We investigated MODIS (MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) derived Aerosol Optical Depth AOD (at 550 nm) and its variability in the mid monsoon month of July, over the Arabian Sea (45°E–75°E; 10°N–27°N), for the years 2001–2004, encompassing 2 normal (2001, 2003) and 2 drought years (2002 and 2004). Over the Arabian Sea, positive AOD anomalies (+0.2 to +0.7) during the normal years and negative AOD anomalies (−0.2 to −0.6) during drought years were observed. Variability in the concurrent Outgoing Long wave Radiation (OLR) anomalies from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, rainfall anomalies from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and NCEP surface winds had been used to examine the observed AOD variability. It is found that the wind direction was responsible for the negative/positive AOD anomalies corroborating to the negative/positive rainfall anomalies and positive/negative OLR anomalies during the drought years and vise a versa for the normal years.

First ever 3-day aircraft observations of vertical profiles of Black Carbon (BC) were obtained during the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) conducted on 30th August, 4th and 6th September 2009 over Guwahati (26°11′N, 91°44′E), the largest metropolitan city in the Brahmaputra River Valley (BRV) region. The results revealed that apart from the surface/near surface loading of BC due to anthropogenic processes causing a heating of 2 K/day, the large-scale Walker and Hadley atmospheric circulations associated with the Indian summer monsoon help in the formation of a second layer of black carbon in the upper atmosphere, which generates an upper atmospheric heating of ~2 K/day. Lofting of BC aerosols by these large-scale circulating atmospheric cells to the upper atmosphere (4–6 Km) could also be the reason for extreme climate change scenarios that are being witnessed in the BRV region.

The COVID-19 lockdown restrictions influenced global atmospheric aerosols. We report aerosol variations over India using multiple remote sensing datasets [Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), Cloud-Aerosol Lidar, and Infrared Pathfinder (CALIPSO)], and model reanalysis [Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)] during the lockdown implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak period from March 25 to April 14, 2020. Our analysis shows that, during this period, MODIS and CALIPSO showed a 30–40% reduction in aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) with respect to decadal climatology (2010–2019). The absorbing aerosol index and dust optical depth measurements also showed a notable reduction over the Indian region, highlighting less emission of anthropogenic dust and also a reduced dust transport from West Asia during the lockdown period. On the contrary, central India showed an ∼12% AOD enhancement. CALIPSO measurements revealed that this increase was due to transported biomass burning aerosols. Analysis of MODIS fire data product and CAMS fire fluxes (black carbon, SO2, organic carbon, and nitrates) showed intense fire activity all over India but densely clustered over central India. Thus, we show that the lockdown restrictions implemented at the government level have significantly improved the air quality over northern India but fires offset its effects over central India. The biomass-burning aerosols formed a layer near 2–4 km (AOD 0.08–0.1) that produced heating at 3–4 K/day and a consequent negative radiative forcing at the surface of ∼−65 W/m2 (±40 W/m2) over the central Indian region.

No abstract

Contrasting monsoons of 2008 and 2009 provided a test bed to enhance the understanding of the aerosol variability and aerosol-cloud interaction. Vertical aerosol profiles derived from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) are used to delineate the aerosol properties during the two contrasting Indian summer monsoons. We observed a 30-40% increase in the aerosol occurrence frequency (AOF) in lower altitudes (below 6 km) in 2009 and a 5-8% enhancement in AOF at higher altitudes in 2008. The cloud occurrence frequency also showed more deep convective clouds in 2008 (13-15%) than in 2009. Cloud Fraction, Aerosol Optical Depth and TRMM precipitation data sets have been also used to investigate the aerosol-cloud interaction. We define the microphysical effect as the increase in cloud fraction with increase in aerosols (CCN) and the radiative effect as the decrease of cloud fraction with increase in aerosol loading. We observe a stronger microphysical effect than the radiative effect in 2008 as compared to 2009. In 2009, atmospheric brown clouds were observed from March to September, which slowed down the microphysical effect and enhanced the radiative effect. This resulted in a 30% reduction in the total cloud fraction that may have reduced precipitation, and invigorated the drought conditions during 2009.