Articles | Volume 26, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-10533-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-10533-2026
Research article
 | 
28 Jul 2026
Research article |  | 28 Jul 2026

Surface PM2.5 air pollution in 2022 India: emission updates, WRF-Chem model evaluation, and source attribution

Mi Zhou, Denise L. Mauzerall, Viswanath Velamuri, Sri Harsha Kota, Malini Nambiar, and Yuanyu Xie

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Cited articles

Agarwal, P., Stevenson, D. S., and Heal, M. R.: Evaluation of WRF-Chem-simulated meteorology and aerosols over northern India during the severe pollution episode of 2016, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2239–2266, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2239-2024, 2024. 
Apte, J. S. and Pant, P.: Toward cleaner air for a billion Indians, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116, 10614–10616, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1905458116, 2019. 
Asharaf, N. and Tol, R. S. J.: The impact of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana on Indian households, Econ. Anal. Policy, 84, 878–897, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2024.09.026, 2024. 
Bhaskar, U.: NDA Ujjwala surpasses targets, provides 80.33 million LPG connections, https://www.livemint.com/news/india/nda-ujjwala-surpasses-targets-provides-80-33-million-lpg (last access: 15 July 2026), 2019. 
Chapman, E. G., Gustafson Jr., W. I., Easter, R. C., Barnard, J. C., Ghan, S. J., Pekour, M. S., and Fast, J. D.: Coupling aerosol-cloud-radiative processes in the WRF-Chem model: Investigating the radiative impact of elevated point sources, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 945–964, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-945-2009, 2009. 
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Short summary
India faces some of the world's highest fine particle pollution. Using an improved air quality model and updated 2022 emission data, we find that industry was the largest domestic source nationwide, while household fuel use remained dominant in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Pollution crossing borders contributed more than any single domestic source. Our results highlight the need for cleaner industry and power generation, alongside continued shifts to cleaner household energy.
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