Preliminary Study on the Correlation Between Vehicular Growth and Particulate Matter Concentration in Surat, India

Air pollution has become a severe and complex problem in urban areas. The number of vehicles has increased considerably in the cities, which is the chief source of air pollution. Particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) is the primary air pollutant causing risk to human health that requires consistent monitoring and examination for management of ambient air quality. This paper summarizes the contribution of transport and non-transport vehicles to particulate matter pollution using the correlation technique for Surat, India. This study compares vehicle count and particulate matter from seven-year data from 2013 to 2019. The influence of vehicles on particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) emission was studied by correlating annual PM concentrations with the number of registered vehicles per year in Surat. The results exhibited an advanced relative contribution by non-transport vehicles (PM 2.5, r = 0.702; PM10, r = 0.668) than transport vehicles (PM2.5, r = 0.599; PM10, r = 0.566). This paper gives necessary information about the correlation between particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) concentrations and the number of transport and non-transport vehicles in Surat city.