Fig. 4: Elemental ratios in PM2.5 aerosols depicting influence of different sources. | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science

Fig. 4: Elemental ratios in PM2.5 aerosols depicting influence of different sources.

From: Dominance of open burning signatures in PM2.5 near coal plant should redefine pollutant priorities of India

Fig. 4: Elemental ratios in PM2.5 aerosols depicting influence of different sources.The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

Elemental ratios plotted as (a) V/Pb vs Cu/Pb (b) Pb/Al vs Pb/Fe indicate that the PM2.5 aerosols are a mixture of crust, coal & fly ash, solid waste & biomass burning and industrial smelting (depicted as ore in the figure). The characteristic V/Pb ratios for industrial, traffic and coal/crustal sources (Das et al.32) are marked as shaded regions for reference. The October-February aerosols have V/Pb ≪ 1 and hence plot in the region of industrial emissions. The open waste burning aerosols from Delhi’s Okhla landfill site (Kumar et al.34) overlapping with April–June aerosols is plotted in V/Pb vs Cu/Pb space for reference. The April-June aerosols seem to be more influenced by solid waste & biomass burning and crustal sources with decreased Pb/Fe and Pb/Al ratios.

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