Influence of different air pollutants on concentration of PM<sub>2.5</sub> in NCR, India

<p>Air pollution has become a hot topic, especially among megacities throughout the globe. In this context, the national capital region (NCR) of India, including Delhi and its adjoining areas, deserves special mention. Air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>), nitrogen oxides (NO<sub>x</sub>), ground-level ozone (O<sub>3</sub>), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>) are some of the important elements often making adverse impacts on the city air in recent times. Especially PM<sub>2.5</sub> and PM<sub>10</sub> in the NCR have come up several times in the news reports due to extremely high concentrations. The present article focuses on finding out the correlation between the concentration of PM<sub>2.5</sub> and other pollutants in two regions named Indirapuram and Noida, prominent locations in the NCR. The results (<em>R</em><sup>2</sup>) indicate that correlation fits better when the concentration of two pollutants is compared against PM<sub>2.5</sub> rather than compared with a concentration of a single pollutant. In most of the cases, a positive correlation is observed, while in a few cases, a negative correlation is attained. Finally, the model is tested against some known values of independent and dependent variables.</p>