Vijayakumar S. Nair

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

The first regional synthesis of long-term (back to similar to 25 years at some stations) primary data (from direct measurement) on aerosol optical depth from the ARFINET (network of aerosol observatories established under the Aerosol Radiative Forcing over India (ARFI) project of Indian Space Research Organization over Indian subcontinent) have revealed a statistically significant increasing trend with a significant seasonal variability. Examining the current values of turbidity coefficients with those reported similar to 50 years ago reveals the phenomenal nature of the increase in aerosol loading. Seasonally, the rate of increase is consistently high during the dry months (December to March) over the entire region whereas the trends are rather inconsistent and weak during the premonsoon (April to May) and summer monsoon period (June to September). The trends in the spectral variation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) reveal the significance of anthropogenic activities on the increasing trend in AOD. Examining these with climate variables such as seasonal and regional rainfall, it is seen that the dry season depicts a decreasing trend in the total number of rainy days over the Indian region. The insignificant trend in AOD observed over the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a regional hot spot of aerosols, during the premonsoon and summer monsoon season is mainly attributed to the competing effects of dust transport and wet removal of aerosols by the monsoon rain. Contributions of different aerosol chemical species to the total dust, simulated using Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport model over the ARFINET stations, showed an increasing trend for all the anthropogenic components and a decreasing trend for dust, consistent with the inference deduced from trend in Angstrom exponent.

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

Absorbing aerosols such as black carbon (BC) or dust over high-altitude Himalayan regions have potential implications on the regional climate and hydrological cycle over South Asia. Making use of extensive measurements of atmospheric BC from several Himalayan stations, an assessment of radiative forcing due to direct and snow-albedo darkening is examined. Generally, BC concentration in the atmosphere peaks during pre-monsoon season over the Himalayas and the climatological mean of atmospheric BC over Hanle (western Himalayas, 4.5 km msl) and Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (central Himalayas, 5 km msl) are 106±27 ng m−3 and 190±95 ng m−3, respectively. Based on the optical and physical properties of composite aerosols measured at Hanle, clear sky direct radiative forcing (DRF) at the top of the atmosphere is estimated as 1.69 W m−2 over snow surface and −1.54 W m−2 over sandy surface during pre-monsoon season. The estimated amount of BC in the snow varied from 117 to 1.7 µg kg−1 for wide range of dry deposition velocities (0.01–0.054 cm s−1) of BC, snow depth (2–10 cm) and snow densities (195–512 kg m−3). Using a size-resolved wet scavenging parametrisation, the amount of BC on snow due to wet scavenging is estimated as 29 µg kg−1 for an accumulated snow depth of 27 cm. For the range of 10–200 µg kg−1 of BC in snow, the diurnally averaged forcing due to snow darkening has been found to vary from 0.87 to 10.2 W m−2 for fresh snow and from 2.6 to 28.1 W m−2 for the aged snow, which is significantly higher than the DRF. The direct and surface albedo radiative forcing could lead to significant warming over the Himalayas during pre-monsoon.

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

Abstract Simultaneous and collocated measurements of total and hemispherical backscattering coefficients (σ and β, respectively) at three wavelengths, mass size distributions, and columnar spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) were made onboard an extensive cruise experiment covering, for the first time, the entire Bay of Bengal (BoB) and northern Indian Ocean. The results are synthesized to understand the optical properties of aerosols in the marine atmospheric boundary layer and their dependence on the size distribution. The observations revealed distinct spatial and spectral variations of all the aerosol parameters over the BoB and the presence of strong latitudinal gradients. The size distributions varied spatially, with the majority of accumulation modes decreasing from north to south. The scattering coefficient decreased from very high values (resembling those reported for continental/urban locations) in the northern BoB to very low values seen over near-pristine environments in the southeastern BoB....

Vertical structure and horizontal gradients of aerosol extinction coefficients over coastal India inferred from airborne lidar measurements during the Integrated Campaign for Aerosol, Gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB) field campaign

Quantitative estimates of the vertical structure and the spatial gradients of aerosol extinction coefficients have been made from airborne lidar measurements across the coastline into offshore oceanic regions along the east and west coasts of India. The vertical structure revealed the presence of strong, elevated aerosol layers in the altitude region of similar to 2-4 km, well above the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). Horizontal gradients also showed a vertical structure, being sharp with the e(-1) scaling distance (D-0H) as small as similar to 150 km in the well-mixed regions mostly under the influence of local source effects. Above the ABL, where local effects are subdued, the gradients were much shallower (similar to 600-800 km); nevertheless, they were steep compared to the value of similar to 1500-2500 km reported for columnar AOD during winter. The gradients of these elevated layers were steeper over the east coast of India than over the west coast. Near-simultaneous radio sonde (Vaisala, Inc., Finland) ascents made over the northern Bay of Bengal showed the presence of convectively unstable regions, first from surface to similar to 750-1000 m and the other extending from 1750 to 3000 m separated by a stable region in between. These can act as a conduit for the advection of aerosols and favor the transport of continental aerosols in the higher levels (> 2 km) into the oceans without entering the marine boundary layer below. Large spatial gradient in aerosol optical and hence radiative impacts between the coastal landmass and the adjacent oceans within a short distance of < 300 km (even at an altitude of 3 km) during summer and the premonsoon is of significance to the regional climate.

Spatial distribution and spectral characteristics of aerosol single scattering albedo over the Bay of Bengal inferred from shipborne measurements

[1] Aerosol single scattering albedos (SSA) were deduced from extensive and collocated measurements of spectrally resolved aerosol scattering (σ sca ) and absorption (σ abs ) coefficients, carried out for the first time over the entire Bay of Bengal (BoB). Notwithstanding the high values of σ sca , and σ abs , comparatively higher values of SSA were noticed over the head BoB (north of 16°N) and coastal regions while lower values of SSA persisted over the Central BoB indicating the dominance of absorbing aerosols far away from continental source regions. At mid visible wavelength (550 nm) SSA ranged from 0.84 to 0.96 over different parts of the BoB showing large heterogeneity. However, more than 80% of the values lay between 0.9 and 0.95. Spectral variation of SSA was distinctly different over the northern and southern BoB.

What controls the seasonal cycle of black carbon aerosols in India

The seasonal variability of black carbon (BC) aerosols in India is studied using high resolution (10 km) BC simulations conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry. The model reproduces the observed seasonality of surface BC fairly well over most parts of India but fails to capture the seasonality in the Himalayas and deviates from the observed BC magnitude at several sites. The errors in modeled BC are attributed to uncertainties in BC emissions and their diurnal cycle, planetary boundary layer height underestimation, and aerosol processes. Model results show distinct but opposite seasonality of BC in the lower (LT) and free troposphere (FT) with BC showing winter maximum and summer minimum in the LT and vice versa in the FT. Our analysis shows that BC seasonality is not driven by seasonality of the anthropogenic emissions but by changes in the regional meteorology through weakening of the horizontal transport and strengthening of the vertical transport of BC during summertime compared to winter. BC in both the LT and FT comes mostly from anthropogenic emissions followed by biomass burning emissions except during winter when long-distant sources become more important in the FT. BC in the FT is significantly affected by anthropogenic emissions from all parts of India. The source-receptor relationship changes seasonally, but the regional transport remains a significant contributor to BC loadings in the LT of India, highlighting the necessity of considering nonlocal sources along with local emissions when designing strategies for mitigating BC impacts on air quality.

Surprising observation of large anthropogenic aerosol fraction over the "near-pristine" southern Bay of Bengal: Climate implications

The Bay of Bengal (BoB), a small oceanic region surrounded by landmasses with distinct natural and anthropogenic activities and under the influence of seasonally changing airmass types, is characterized by a rather complex and highly heterogeneous aerosol environment. Concurrent measurements of the physical, optical, and chemical (offline analysis) properties of BoB aerosols, made onboard extensive ship-cruises and aircraft sorties during Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget of March-April 2006, and satellite-retrieved aerosol optical depths and derived parameters, were synthesized following a synergistic approach to delineate the anthropogenic fraction to the composite aerosol parameters and its spatial variation. Quite interestingly and contrary to the general belief, our studies revealed that, despite of the very high aerosol loading (in the marine atmospheric boundary layer as well as in the vertical column) over the northern BoB and a steep decreasing gradient toward the southern latitudes, the anthropogenic fraction showed a steady increase from North to South (where no obvious anthropogenic source regions exist). Consequently, the direct radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere due to anthropogenic aerosols remained nearly constant over the entire BoB with values in the range from -3.3 to -3.6 Wm(-2). This interesting finding, beyond doubts calls for a better understanding of the complex aerosol system over the BoB through more focused field campaigns.

Spatial Gradients in Aerosol-Induced Atmospheric Heating and Surface Dimming over the Oceanic Regions around India: Anthropogenic or Natural?

AbstractMaking use of the extensive shipboard and aircraft measurements of aerosol properties over the oceanic regions surrounding the Indian peninsula, under the Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB) field experiment during the premonsoon season (March–May), supplemented with long-term satellite data and chemical transport model simulations, investigations are made of the east–west and north–south gradients in aerosol properties and estimated radiative forcing, over the oceans around India. An eastward gradient has been noticed in most of the aerosol parameters that persisted both within the marine atmospheric boundary layer and above up to an altitude of ~6 km; the gradients being steeper at higher altitudes. It was also noticed that the north–south gradient has contrasting patterns over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea on the either side of the Indian peninsula. The aerosol-induced atmospheric heating rate increased from a low value of ≤0.1 K day−1 in the southwester...

Large‐scale enhancement in aerosol absorption in the lower free troposphere over continental India during spring

Aerosol absorption in the lower troposphere over continental India was assessed using extensive measurements of the vertical distribution of absorption coefficients aboard an instrumented aircraft. Measurements were made from seven base stations during winter (November-December 2012) and spring (April-May 2013), supplemented by the data from the networks of surface observatories. A definite enhancement in aerosol absorption has been observed in the lower free troposphere over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) during spring, along with a reduction near the surface. The regional mean aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) over IGP, which was derived from aircraft observations (integrated from the ground to 3 km), increased from 0.020 +/- 0.009 in winter to 0.048 +/- 0.01 in spring. The columnar AAOD depicted weak and distinctly different seasonal variations than that of surface level black carbon mass concentrations. This contrasting difference in the seasonality indicates the presence of elevated layers of absorbing aerosols during spring in association with the long-range transport and vertical convective lofting of aerosols.

Vertical Structure of Aerosols and Mineral Dust Over the Bay of Bengal From Multisatellite Observations

The vertical distribution of aerosol and dust extinction coefficient over the Bay of Bengal is examined using the satellite observations (Cloud Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)) for the period from 2006 to 2017. Distinct seasonal pattern is observed in the vertical structure of both aerosol and dust over the Bay of Bengal with an enhancement of 24% in the aerosol extinction above 1 km from winter (December, January and February) to pre-monsoon (March, April, and May). Significant contribution of dust is observed over the northern Bay of Bengal during pre-monsoon season where 22% of the total aerosol extinction is contributed by dust aerosols transported from the nearby continental regions. During winter, dust transport is found to be less significant with fractional contribution of ~10% - 13% to the total aerosol optical depth over the Bay of Bengal. MODIS derived dust fraction (fine-mode based) shows an overestimation up to 2 fold compared to CALIOP dust fraction (depolarization based) whereas the GOCART simulated dust fraction underestimates the satellite derived dust fractions over the Bay of Bengal. Though the long term variation in dust aerosol showed a decreasing trend over the Bay of Bengal, the confidence level is insufficient establish the robustness of the observed trend. However, significant dust induced heating is observed above the boundary layer during pre-monsoon season. This dust induced elevated heating can affect the convection over the Bay of Bengal which will have implication on the monsoon dynamics over the Indian region.