S. Suresh Babu

Aerosol characteristics and radiative impacts over the Arabian Sea during the intermonsoon season: Results from armex field campaign

During the second phase of the Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment (ARMEX-II), extensive measurements of spectral aerosol optical depth, mass concentration, and mass size distribution of ambient aerosols as well as mass concentration of aerosol black carbon (BC) were made onboard a research vessel during the intermonsoon period (i.e., when the monsoon winds are in transition from northeasterlies to westerlies/ southwesterlies) over the Arabian Sea (AS) adjoining the Indian Peninsula. Simultaneous measurements of spectral aerosol optical depths (AODs) were made at different regions over the adjoining Indian landmass. Mean AODs (at 500-nm wavelength) over the ocean (similar to0.44) were comparable to those over the coastal land (similar to0.47), but were lower than the values observed over the plateau regions of central Indian Peninsula (similar to0.61). The aerosol properties were found to respond distinctly with respect to change in the trajectories, with higher optical depths and flatter AOD spectra associated with trajectories indicating advection from west Asia, and northwest and west-coastal India. On average, BC constituted only similar to2.2% to total aerosol mass compared to the climatological values of similar to6% over the coastal land during the same season. These data are used to characterize the physical properties of aerosols and to assess the resulting short-wave direct aerosol forcing. The mean values were similar to27 W m(-2) at the surface and -12 W m(-2) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), resulting in a net atmospheric forcing of +15 W m(-2). The forcing also depended on the region from where the advection predominates. The surface and atmospheric forcing were in the range -40 to -57 W m(-2) and +27 to +39 W m(-2), respectively, corresponding to advection from the west Asian and western coastal India where they were as low as -19 and +10 W m(-2), respectively, when the advection was mainly from the Bay of Bengal and from central/peninsular India. In all these cases, the net atmospheric forcing (heating) efficiency was lower than the values reported for northern Indian Ocean during northern winter, which is attributed to the reduced BC mass fraction.

Climate implications of large warming by elevated aerosol over India

Wide-ranging multi-platform data from a major field campaign conducted over Indian region was used to estimate the energy absorbed in ten layers of the atmosphere. We found that during pre-monsoon season, most of Indian region is characterized by elevated aerosol layers.Three-fold increase in aerosol extinction coefficient was observed at higher atmospheric layers (>2 km) compared to that near the surface and a substantial fraction (as much as 50 to 70%) of aerosol optical depth was found contributed by aerosols above (reflecting) clouds. Consequent absorption and hence strong warming above clouds was found larger by several degrees (K) compared to that near the surface. The aerosol-induced elevated warming was mostly confined below 2 km over northern Indian Ocean while found up to 4 km over central India, thus exhibiting strong meridional gradients (similar to 4 K) at atmospheric levels above 2 km. Climate implications of the large elevated warming are discussed.

Radiative forcing by aerosols over the Bay of Bengal region derived from shipborne, island‐based, and satellite (Moderate‐Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) observations

Measurements of spectral aerosol optical depths (AODs) were made over the Bay of Bengal region (adjacent to the Indian landmass) on board the oceanographic research vessel Sagar Kanya during February 2003. Simultaneous measurements of spectral AODs and mass concentrations of the composite aerosols and aerosol black carbon (BC) were made at an island location, Port Blair (11.63degreesN, 92.71degreesE), also in the Bay of Bengal. At the cruise locations the AODs were in the range of similar to0.3-0.6 at 500 nm (with a mean value of 0.41 +/- 0.14) and Angstrom wavelength exponent of similar to1.1 +/- 0.1; while at Port Blair the AODs were in the range of 0.11-0.48 at 500 nm and Angstrom wavelength exponent of 0.98 +/- 0.07. Aerosol BC constituted 5.8 +/- 0.6% of the composite aerosol mass concentration with a single-scattering albedo of similar to0.88, indicating the presence of a significant amount of submicron absorbing aerosols. Comparisons of AODs measured at Port Blair during cruise 188 and an earlier cruise (cruise 161B) during March 2001 (over the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean) with those derived from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (on board the TERRA platform) showed excellent agreement with a mean difference of similar to0.01 and a root-mean-square difference of similar to0.03. Regionally averaged aerosol (net) forcing over the Bay of Bengal was in the range -15 to -24 W m(-2) at the surface and -2 to -4 W m(-2) at the top of the atmosphere in February 2003; these values were smaller in magnitude than those observed over this region during March 2001 and larger than that observed over the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The resulting atmospheric heating due to aerosol absorption was similar to0.5degreesK/d.

Aerosol black carbon over Arabian Sea during intermonsoon and summer monsoon seasons

Extensive, collocated measurements of the mass concentrations of composite and black carbon (BC) aerosols were made over coastal Arabian Sea, adjoining Indian Peninsula, for the first time during the inter-monsoon and summer monsoon periods, of 2003, as part of Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment (ARMEX). Results showed that the diurnal variations are weak in March, and vanish completely by May/June, associated with the change in the synoptic circulations. The concentration of BC (and its share to total aerosol mass) decreases continuously, from similar to700 ng m(-3) (2.5%) in March to similar to104 ng m(-3) (0.5%) by June. Consequently, the net atmospheric forcing (heating) efficiency decreases from similar to70 W m(-2) (for reported winter conditions) to similar to30 W m(-2) for inter-monsoon and to similar to15 W m(-2) for summer monsoon seasons. These will have implications on regional climate forcing.

Aerosol spectral optical depths over the Bay of Bengal: Role of transport

Recent experiments have shown the potential role of air masses in transporting aerosols to locations far away from source regions. Despite the importance of the Bay of Bengal to Indian climate and monsoon, no serious aerosol observations are available for this region. Extensive aerosol optical depth estimates, made for the first time from an island location, Port Blair (11.63°N; 92.71°E) in the Bay of Bengal, during the Indian winter of 2002, are used to examine the impact of air trajectories in modifying the optical depths and their spectral dependences. The results are examined for their distinctiveness with respect to the origin as well as transport. It is seen that the trajectories arriving from the regions east of the station (South China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma) are richer in aerosol abundance, more in the sub micron size range, than those arriving from the west, across the Indian landmass.

Dust absorption over the “Great Indian Desert” inferred using ground‐based and satellite remote sensing

Mineral dust is the single largest contributor of natural aerosols over land. Dust aerosols exhibit high variability in their radiative effects because their composition varies locally. This arises because of the regional distinctiveness of the soil characteristics as well as the accumulation of other aerosol species, such as black carbon, on dust while airborne. To accurately estimate the climate impact of dust, spatial and temporal distribution of its radiative properties are essential. However, this is poorly understood over many regions of the world, including the Indian region. In this paper, infrared (IR) radiance

Trends in aerosol optical depth over Indian region: Potential causes and impact indicators

(10.5–12.5 \hspace{2mm} \mu m)

A study of PM, PM10 and PM2.5 concentration at a tropical coastal station

acquired from METEOSAT-5 satellite (∼5-km resolution) is used to retrieve dust aerosol characteristics over the “Great Indian Desert” and adjacent regions. The infrared radiance depression on account of the presence of dust in the atmosphere has been used as an index of dust load, called the Infrared Difference Dust Index (IDDI). Simultaneous, ground-based spectral optical depths estimated at visible and near-infrared wavelengths (using a multiwavelength solar radiometer) are used along with the IDDI to infer the dust absorption. The inferred single scattering albedo of dust was in the range of 0.88–0.94. We infer that dust over the Indian desert is of more absorbing nature (compared with African dust). Seasonally, the absorption is least in summer and most in winter. The large dust absorption leads to lower atmospheric warming of 0.7–1.2 K

Black carbon aerosols over the Himalayas: direct and surface albedo forcing

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Optical and physical properties of atmospheric aerosols over the Bay of Bengal during ICARB

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