An assessment by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air evaluated hourly data across 59 stations following Diwali and discovered that roughly 18% of expected observation hours went unrecorded. Federal analysers were set to cap measurements at 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre, omitting extreme overnight spikes from the final indices. Replacing these gaps with the maximum threshold raised the city's average PM2.5 concentration from 269 to 400 micrograms per cubic metre. Meanwhile, separate local monitors showed concentrations surpassing 3,000 micrograms per cubic metre at several sites, with Mundka peaking at 3,744.
Key points
Setting missing observations to the analyser ceiling would push Delhi's average PM2.5 lev…: Setting missing observations to the analyser ceiling would push Delhi's average PM2.5 levels from 269 to 400 micrograms per cubic metre.
Incorporating estimated peak pollution data would shift the city's official Air Quality I…: Incorporating estimated peak pollution data would shift the city's official Air Quality Index from very poor to near severe.
Federal monitoring omissions during extreme spikes prevent public air quality averages fr…: Federal monitoring omissions during extreme spikes prevent public air quality averages from capturing the full scale of toxic pollution events.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Complete data could've raised avg Diwali pollution level 49%
NEW DELHI: Missing PM2.5 data from monitoring stations could have raised the city's average pollution level by 49% on Diwali, according to an analysis by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).Had the missing readings been recorded at 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m³), the city's average PM2.5 level would have increased from 269 to 400(g/m³), it revealed. The daily national ambient air quality standard for PM2.5 is 60 g/m³ and WHO's safe guideline is 15 g/m³.The analysis was done a day after Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said its stations' analysers were calibrated to measure particulate matter concentrations only up to 1,000g/m³ and could not display readings beyond it on Diwali night for several hours.Nor were these readings considered for calculating the average AQI, it said.CREA said if 400g/m³ had been considered, city's AQI on Monday would have risen from 344 (very poor) to near severe. AQI is calculated based on 8 pollutants, including PM2.5.TOI reported Tuesday that CPCB had stopped giving data on particulate matter at the…
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