostly studied by computing key climatic processes through mathematical models. During recent decades, climate models, crop simulation models, hydrology models, and other sectorial models have been developed and used extensively to study the climate change and its impacts band being used to make appropriate management decisions by professionals, stakeholders, and policy makers/ administrator/decision makers. It is expected that with the increased use of computers, improved skill, and good data sets, the use of simulation models by professionals as well as policy and decision makers will increase during the coming decades. However, forecasting future climate associates considerable uncertainties. With uncertainties in the basic science of climate and in its predictions, the understanding of possible future climatic impacts also becomes ambiguous. Such an ambiguity initiates the necessity of using simulation models, which are used to investigate the response of a climate system subjected to specific stresses. In order to assess the current status of dynamic simulation modeling in India, a national workshop on “Simulation Modeling and Climate Change: Issues and Challenges” was organized by Dr. RK Mall, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development (IESD), Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in collaboration with Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India on April 21, 2014 (Fig. 1). The workshop was aimed at understanding the present status of dynamic simulation modeling, problems that are being faced by different professionals as well as policy and decision makers due to uncertainties in climate projection, lack of capacity and capability of different stakeholders in studying impact assessment. The entire proceedings of the workshop were divided in four sessions including climate change scenarios: climate modeling; impact assessment—water resource modeling; impact assessment—agriculture, health and other sectors; and conclusively panel discussions. Eminent scientists and climate researchers from different distinguished institutional bodies attended the workshop and shared their perspective views, most notably from the Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), Govt. of India; DST, Govt. of India; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee; Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun; India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi; National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee; Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad; National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Noida; Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi; Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad; Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development (IESD), Banaras Hindu University; and other central and state universities/ laboratories/institutions. The first session of the workshop was chaired by Prof. UC Mohanty from IIT, Bhubaneswar, a renowned climate scientist Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Unravelling earth system for sustainable solution

In recent decades, earth system science as a discipline has experienced rapid evolution of information with gradual recognition that the entire earth is an assemblage of different selfinteracting systems. These systems namely geosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere are dynamic, interactive and influenced by multiple forcing mechanisms. Therefore, to recognize such complexities, interdisciplinary approaches are extremely essential for a sustainable solution. Driven by such necessities, Helmholtz Earth System Science Research School (ESSReS) came in existence through collaborative efforts from Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, the University of Bremen and the Jacobs University with an intention to bring multiple interlinked disciplines under a common platform, which was traditionally manifested under separate departments. The book essentially delivers the outcomes of ESSReS research scholars with latest evidences of earth system science especially in the field of remote sensing, modelling and geoinformatics and their subsequent applications in geotectonic, oceanography, atmospheric chemistry and sea-ice interactions. Although editors wished to capture multiple aspects under single platform, some topics were overlooked, specifically as aerosol-cloudclimate interactions, air-sea exchanges and radiation forcing. The book is aimed at those graduate students who are interested in pursuing doctoral researches in earth science with an aim to deliver a simple perspective for complex interactions. Authors widely differ in their expertise, and efforts were minimum to make the book readily acceptable to full spectrum of researchers engaged in earth science. Efforts should be appreciated for maintaining a balance between fundamentals and experimental outcomes; however, in certain instances, they were outshined with specific experimental findings. Chapters are grouped into seven parts: remote sensing and instrumentation based on FTIR-spectrometry (9 chapters); oceanography (2); sea-ice physics (2); earth system modelling (1); climate data exploration (4); and geoinformatics (3). Overall, the entire book provides a unique, brief and relevant perspective on multiple aspects of earth science, which seems to be more suitable for advanced users, while may be of use for graduate education essentially supplementing with more physically based earth science text books. Towards an Interdisciplinary Approach in Earth System Science Advances of a Helmholtz Graduate Research School Series: Springer Earth System Sciences Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Switzerland ISBN: 978-3-319-13865-7 Editors: Lohmann, G., Meggers, H., Unnithan, V., Wolf-Gladrow, D., Notholt, J., Bracher, A.