Sagar A. Marathe and Shankar Murthy
In the present the study variation in ground level ozone (GLO) concentration with respect to availability of precursor pollutants and meteorological parameters in the tropical climatic conditions in Mumbai, India is discussed. The concentration of various pollutants and meteorological parameters have been monitored at the continuous air quality monitoring station of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, located in Bandra (Mumbai) for two years. The analysis of the data indicates that the pattern of formation of GLO changes with change in season. The maximum concentration for GLO was experienced in the post monsoon season unlike any other study reported in the country. The study highlights that the post monsoon season experienced the highest number of hourly and eight hourly exceedances in the permissible limits prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board. These high concentrations can be attributed to favorable climatic conditions and presence of precursor pollutants. This was proved by correlating GLO with precursor pollutants and meteorological parameters.