Background Air Pollution Monitoring Network
Project DescriptionWith a view to documenting the long term changes in composition of
trace species of the atmosphere as a result of changing land use
pattern, WMO had commissioned a global programme called Background Air
Pollution Monitoring Network (BAPMoN) which is now a part of the
Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) Programme. India had set up 10 such
At these stations, rain water samples are collected every month and
these are sent to the Central Chemical Laboratory at Pune for complete
chemical analysis. Acidity of rain and mineral deposition is
determined from these.
Atmospheric turbidity which indicates the columnar aerosol load of the
atmosphere, is also measured at these stations using sunphotmeters.
These data are important for identifying the current levels of
pollution as well as for study of the long term trends in the
concentration of trace constituents of the atmosphere which may affect
the environment and induce a climate change.
To study the impact of industrialisation, urbanisation and terrain
modification on micro-climatological features of urban areas, urban
climatological studies are carried out in metropolitan cities.