Delhi AQI improves after three days of poor air
The hourly AQI stood at 201 at 4 am before improving to 197 at 5 am and declining further in subsequent readings. Data from 58 of Delhi’s 59 monitoring stations showed that 24 recorded "poor" air quality, while the others reported "moderate" levels.
At 6 am, PM2.5 was the main pollutant at 39 of the 58 reporting stations, while PM10 was dominant at 18. At the same time a day earlier, PM2.5 was the main pollutant at 44 of 57 stations and PM10 at 13.
Delhi’s air quality remained largely "moderate" through October, with brief improvements after rainfall on October 12 and 16. The AQI was 187 on October 18, 139 on October 19 and 179 on October 20. It reached the season’s first "poor" reading of 245 on October 21.
On Friday, the AQI rose to 230 from 223 on Thursday. The seven-day average through October 23 was 195, the third-lowest for the corresponding period in the 12-year period from 2015 to 2026.
NASA data detects 545 farm fires
NASA satellite data detected 545 farm fires in Punjab and Haryana between October 1 and 23, including 473 in Punjab and 72 in Haryana. Fifty fires were recorded on October 23, while the corresponding count last year was 708.
However, the figures may significantly underestimate the number of fires because the satellite passes over the region around 1.30 pm, while much stubble burning takes place later. The lower count, therefore, does not necessarily indicate a decline in farm fires.
Under CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor" and 401-500 "severe".
Minimum temperatures fall across Delhi
Safdarjung, representative of Delhi’s weather, recorded a minimum temperature of 18.3 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees above normal and 0.7 degrees lower than the previous day.
Ayanagar recorded the lowest minimum at 17 degrees Celsius after a 2.1-degree fall. Palam and Lodhi Road recorded 17.6 degrees Celsius each, while the Ridge registered 18.4 degrees Celsius. Palam’s minimum fell by 0.7 degrees, Lodhi Road’s by 1 degree and the Ridge’s by 0.8 degrees.
Lodhi Road’s minimum was 1.6 degrees above normal. Temperatures at Palam and Ayanagar were 0.2 degrees below normal, while the Ridge was 0.1 degrees below normal. No rain was recorded at the five stations during the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am.
With Delhi’s air quality back in the "moderate" category and minimum temperatures lower across all five stations, the IMD said the maximum temperature was likely to settle between 32 and 34 degrees Celsius, with partly cloudy skies expected over the next few days.