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We describe and show results from a series of field campaigns that used balloonborne instruments launched from India and Saudi Arabia during the summers 2014–17 to study the nature, formation, and impacts of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL). The campaign goals were to i) characterize the optical, physical, and chemical properties of the ATAL; ii) assess its impacts on water vapor and ozone; and iii) understand the role of convection in its formation. To address these objectives, we launched 68 balloons from four locations, one in Saudi Arabia and three in India, with payload weights ranging from 1.5 to 50 kg. We measured meteorological parameters; ozone; water vapor; and aerosol backscatter, concentration, volatility, and composition in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region. We found peaks in aerosol concentrations of up to 25 cm–3 for radii > 94 nm, associated with a scattering ratio at 940 nm of ∼1.9 near the cold-point tropopause. During medium-duration balloon flights near the tropopause, we collected aerosols and found, after offline ion chromatography analysis, the dominant presence of nitrate ions with a concentration of about 100 ng m–3. Deep convection was found to influence aerosol loadings 1 km above the cold-point tropopause. The Balloon Measurements of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (BATAL) project will continue for the next 3–4 years, and the results gathered will be used to formulate a future National Aeronautics and Space Administration–Indian Space Research Organisation (NASA–ISRO) airborne campaign with NASA high-altitude aircraft.

Sun/sky radiometer observations over the Indo-Gangetic Basin (IGB) region during pre-monsoon (from April–June 2009) have been processed to analyze various aerosol characteristics in the central and eastern IGB region, represented by Kanpur and Gandhi College, respectively, and their impacts on climate in terms of radiative forcing. Monthly mean aerosol optical depth (AOD at 500 nm) and corresponding Angstrom Exponent (AE at 440–870 nm, given within the brackets) was observed to be about 0.50 (0.49) and 0.51 (0.65) in April, 0.65 (0.74) and 0.67 (0.91) in May and 0.69 (0.45) and 0.77 (0.71) in June at Kanpur and Gandhi College, respectively. Results show a positive gradient in AOD and AE from central to eastern IGB region with the advancement of the pre-monsoon, which may be caused due to diverse geographical location of the stations having different meteorological conditions and emission sources. Relatively lower SSA was observed at the eastern IGB (0.89) than the central IGB (0.92) region during the period, which suggests relative dominance of absorbing aerosols at the eastern IGB as compared to central IGB region. The absorbing aerosol optical properties over the station suggest that the atmospheric absorption over central IGB region is mainly due to dominance of coarse-mode dust particles; however, absorption over eastern IGB region is mainly due to dominance of fine-particle pollution. The derived properties from sun/sky radiometer during pre-monsoon period are used in a radiative-transfer model to estimate aerosol radiative forcing at the top-of-the atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface over the IGB region. Relatively large TOA and surface cooling was observed at the eastern IGB as compared to the central IGB region. This translates into large heating of the atmosphere ranging from 0.45 to 0.55 K day⁻¹ at Kanpur and from 0.45 to 0.59 K day⁻¹ at Gandhi College

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