Ashish Kumar

AS Atmospheric Sciences

The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Ashish Kumar for the poster/PICO entitled:

Speciation of 49 C2-C10 NMHCs during the post-harvest paddy residue fire emission period in the N.W. Indo Gangetic Plain using Thermal Desorption Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detection (TD-GC-FID) (Kumar, A.; Sinha, V.; Shabin, M.; Yadav, P.; Hakkim, H.; Gros, V.; Sarda-Estève, R.; Bonsang, B.; Baisnee, D.)

Click here to download the poster/PICO file.

Ashish Kumar is a PhD student in the Atmospheric chemistry and Emission Research group led by Dr. Vinayak Sinha at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali, India. His fundamental research interests are determining source emission profiles using advanced gas chromatography and mass spectrometry and developing emission inventories of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) from globally and regionally relevant emission sources that are active over the north-west Indo Gangetic plain (NW-IGP) to further our understanding of the coupling between emissions, atmospheric chemistry and air quality. The work presented and awarded at the EGU 2019 provided NMHC profiles in terms of 49 speciated organic compounds for the following major emission sources active in north-west Indo Gangetic plain (NW-IGP): paddy stubble burning, garbage burning, idling vehicular exhaust and evaporative fuel emissions. These emission activities are known to emit a large number of gaseous and particulate pollutants into the air and cause severe deterioration in regional air quality. Whole air samples were collected from the emission sources in passivated air sampling steel canisters, brought to the laboratory and analyzed for 49 NMHCs (22 alkanes, 16 aromatics, 10 alkene and 1 alkyne) using Thermal Desorption Gas Chromatography Flame Ionisation Detection (TD-GC-FID). Based upon the source profiles, specific chemical tracers were identified which can be used for “chemical finger-printing” of the emission sources; e.g., i-pentane for petrol vehicular exhaust and evaporative emissions, propane for LPG evaporative and vehicular exhaust emissions, and acetylene for the biomass fires in flaming conditions. Furthermore, propane was quantified as a major NMHC emission (8%) from paddy stubble fires and therefore the result showed that in a complex emission environment coinfluenced by paddy stubble burning, use of propane as a fugitive LPG emission tracer may not yield meaningful results. These source emission profiles were combined with two weeks of online measurements of ambient air in N.W. India in the post monsoon season to show that paddy stubble burning was a major emission source for these forty-nine rarely measured NMHC in the north Indian atmospheric environment.

Publication resulting from the award

Kumar, A., Sinha, V., Shabin, M., Hakkim, H., Bonsang, B., and Gros, V.: Non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) fingerprints of major urban and agricultural emission sources for use in source apportionment studies, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12133–12152, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12133-2020, 2020.