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# | station | US AQI |
---|---|---|
1 | Gyaspur, Ahmedabad - IITM | 181 |
2 | Chandkheda, Ahmedabad - IITM | 162 |
3 | Raikhad, Ahmedabad - IITM | 155 |
4 | Maninagar, Ahmedabad - GPCB | 132 |
5 | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad - IITM | 121 |
6 | Rakhial, Ahmedabad - IITM | 90 |
7 | Phase-4 GIDC, Vatva - GPCB | 70 |
8 | SAC ISRO Satellite, Ahmedabad - IITM | 68 |
Reduce outdoor exercise | |
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Get an AirVisual Outdoor and contribute to collecting millions of data points for the Ahmedabad map to track local air pollution
When first opening the air quality map for Ahmedabad you will notice many coloured discs, mainly orange and red in colour. These discs are colour-coded to represent the air quality at that particular station. Pale green indicates the best air quality and the darker they get, the worse the air quality becomes. Unfortunately, Ahmedabad is quite a polluted city hence being met by the dark orange and red colours.
In the centre of each disc, the user will see a number. The greater the number the worse the air quality. This number is derived from an internationally used set of measurements of the levels of the six of the most commonly found pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and PM2.5 and PM10. It is supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is used to compare the air quality in cities across the globe using comparable standards. It can be calculated even when all six readings are not readily available.
If a disc is selected, a pop-up box appears on the right-hand side of the screen with extra information about that station. This now tells you the air temperature, humidity, wind speed and air pressure. All of which can make a difference to air quality.
When the user zooms in on the map, the stacked discs will begin to separate and reveal others that were previously concealed. This depends on the number of stations operating in the vicinity. Local people will be able to recognise certain areas as the industrial zones which will show darker colours than the residential areas. Sometimes the city centre can be a dark colour too, depending on the time of day. This is due to the number of vehicles using the roads over rush hour.
The industrial zones are usually outside the city limits and well away from residential areas. However, there are exceptions as some older established factories could be operating in a residential area. But over the years the city has grown up around it and is now surrounded by houses.
This information can be very useful when choosing to travel to other parts of the city or where your child’s school will be or possibly even help choose where to live. If you intend to engage in physical activity, the air pollution map for Ahmedabad will show where the cleanest areas are and at what time of day.
The map also shows the location of any wildfires which may be burning in the vicinity which undoubtedly affects air quality. The closest one at the moment is 6 kilometres away. The effects will be worse depending on the wind speed and direction.
Setting fire to crop residue has been used as a way of conditioning the land between crops for many generations. Not only does it get rid of the old straw but the residual ash is thought to be “good” for the soil. However, it is not only organic crop residue that is burned, very often people see a fire as a way of getting rid of garbage so these fires often have old tyres and plastic waste thrown onto them too.
After harvesting a large part of it remains unusable as residue, which is a source of renewable energy. The quantity of such crop residue in India is about 62 million tonnes. Half of it is used for roofing houses and huts, animals, food, fuel and packing and the remaining half is burnt in the fields. It is estimated that by burning crop residues such as dry wood and leaves, 40 per cent carbon dioxide, 32 per cent carbon monoxide, particulate matter PM2.5 and 50 per cent hydrocarbons are released in the atmosphere.
Many people do not realise that pesticide residue is still present in the dried stems of the rice plants which is released into the air when the stems are burnt. The effect of this residue remains in the environment for a long time, which gets deposited on the skin of humans and animals, and it causes dangerous diseases.
It has been suggested that the government intervene and buy the crop residue to use as biofuel or similar, but this is certainly not widespread across India.
As previously mentioned, the interactive air pollution map for Ahmedabad reveals where the worst air quality is through the use of coloured discs. The darker the colour, the worse the air quality is. The disc also contains the US AQI number which informs the reader how bad the air is. The higher the number, the poorer the air quality. If the box is selected, the amount of the pollutant PM2.5 is also revealed. Depending on the station, other pollutants are sometimes listed, but PM2.5 remains the benchmark. The current level of PM2.5 is 58.2µg/m³ which is almost 12 times the recommended figure of 5 µg/m³ as suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
At the moment there are over 46,000 people who follow this city and will be notified of sudden changes.
PM stands for particulate matter (also called particle pollution): the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye. Others are so small they can only be detected using an electron microscope.
These particles come in many sizes and shapes and can be made up of hundreds of different chemicals. Some are emitted directly from a source, such as construction sites, unpaved roads, fields, smokestacks or fires.
Most particles form in the atmosphere as a result of complex reactions of chemicals such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are pollutants emitted from power plants, industries and automobiles.
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