AATAL Lab Opens in Delhi to Trace Air Pollution Sources

The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has opened AATAL, short for the Integrated Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosol Toxicity Analysis Laboratory, a facility built to tell Delhi NCR not merely how dirty its air is but what the dirt is made of and where it drifts in from. Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated it at the Delhi branch of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, describing it as the first integrated facility of its kind anywhere in the world. Delhi NCR was picked for it because of the public alarm over the air there.

What the laboratory does

A reading of the pollution level alone cannot say which activity caused it. AATAL is equipped to split the load in the air among its sources in real time: vehicular exhaust, industrial activity, biomass and crop-residue burning, construction and road dust, and pollution carried in from neighbouring regions. Each source gets a share against its name, so an agency can see which activity is driving a bad day. The minister pointed to a screen during the launch that showed transport accounting for roughly 25 per cent of the capital's pollution at that moment, with the overall level near 180.

Chemistry and toxicity under one roof

Instruments at the laboratory break down the chemical make-up of atmospheric gases and aerosols, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), metals and other toxic elements. Two particles of the same weight need not carry the same risk, so composition and likely toxicity are measured alongside concentration. That gives health authorities evidence on which kinds of particulate pollution are the more harmful, and a basis for working with scientific and environmental bodies on the health effects.

Tied to the AIRWISE forecast system

AATAL feeds IITM's AIRWISE, the Air Quality Warning and Integrated Decision Support System for Emissions. AIRWISE issues forecasts at a spatial resolution of 400 metres for the following 72 hours, fine enough to separate one pocket of Delhi from the next and to name the sources likely to spoil the air in a given locality. Dr Jitendra Singh said the combined capability would offer live readings together with an outlook for the next four days. Dr Sachin Ghude, Project Director of MAQWS, called the resolution a match for forecasting systems abroad and said it could be extended to other cities.

Who will use the evidence

The Commission for Air Quality Management and other enforcement agencies get measurement-based grounds for choosing the sector and the locality to act on first, and for judging afterwards whether the action worked, including steps taken under the Graded Response Action Plan. The facility sits under Mission Mausam, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the minister called it an example of a whole-of-government approach. Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr T. Srinivasa Kumar, IITM Director Dr A. Suryachandra Rao and IMD Director General Dr Mahapatra were present at the inauguration.