First Pristine air-quality monitoring station

First Pristine air-quality monitoring station

Question: First Pristine air-quality monitoring station has been established by National Physical Laboratory in …
(a) Himachal Pradesh
(b) Uttarakhand
(c) Arunachal Pradesh
(d) Sikkim
Ans: (a)

  • Atmospheric monitoring station established by National Physical Laboratory in the campus of Institute of Himalayan Bio resource Technology (IHBT) at Palampur (H.P.) was dedicated to the nation on 17th March, 2017.
  • It is situated at an altitude of 1391 m for generating the base data for atmospheric trace species & properties to serve as reference for comparison of polluted atmosphere in India.
  • At this station, NPL has installed state of art air monitoring system, greenhouse gas measurement system and Raman Lidar.
  • A number of parameters like CO, NO, NO2, NH3, SO2, O3, PM, HC & BC besides CO2 & CH4 are being currently monitored at this station which is also equipped with weather station (AWS) for measurement of weather parameters.
  • In India, air quality parameters are mostly measured in industrial and residential areas, however, data for air quality of pristine atmosphere is not available in India.
  • NPL’s station will contribute to fill this important gap. The NPL’s station will also serve as a base station for inter-comparison of air quality monitoring equipment being used in India to improve quality of monitored data in India.
  • The data generated by this station at Palampur will act as background data for the measured pollution at various cities in the country. The generated background data will be shared with different pollution control boards and agencies in the country so that the more precise pollution mapping traceable to standard values can be done
  • Setting up of such state of art monitoring systems in Himalayan region will help to assess the vulnerability of region’s sensitive ecosystem due to climate change & pollution.

Reference:
http://indiaeducationdiary.in/national-physical-laboratorynpl-csir-dedicates-first-pristine-air-quality-monitoring-station-palampur-nation/