Carbonaceous Aerosols at an Urban Residential Site in Agra

Abstract

Abstract Carbonaceous aerosols are an important constituent of the aerosols and may be broadly divided in into two parts organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC). Carbonaceous aerosol concentration was determined at an urban residential site in Agra. Sampling of PM2.5 was carried out during May to August 2011.The concentration of PM2.5 at urban residential site was 55.3±17.4 μg m-3, which is within the prescribed limits. OC varied from 7.6 to 37.5 µg m-3 with an average of 18.2±6.4 µg m-3while EC ranged from 1.2 to 9.4 with an average of 3.2±1.6µg m-3 while TCA varied from 13.6 to 69.4 µg m-3. On an average, TCA accounted for 64.9% of PM2.5 mass; implying that carbonaceous aerosol is a significant component of PM2.5.OC/EC ratio at the site was in the range between 3.5 and 11.9.OC/EC ratio is indicates the contribution of both the primary and secondary sources.