{"id":66965,"date":"2025-10-07T11:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T05:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=66965"},"modified":"2025-10-07T11:49:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T06:19:33","slug":"delhis-air-pollution-explained-how-the-dss-tracks-the-real-polluters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/delhis-air-pollution-explained-how-the-dss-tracks-the-real-polluters\/","title":{"rendered":"Delhi\u2019s Air Pollution Explained: How the DSS Tracks the Real Polluters"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Delhi Air Pollution Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Delhi braces for its annual winter air pollution spike, the <\/span><b>Decision Support System (DSS)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for <\/span><b>Air Quality Management<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has been reactivated.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Developed by the <\/span><b>Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the DSS uses numerical models to identify and estimate daily contributions of different pollution sources \u2014 including vehicles, industries, dust, and farm fires \u2014 to particulate matter levels (PM2.5 and PM10).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also projects how various <\/span><b>emission-control measures<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> could impact air quality.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While recent rain and winds have temporarily kept pollution levels low, officials warn that cooler temperatures, shifting wind patterns, and increasing stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana are likely to worsen air quality in the coming weeks.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What\u2019s Choking Delhi\u2019s Air: Farm Fires or Traffic\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Decision Support System (DSS) data, <\/span><b>farm fires have so far contributed minimally to Delhi\u2019s pollution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On October 5, stubble burning accounted for only 0.22% of PM2.5 levels, and on October 6, it contributed nothing at all, based on VIIRS satellite data that track active fire counts.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">VIIRS, or Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, is a set of instruments aboard polar-orbiting weather satellites that produce data streams that monitor changes in surface vegetation, including fires.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though paddy harvesting has started in Punjab, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) reported no residue burning events across six states on October 6, and only 210 fires since September 15 \u2014 far below previous years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At present, <\/span><b>transport emissions are the biggest source of Delhi\u2019s pollution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other contributors include <\/span><b>residential sources<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (4\u20135%) and <\/span><b>industries <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(3\u20135%), underscoring that urban emissions, not farm fires, currently dominate Delhi\u2019s air pollution.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>How the DSS Tracks and Forecasts Delhi\u2019s Pollution<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Decision Support System (DSS), developed by IITM Pune, operates on a 10-km horizontal grid to generate five-day forecasts and insights on Delhi\u2019s air quality.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It quantifies:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how emissions from Delhi and 19 neighbouring districts affect the city\u2019s air;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the share of eight key emission sectors (like transport, industries, and households) in Delhi\u2019s pollution;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the impact of biomass burning in nearby states; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how emission-control measures could influence severe pollution events.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The DSS also uses climatological fire and emission data to predict short-term pollution levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, it currently runs only during winter, limiting year-round tracking.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) has recommended continuous operation and advanced modelling to make it more effective.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>DSS Accuracy Questioned Amid Outdated Emissions Data<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experts have raised concerns over the accuracy of the Decision Support System (DSS) due to its reliance on a four-year-old emissions inventory from 2021, which affects the precision of source-wise pollution estimates.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to IITM officials, a new emissions inventory is being prepared to improve forecasting accuracy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Environmental researchers stressed that updated, real-time data are vital for implementing targeted pollution-control measures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last year, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/commission-for-air-quality-management\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> had temporarily suspended the DSS over data reliability issues, but it remains the only active system providing source-wise pollution analysis for Delhi.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IITM maintains that once the new dataset is integrated, the DSS\u2019s estimates will become significantly more accurate and reliable.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/delhi\/delhi-air-pollution-winter-system-track-sources-switched-back-on-10290370\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/city\/delhi\/farm-fires-continue-to-pollute-delhis-air-despite-decrease-in-incidents\/articleshow\/115062410.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ToI<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Delhi\u2019s DSS reveals how vehicles, industries, and stubble burning affect pollution levels, offering 5-day forecasts and insights into air quality management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":66992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3104,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-66965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-delhi-air-pollution","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}