Tracing the haze: satellite-based assessment of stubble burning and air quality in Delhi
Tharani Kotrike, Venkataramana Sridhar

TL;DR
This study uses satellite data and modeling to show that crop residue burning in nearby states is a major cause of Delhi's autumn haze.
Contribution
The study provides a novel integration of satellite data and trajectory modeling to quantify stubble burning's impact on Delhi's air quality.
Findings
AOD in Delhi increased by 0.35 above pre-monsoon levels during late October–early November.
60% of air trajectories from burning zones reached Delhi within 36 hours, increasing AOD >1.2 fivefold.
Punjab and Haryana's fire counts explained 78% of Delhi's AOD variance during October–November.
Abstract
New Delhi, the capital city of India, routinely records hazardous fine-particle concentrations during the post-monsoon season, yet the quantitative link between regional crop-residue burning and episodic haze remains contested. This study integrates multi-sensor satellite products with atmospheric trajectory modelling to attribute the late-October–early-November aerosol enhancement over the capital during 2020–2024. Columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm was extracted from MODIS Terra–Aqua (10 km); active-fire detections were taken from VIIRS S-NPP (375 m); harvest dynamics were approximated from MODIS NDVI (250 m); and 120 h forward air-mass trajectories at 500–1000 m a.g.l. were generated with NOAA-HYSPLIT driven by GDAS 1° fields. Seasonal-trend decomposition and Theil–Sen statistics revealed a consistent AOD surge of 0.35 ± 0.06 above pre-monsoon levels (p < 0.05). Punjab…
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Taxonomy
TopicsFire effects on ecosystems · Atmospheric aerosols and clouds · Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
