Monitoring of environmental parameters for CO2 sequestration: a case study of Nagpur City, India

Carbon dioxide concentration is an index of total amount of combustion and natural ventilation in an urban environment and therefore required more careful attention for assessment of CO2 level in air environment. An attempt was made to monitor CO2 levels in ambient air of Nagpur city at industrial, commercial and residential sites. In addition to this a remote sensing studies and biotic survey for floral biodiversity were carried out to study the green cover at respective sampling locations. The observations showed that the largest amount of CO2 occurred at night due to absence of photosynthesis and lowest concentration of CO2 was observed in the afternoon due to photosynthesis at its maximum level. The most pollution tolerant species found in Nagpur city are having higher Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) value, which acts as a natural sink for CO2 sequestration. In case of commercial site the CO2 level is highest (366 ppm) because of lowest vegetation and vehicular pollution. The generation of database of CO2 concentration and floral biodiversity along with percentage of green cover helps to formulate the strategy for prevention of global worming phenomenon.