Modeling and Quantification of Temporal Risk Gradients (TRG) for Traffic Zones of Delhi City in India
J. S. Pandey, S. Khan, and P. Khanna
DOI: 10.2190/VC6M-9BQQ-0EE5-V9AQ
Abstract
Vehicular density in Delhi has increased by more than 100 percent in the last decade. Moreover, 67 percent of the total vehicular population is of the most polluting kind, mainly two- and three-wheelers. On the other hand, vegetation, which serves as an important sink for vehicular emission, helps in assimilation of gaseous pollutants. For study purposes, the city of Delhi was divided into three grids of 6, 12, and 18 km radii. Leaf samples from twelve important traffic zones were collected and microscopically analyzed for measuring relevant stomatal parameters. This data was subsequently used as the input for the EHER (Ecosystem-Health Exposure-Risk) Model [1] for quantifying risks due to vehicular emissions, viz. CO, NOx, and HC. Future projections have been made for different categories of vehicles on the basis of models developed for them and calibrated with the help of available data. Subsequently, these temporal-models for different vehicular categories have been interfaced with the EHER-model for deriving the expression for the temporal risk gradient (TRG), which represents time-derivative of this interfaced model and helps in analyzing dynamics of risk to the roadside environment due to vehicular emissions. Analysis of modeling results indicates which major roads are the most environmentally risky traffic zones.
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