Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and isomer ratios as tracers of biomass burning emissions in Northern India

Emission from large-scale post-harvest agricultural-waste burning (paddy-residue burning during October-November and wheat-residue burning in April-May) is a conspicuous feature in northern India. The poor and open burning of agricultural residue result in massive emission of carbonaceous aerosols and organic pollutants to the atmosphere. In this context, concentrations of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their isomer ratios have been studied for a 2-year period from a source region (Patiala: 30.2A degrees N; 76.3A degrees E) of two distinct biomass burning emissions. The concentrations of 4-6 ring PAHs are considerably higher compared to 2-3 ring PAHs in the ambient particulate matter (PM2.5). The crossplots of PAH isomer ratios, fluoranthene / (fluoranthene + pyrene) and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene/(indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene + benzo[g,h,i]perylene) for two biomass burning emissions, exhibit distinctly different source characteristics compared to those for fossil-fuel combustion sources in south and south-east Asia. The PAH isomer ratios studied from different geographical locations in northern India also exhibit similar characteristics on the crossplot, suggesting their usefulness as diagnostic tracers of biomass burning emissions.