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Haphazard urbanization and unprecedented vehicular growth that exacerbate air quality are prevalent features in India. Coimbatore, an important industrial city ranking 15th in terms of principal urban agglomerations of India, was classified as a moderately polluted area in National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring survey in 1997. The current study (March 1999–February 2001) was undertaken to assess suspended particulate matter (SPM) in urban and suburban Coimbatore. It was found that in the Coimbatore atmosphere SPM with a diameter of less than 10 µm (respirable fraction, RSPM or PM10) and those with a diameter above 10 µm, the non-respirable (NRSPM) fraction, ranged between 30–149 µg/m 3 and 24.4–460 µg/m 3 respectively. The study infers that urban areas, especially those with frequent vehicular traffic and traffic congestion, had comparatively high RSPM exceeding the Indian prescribed standards (60 µg/m 3 ). Emission inventory estimated for current vehicle strength showed that about 840 000 kg of particulate matter was emitted during 2001. Wind speed negatively correlated with RSPM, while it was positively correlated with NRSPM. Temperature had a negative correlation with RSPM values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]