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Characteristics, dynamics, and impact of the Thar Desert dust storms on air quality over northern India

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Abstract

In this study, a pre-monsoon dust storm (14 May 2018 ± 2 days), originating from the Thar Desert (Rajasthan state) that spread to north Indian states—Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh is selected. We leverage satellite (MODIS, GPM_IMERG), climate model reanalysis (MERRA-2), and ground monitoring station (CPCB, IMD, AERONET) observations to study the selected dust storm event, and its impact on air quality of northern India against a background reference (25 May 2018 ± 1 day). We include dust column mass density (DCMD total and PM2.5) datasets, and find 3–5 times higher air column dust loading (maximum 3.9 g/m2) during the event, against background dust levels (~ 0.2–0.6 g/m2). NOAA HYSPLIT 72-h forward trajectories show air-mass transport from the Thar Desert towards The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) > 2 in the affected region indicates a high residence time of dust aerosols. DCMD is used to show the 3-hourly progression of the dust storm (initiation, spread, and gradual dissipation). Moreover, hourly dust loading in the air (DCMD) and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) ground-based observations over Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Rohtak (Haryana), Delhi (NCT of Delhi), and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) cities, show severe worsening of the already poor air quality of the region. We employ local spatial correlations to understand the significant statistical associations, variabilities, and feedbacks between—DCMD, AOD, 2 m air temperature, precipitation, and wind speed. The study highlights the use of gridded DCMD datasets, and geospatial techniques, as an innovative proposal for estimating the impact of dust in data-poor regions.

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Fig. 1
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(Source: https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov) for a 14 May 2018 (dust storm day) and b 25 May 2018 (background reference). Clouds appear in white and desert dust in pale yellow/brown color

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Data availability

The original contributions presented in the study are based on the publicly available datasets included in the article material. Any further inquiries can be directed to the authors.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Giovanni portal for access to satellite observation and climate model reanalysis datasets, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) portal, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) portal for real-time data of air quality and meteorological parameters at the ground weather monitoring stations. Furthermore, the authors are grateful to NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for the provision of the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model and/or the READY website (https://www.ready.noaa.gov) used in this publication. All these datasets were crucial in the present study. The authors acknowledge the role of independent reviewers and editors in the improvement of this manuscript.

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“The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    Madhavi Jain

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Hindu College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Pallavi Saxena

  3. Department of Environmental Studies, Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Saurabh Sonwani

Authors
  1. Madhavi Jain
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  2. Pallavi Saxena
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  3. Saurabh Sonwani
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Contributions

Madhavi Jain’s crediT roles: Conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; software; visualization; validation; role/writing-original draft; writing, review and editing. Pallavi Saxena’s crediT roles: Conceptualization; formal analysis; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; supervision; validation; role/writing—review and editing writing-review. Saurabh Sonwani’s crediT roles: Conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; resources; software; visualization; writing-original draft; role/writing- review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saurabh Sonwani.

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Jain, M., Saxena, P. & Sonwani, S. Characteristics, dynamics, and impact of the Thar Desert dust storms on air quality over northern India. Nat Hazards 121, 5589–5619 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-024-07003-3

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