Year-Round Seasonal Variation of PM2.5 and PM10 at a Semi-Arid Institutional Campus Site in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract Ambient concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were monitored continuously by an automatic sensor at the Bundelkhand Institute of Engineering and Technology (BIET) campus in Jhansi city, Uttar Pradesh, across a complete annual cycle (January–December 2023), covering all four meteorological seasons. The site is a semi-arid institutional campus setting bordered by village habitation, a highway, and semi-arid forest cover, representing a moderate-density exposure environment distinct from India's heavily studied dense urban cores. Monthly mean concentrations were aggregated into four seasons — pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter. The highest concentrations of both pollutants were recorded in the post-monsoon period (PM2.5: 63.55 µg/m³; PM10: 190.63 µg/m³), driven by a pronounced November peak, while the lowest concentrations occurred during the monsoon season (PM2.5: 33.17 µg/m³; PM10: 99.52 µg/m³), consistent with wet deposition scavenging. A one-way ANOVA on the monthly mean concentrations confirmed a statistically significant seasonal difference for both PM2.5 (F (3, 8) = 4.655, p = 0.0364) and PM10 (F (3, 8) = 4.831, p = 0.0333). Annual mean PM2.5 (37.45 µg/m³) remained below the Indian NAAQS annual standard (40 µg/m³) but was more than seven times the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³); annual mean PM10 (113.00 µg/m³) exceeded the NAAQS annual standard (60 µg/m³) by nearly 90%. The November peak is attributed principally to post-monsoon boundary-layer collapse and regional pollutant transport rather than local festival-related combustion, since the campus's academic vacation period during the Diwali festival window would be expected to reduce, not elevate local activity. These findings indicate that, despite compliance with the national PM2.5 standard, ambient particulate air quality at this moderate-density semi-arid institutional site remains substantially unsafe by international health-based benchmarks, with the post-monsoon period requiring particular mitigation attention. The findings support SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being, Target 3.9), SDG 11(Sustainable Cities and Communities, Target11.6) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) because part of the November peak comes from regional sources, they also show why cooperation across regions (SGD 17) is needed. Since the site is a college campus, the results also matter for safe learning environments (SDG 4, Target 4.a).