Targeted mitigation strategies for critically polluted PM2.5 regions in India using spatially constrained airsheds
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Air pollution in India is a regional problem, yet the current air quality management policy is largely city-centric. Here, we developed an airshed management framework that emphasizes cooperative action for PM2.5 pollution mitigation. This framework identifies air pollution control areas (APCAs) for targeted emissions control across four critically polluted regions in the Indo-Gangetic Plain by mapping sectoral emissions from administrative units to pollution levels to meet specified air quality targets. We find that the dominant emission sectors differ across APCAs, such as agriculture, transport, and domestic to micro, small and medium-scale industry, highlighting the inadequacy of broad regional airshed management and the need for tailored air quality management plans. This framework yields differentiated policy guidance at the airshed and sub-airshed scales for the districts that constitute an APCA, leading to a spatially fine-tuned and implicitly minimal-effort mitigation plan. The developed framework is generalizable worldwide to polluted regions at any PM2.5 level.
Source: ChemRxiv
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204891674