&ldquo;IIT Jodhpur is committed to impart quality education to facilitate the creation of qualified, competent and responsible human resources to meet the emerging technological challenges of the world. It is working towards creating an equitable learning platform that is positive, accessible and effective in the face of the modern societal and scientific advancements.

Flexibility in curriculum, in all its academic programs, encompassing elements of teaching, research, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship is the most unique feature of IIT Jodhpur. The Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the National Mission on Cyber Physical Systems, has identified IIT Jodhpur as a Technology &amp; Innovation Hub in the area of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. The institute has also been nominated as the coordinator for the Jodhpur City and Knowledge Cluster by the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India.

The sprawling 852-acre IIT Jodhpur campus is a majestic tribute to the deep-rooted diverse cultural heritage of the region. The campus is an architectural masterpiece, which is slated to become an international exemplar of sustainability with net-zero energy, and advanced water and waste management strategies.&rdquo;

IIT Jodhpur

Building ventilation rate is a crucial factor in the indoor air quality (IAQ). Furthermore, building-related parameters (window geometry, building orientation, height, and shape) have a substantial impact on the ventilation rates. However, most building designs reported in the literature from various income group countries failed to fulfill the recommended ventilation standards. A systematic and critical review was conducted on the collated literature from the past 20 years using various databases, yielding 145 related articles. Building-related factors influencing the ventilation rates were thoroughly studied in different income groups. In addition, the existing ventilation rates in various building environments were examined. The data analysis of critical literature suggests that the ventilation rates in 80% of the building environments were found lower than the prescribed standards irrespective of the income group countries. Thus, the current study highlights the need for redesign of the existing or new buildings for meeting the adequate ventilation rates. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

World University root node

Center for Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Development (CETSD)

Current Pollution Reports

Association of Ventilation Rates with Building Design in Various Built Environments: A Critical Review

Guwahati, the largest urban corridor of Northeast India, is one of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage sites and one of the 200 eco-regions in the world. The present study investigates the characterization of chemical components and sources of precipitation samples collected in Guwahati during June 2016–June 2017. Acidic rain events occurred throughout the year, with a frequency of 64% and 87% during monsoon and non-monsoon seasons, respectively. Higher contributions of the acidic species (SO4 2− and NO3 −) coinciding with poor neutralizing capacity of crustal species (Ca2+, K+ and Mg2+) led to acid rain in this region. Isotope analysis (δ18O and δD) indicated that monsoonal and non-monsoonal rains were of marine and non-marine origins, respectively. This is further supported by the back trajectory analysis as majority of the individual rain events during d-excess&lt;10‰ i.e. monsoon, indicated their maximum contribution from ocean while, during d-excess&gt;10‰ i.e. non-monsoon, the trajectories originated from water-inland. The enrichment factors (EF) for Pb, Zn, Co and Cu were &gt;5, indicating the dominance of anthropogenic sources in this region. The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) along with isotope analysis identified marine (40%) as the major source in monsoon and industrial emissions (28%) in non-monsoon, indicating rainwater evaporation is more of ocean and continental origin during monsoon and non-monsoons, respectively. This study suggests the need of further studies and implementation of stringent anthropogenic regulations not only in local but also at regional and global scale, in this acid rain prone region. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Atmospheric Research

Influence of anthropogenic emissions on wet deposition of pollutants and rainwater acidity in Guwahati, a UNESCO heritage city in Northeast India

Aerosol samples were collected using eight stage non-viable Andersen cascade impactor at three urban and two rural sites in north-east India during 2018 covering three seasons i.e., winter, summer and monsoon. The size-segregated samples collected in the selected locations were carefully analysed in terms of deposition in human respiratory tract using inhalation and deposition curves. Seasonal variation of fractional deposition of particulate matter (PM) in human respiratory tract was observed. For example, during winter, in one of the urban sites i.e., S3 (0.61) the maximum deposition was in Pulmonary (P) region, while in the case of other sites, the maximum deposition was in Nasopharyngeal (NOPL) region. Regional deposition in P was high in S1 and S3 when compared with other sites. Vehicular emissions was dominant in both S1 and S3 in P, while biomass burning being dominant in S3 which could be the reason for maximum deposition in P. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) revealed five to eight factors at each individual site in NOPL, tracheobronchial (TB) and P regions: biomass burning (accounting for 7–32% of PM), coal combustion (14–27%), construction dust (9–25%), dust emissions (17–28%), industrial emissions (12–26%), oil refinery (18%), secondary aerosols (17–33%) and vehicular emissions (12–39%). Dominant sources in urban and rural areas were vehicular emissions and dust emissions, respectively. Therefore, the present study highlights the importance of analyzing source apportionment of PM at ultrafine scale and forms a basis upon which the future air quality studies and mitigation strategies can be formulated in this region. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Chemosphere

Source apportionment of size-segregated atmospheric particles and the influence of particles deposition in the human respiratory tract in rural and urban locations of north-east India

In this study, we investigated the sources of organic pollutants associated with fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM2.5–10) atmospheric particulate matter in Doha, Qatar based on an eight-month sampling campaign conducted from May to December 2015. Multiple organic compound tracers including 36 PAH members, 25 n-alkane homologs, 17 hopanes, and 12 steranes were used for organic aerosols source apportionment. Source apportionment based on specific molecular markers, molecular diagnostic ratios/indices, and positive matrix factorization (PMF) modeling showed that similar sources are responsible for both fine- and coarse-particle organic pollutants. PMF analysis showed that biogenic aerosols, fugitive dust emissions, gasoline engine emissions, diesel engine emissions, and heavy oil combustion were the five main pollution sources of organic aerosols, which agreed well with the results from the diagnostic ratios analysis. The conditional bivariate probability functions (CPF) and potential source contribution function (PSCF) indicated that both regional (i.e., mixed biogenic/secondary particles and oil refinery/shipping emissions) and local sources contributed to airborne organic aerosol concentrations observed at the site, depending on the wind speed and direction. It appears that the relatively high levels of organic pollutants were contributed by local anthropogenic sources, such as fossil fuel combustion, vehicular emissions, and fugitive dust emissions. The high levels of local contributions indicated that there might be great opportunities for Qatar to considerably reduce emissions so that population exposures to carbonaceous aerosols and the public health risks associated with air pollution can be minimized. Implications: Multiple organic tracers and various source apportionment techniques have been used for convincing source apportionment. It was found that both long-range and local sources have a significant impact on atmospheric carbonaceous particles in the area, depending on the wind conditions. Relatively high levels of organic pollutants attributed to local anthropogenic sources indicate that there are great opportunities for Qatar to establish and implement more efficient pollution control measures and policies. Regional sources such as petroleum refineries and shipping-vessels emissions in the Gulf region should also be regulated and managed through regional cooperation to improve the air quality in the region. © 2019, © 2019 A&WMA.

Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association

Source apportionment of organic pollutants in fine and coarse atmospheric particles in Doha, Qatar

Fungal spores in ambient particulate matter (PM) is one of the major constituents which can adversely affect human health. For the first time, an investigation was conducted for 1 year at a residential region in north-east India to study the seasonal variation of PM 10 -associated fungal spore concentration and their diversity. Using fine particulate sampler, samples were collected at 12 h intervals for 1 week of every month during July 2016–June 2017. Twelve-hour averaged PM 10 concentration was 79.74 μg/m 3 and 103.47 μg/m 3 during day and night time, respectively. Fungal spore concentration was 126 (54–294) CFU/m 3 during day time and 107 (55 to 161) CFU/m 3 during night time. Seven individual genera of fungal spores, namely Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Curvularia, Rhizopus, and Non-sporing isolates, were identified. Strong correlations between the Cladosporium and Penicillium (R = 0.83) and Cladosporium and Aspergillus (R = 0.82) were observed, which are well-known asthma allergens. Penicillium (30%), Fusarium (41%), and Aspergillus (25%) were the dominant fungi species in winter, monsoon, and summer seasons, respectively. Fungal spore concentrations peaked during summer and were least during monsoon. Fungal concentrations were negatively correlated with precipitation (R = − 0.25). Fungal counts had more significant positive correlation with temperature in non-rainy samples (R = 0.80), compared to negligible correlation (R = − 0.16) in all samples. © 2018, Springer Nature B.V.

Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health

Seasonal variation of airborne allergenic fungal spores in ambient PM 10 —a study in Guwahati, the largest city of north-east India

Developing countries like India require proper control strategies for reducing the enormous premature mortality associated with air pollution. Air quality models, in addition to helping to understand the severity of air pollution by providing the pollutant concentrations, also give knowledge of the sources. Previous local and regional air quality modeling studies carried out in India are reviewed in this current study with a goal of understanding the current gaps and exploring future directions. Studies carried out in different parts of India during past decade were precisely documented in this study using methodical Scopus, Web of Science, and Google searches. Majority of the air quality studies are concentrated in megacities leaving behind the small cities which require greater attention in future. While most of the modeling studies were carried out in northern India, very few studies concentrated on central region of the country. Review of both local and regional numerical models showed the need for better emission inputs, while the statistical models inferred the need for proper selection of key tracers for source allocation. Irrespective of emission inventory and models used, particulate matter concentrations are under predicted in Delhi, which faces huge air pollution-related issues. Dust and traffic emissions are the major sources of particulate matter in India. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.

A Review of Air Quality Modeling Studies in India: Local and Regional Scale

Severe pollution events occur frequently in India but few studies have investigated the characteristics, sources, and control strategies for the whole country. A year-long simulation was carried out in India to provide detailed information of spatial and temporal distribution of gas species and particulate matter (PM). The concentrations of O3, NO2, SO2, CO, as well as PM2.5 and its components in 2015 were predicted using Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) models. Model performance was validated against available observations from ground based national ambient air quality monitoring stations in major cities. Model performance of O3 does not always meet the criteria suggested by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) but that of PM2.5 meets suggested criteria by previous studies. The performance of model was better on days with high O3 and PM2.5 levels. Concentrations of PM2.5, NO2, CO and SO2 were highest in the Indo-Gangetic region, including northern and eastern India. PM2.5 concentrations were higher during winter and lower during monsoon season. Winter nitrate concentrations were 160–230% higher than yearly average. In contrast, the fraction of sulfate in total PM2.5 was maximum in monsoon and least in winter, due to decrease in temperature and solar radiation intensity in winter. Except in southern India, where sulfate was the major component of PM2.5, primary organic aerosol (POA) fraction in PM2.5 was highest in all regions of the country. Fractions of secondary components were higher on bad days than on good days in these cities, indicating the importance of control of precursors for secondary pollutants in India. Capsule abstract: Predicted gaseous and particulate air pollutants in India using WRF/CMAQ in 2015 were validated and the variations were analyzed for future source and health analysis. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

Atmospheric Environment

Year-long simulation of gaseous and particulate air pollutants in India

Background. Diwali is a Hindu holiday observed each autumn in India, where it is known as the 'celebration of lights'. Burning of fireworks on this day leads to air and noise pollution, causing adverse effects to human health. Objectives. To monitor and analyze air quality and noise levels in a residential college campus in northeast India over Diwali 2015. Methods. Components of PM10, including metals (cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni)), ions (calcium (Ca2+), ammonium (NH4+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl-), nitrate (NO3-) and sulfate (SO4 2-)) and bacterial counts were studied for a period of ten days in November 2015. In addition, a health-based survey of patients attending the institute's hospital during those days was conducted to evaluate the risk level due to fireworks burning. Results. The mean PM10 concentration during Diwali, 311 μg/m3, was 81% higher than other days and 3.1-times higher the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards. While noise levels were increased by 65%, the concentration of bacteria in PM10 was reduced by 39% during Diwali compared to other days. The concentrations of metals, cations and anions were increased by 51%, 72% and 77%, respectively. A health study conducted during the analysis period revealed an increase in hospital admissions in the campus due to respiratory symptoms. The higher concentrations of metals during the Diwali period resulted in a 0.5% increase in the hazard index. Conclusions. The present study suggests that reducing fireworks during Diwali could reduce pollutant concentrations and result in potential health benefits. Participant Consent. Obtained Ethics Approval. The study and survey design were approved by the Institutional Bioethics Committee of the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests. © Pure Earth.