Kala, NK and Anand, NS and Manoj, MR and Pathak, HS and Moorthy, KK and Satheesh, SK (2022) Zonal variations in the vertical distribution of atmospheric aerosols over the Indian region and the consequent radiative effects. In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 22 (9). pp. 6067-6085.
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Abstract
The vertical structure of atmospheric aerosols over the Indian mainland and the surrounding oceans and its spatial distinctiveness and resultant atmospheric heating are characterised using long-term (2007-2020) satellite observations, assimilated aerosol single scattering albedo, and radiative transfer calculations. The results show strong, seasonally varying zonal gradients in the concentration and vertical extent of aerosols over the study region. Compared to the surrounding oceans, where the vertical extent of aerosols is confined within 3 km, the aerosol extinction coefficients extend to considerably higher altitudes over the mainland, reaching as high as 6 km during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Longitudinally, the vertical extent is highest around 75 °E and decreasing gradually towards either side of the study region, particularly over peninsular India. Particulate depolarisation ratio profiles affirm the ubiquity of dust aerosols in western India from the surface to nearly 6 km. While the presence of low-altitude dust aerosols decreases further east, the high-altitude (above 4 km) dust layers remain aloft throughout the year with seasonal variations in the zonal distribution over north-western India. High-altitude (around 4 km) dust aerosols are observed over southern peninsular India and the surrounding oceans during the monsoon season. Radiative transfer calculations show that these changes in the vertical distribution of aerosols result in enhanced atmospheric heating at the lower altitudes during the pre-monsoon, especially in the 2-3 km altitude range throughout the Indian region. These results have strong implications for aerosol-radiation interactions in regional climate simulations. © 2022 Nair K. Kala et al.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Publisher: | Copernicus GmbH |
| Additional Information: | The copyright for this article belongs to Authors. |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Mechanical Sciences > Divecha Centre for Climate Change Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Jun 2022 06:17 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Jun 2022 06:17 |
| URI: | https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/73111 |
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