New Delhi: The air quality in the national capital remained very poor this morning, with an AQI of 346 at 9 AM, and it is predicted to turn severe this week, caused by unfavorable meteorological conditions. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered to be ‘good’, 51 to 100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 is considered as ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 is considered to be ‘severe’.
Low temperature with calm winds traps the pollutants close to the ground, while the dispersion of pollutants depends on a favorable wind speed. Now, according to the Meteorological Department, the maximum wind speed was 8 kmph today. As per the weather department, today’s minimum and maximum temperatures are 8.1 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius.
The ventilation index of the city, a product of mixing depth and average wind speed has been around 2,000 m2/s today. If a ventilation index is lower than 6,000 sqm/s, with a wind speed of below 10 kmph, it’s unfavorable for dispersal of the pollutants.
According to the Centre’s Air Quality, Early Warning System for Delhi – “Air quality is likely to remain in the upper end of the very poor category due to unfavorable meteorological conditions. There is a possibility of the air quality reaching the ‘severe’ category between December 4 and December 7”.