Spatio-temporal diversity of biological aerosols over Northeast India: a metagenomic approach.

Northeast India is considered as one of the major biodiversity hotspots in the world, but the region is underexplored for their microbial biodiversity. Extensive characterization of biological aerosol (bioaerosol) samples collected from various locations of Northeast India was carried out for all four seasons in a year. These were characterized in terms of their constituents, such as pollens, fungal spores, animal debris, and non-biological components, and particulate matters, such as inhalable, thoracic, and alveolic, and finally, the bacterial diversity was determined by DNA-based metagenomic approach.

Distribution of volatile organic compounds over Indian subcontinent during winter: WRF-chem simulation versus observations.

We investigate the distribution of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) over Indian subcontinent during a winter month of January 2011 combining the regional model WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry) with ground- and space-based observations and chemical reanalysis. WRF-Chem simulated VOCs are found to be comparable with ground-based observations over contrasting environments of the Indian subcontinent. WRF-Chem results reveal the elevated levels of VOCs (e.

Loss of crop yields in India due to surface ozone: an estimation based on a network of observations.

Surface ozone is mainly produced by photochemical reactions involving various anthropogenic pollutants, whose emissions are increasing rapidly in India due to fast-growing anthropogenic activities. This study estimates the losses of wheat and rice crop yields using surface ozone observations from a group of 17 sites, for the first time, covering different parts of India. We used the mean ozone for 7 h during the day (M7) and accumulated ozone over a threshold of 40 ppbv (AOT40) metrics for the calculation of crop losses for the northern, eastern, western and southern regions of India.

The role of precursor gases and meteorology on temporal evolution of O₃ at a tropical location in northeast India.

South Asia, particularly the Indo-Gangetic Plains and foothills of the Himalayas, has been found to be a major source of pollutant gases and particles affecting the regional as well as the global climate. Inventories of greenhouse gases for the South Asian region, particularly the sub-Himalayan region, have been inadequate. Hence, measurements of the gases are important from effective characterization of the gases and their climate effects.