Informatics Publishing Limited

Siddhartha Singh ¹, Neelam Sharma ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Basic Sciences, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176 062, IN

Abstract

Lignin is a phenolic heteropolymer that limits the nutrient availability in ruminants from forages by acting as physical barriers to microbial enzymes and interfering with the cell wall polysaccharides digestion. Maule staining of Tall fescue internode sections was done at four different growth stages. The staining of internodal sections revealed progressive increase in lignification from first node palpable stage to spikelet emergence stage. Maximum lignin deposition was observed at spikelet emergence stage and minimum at first node palpable stage. A shift in colour from yellow to red has been observed from first node palpable stage to spikelet emergence stage suggesting an increase in syringyl (S) lignin deposition.

Keywords

Lignin, Festuca Arundinacea, Maule Staining, Anatomical Change.

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Sachin D. Ghude ¹, Rajesh Kumar ², Chinmay Jena ¹, Sreyashi Debnath ¹, Rachana G. Kulkarni ¹, Stefano Alessandrini ², Mrinal Biswas ², Santosh Kulkrani ³, Prakash Pithani ¹, Saurab Kelkar ¹, Veeresh Sajjan ¹, D. M. Chate ¹, V. K. Soni ⁴, Siddhartha Singh ⁴, Ravi S. Nanjundiah ¹, M. Rajeevan ⁵

Affiliations
1 Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pune 411 008, IN
2 National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301, US
3 Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Pune 411 008, IN
4 India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi 110 003, IN
5 Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, New Delhi 110 003, IN

Abstract

Air quality has become one of the most important environmental concerns for Delhi, India. In this perspective, we have developed a high-resolution air quality prediction system for Delhi based on chemical data assimilation in the chemical transport model – Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). The data assimilation system was applied to improve the PM2.5 forecast via assimilation of MODIS aerosol optical depth retrievals using threedimensional variational data analysis scheme. Near real-time MODIS fire count data were applied simultaneously to adjust the fire-emission inputs of chemical species before the assimilation cycle. Carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from biomass burning, anthropogenic emissions, and CO inflow from the domain boundaries were tagged to understand the contribution of local and non-local emission sources. We achieved significant improvements for surface PM2.5 forecast with joint adjustment of initial conditions and fire emissions.

Keywords

Air Quality, Particulate Matter, Chemical Data Assimilation, Aerosol Optical Depth, Fire Emissions.

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Gufran Beig ¹, Mohan P. George ², Saroj K. Sahu ³, Aditi Rathod ¹, Siddhartha Singh ⁴, Shruti Dole ¹, B. S. Murthy ¹, R. Latha ¹, Suvarna Tikle ¹, H. K. Trimbake ¹, Rajanikant Shinde ¹

Affiliations
1 Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (Ministry of Earth Sciences), Pune 411 008, IN
2 Delhi Pollution Control Committee, New Delhi 110 003, IN
3 Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar 751 004, IN
4 India Meteorological Department, New Delhi 110 003, IN

Abstract

The Megacity of Delhi, home to 19 million inhabitants, is infamous for its poor air quality mainly due to anthropogenic emissions. While the COVID-19 pandemic is a health emergency, lockdown due to it saw an unprecedented decline in emission sources of pollutants by ∼85%–90% in Delhi, resulting in sharp decline in the concentration of majority of pollutants. Here we report the experimental estimate of baseline level that is defined as the minimum level reached after lockdown under consistent fair weather condition of major criteria pollutants. This may be considered as an indicator of the background levels to which the population is chronically exposed. The consequences of such chronic air pollution exposure are excess respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality which are reported to be more serious than severe pollution episodes by epidemiologists. As the lockdown which was imposed on 24 March 2020, was extended during April and May, we present the prevailing ambient pollution levels and compare them with the baseline levels. Results are based on India’s largest monitoring network of 34 stations in Delhi. The findings are critical for policymakers to fine-tune ambient air quality standards and regulations leading to the development of effective risk management policies and control strategies.

Keywords

Air Pollution, Anthropogenic Emissions, Baseline Level, COVID-19 Pandemic.

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