Vegetation fires in the himalayan region – Aerosol load, black carbon emissions and smoke plume heights

Vadrevu, Krishna Prasad; Ellicott, Evan; Giglio, L.; Badarinath, K. V. S.; Vermote, Éric; Justice, Chris; Lau, William K. M.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.11.009

Cited by 122 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The maximum monthly mean and median are in April at QOMS_CAS. Previous studies showed that March to June was a major fire season in the low-altitude areas in the Himalayan region, and vegetation fires peaked in April (Vadrevu et al, 2012). Smoke aerosols released during big, strong forest fires in northern India and in the Himalayas can be transported above the planetary boundary layer by deep convection (Vadrevu et al, 2008;Tosca et al, 2011), and can be further transported to the central TP by atmospheric circulations .…”

Section: Seasonal Variationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both total AOD and fine mode AOD at Pokhara are much higher than the other two sites in each month. Vegetation fires peak in the Himalayan region in April (Vadrevu et al, 2012), which has a large impact on all three sites. It is possible that during monsoon season, higher total AOD at QOMS_CAS and EVK2-CNR may be partly caused by cloud contamination, as low AE and high precipitation occur during this period.…”

Section: Seasonal Variationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Similarities and differences of aerosol optical properties between southern and northern sides of the Himalayas

Panday

et al. 2014

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. The Himalaya mountains along the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau act as a natural barrier for the transport of atmospheric aerosols from the polluted regions of South Asia to the main body of the Tibetan Plateau. In this study, we investigate the seasonal and diurnal variations of aerosol optical properties measured at two Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites on the southern side of the Himalaya (Pokhara, 812 m above sea level (a.s.l.) and EVK2-CNR, 5079 m a.s.l. in Nepal) and one on the northern side (Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) station for Atmospheric and Environmental Observation and Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (QOMS_CAS) in Tibet, 4076 m a.s.l. in China). While observations at QOMS_CAS and EVK2-CNR can generally be representative of a remote background atmosphere, Pokhara is a lower-elevation suburban site with much higher aerosol load due to both the influence of local anthropogenic activities and to its proximity to the Indo-Gangetic Plains. The annual mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) during the investigated period was 0.05 at QOMS_CAS, 0.04 at EVK2-CNR and 0.51 at Pokhara, respectively. Seasonal variations of aerosols are profoundly affected by large-scale atmospheric circulation. Vegetation fires, peaking during April in the Himalayan region and northern India, contribute to a growing fine mode AOD at the three stations. Dust transported to these sites, wind erosion and hydrated/cloudprocessed aerosols lead to an increase in coarse mode AOD during the monsoon season at QOMS_CAS and EVK2-CNR. Meanwhile, coarse mode AOD at EVK2-CNR is higher than at QOMS_CAS in August and September, indicating that the transport of coarse mode aerosols from the southern to the northern side may be effectively reduced. The effect of precipitation scavenging is clearly seen at Pokhara, which sees significantly reduced aerosol loads during the monsoon season. Unlike the seasonal variations, diurnal variations are mainly influenced by meso-scale systems and local topography. The diurnal pattern in precipitation appears to contribute to diurnal changes in AOD through the effect of precipitation scavenging. AOD exhibits diurnal patterns related to emissions in Pokhara, while it does not at the other two high-altitude sites. At EVK2-CNR, the daytime airflow carries aerosols up from lower-altitude polluted regions, leading to increasing AOD, while the other two stations are less influenced by valley winds. Surface heating influences the local convection, which further controls the vertical aerosol exchange and the diffusion rate of pollution to the surrounding areas. Fine and coarse mode particles Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. C. Xu et al.: Similarities and differences of aerosol optical propertiesare mixed together on the southern side of the Himalaya in spring, which may lead to the greater inter-annual difference in diurnal cycles of Ångström exponent (AE) at EVK2-CNR than that at QOMS_CAS.

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Section: Seasonal Variationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Seasonal Variationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Similarities and differences of aerosol optical properties between southern and northern sides of the Himalayas

Panday

et al. 2014

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…Nainital) will continued to be exposed to the regional sources and hence the M BC levels continue to be high till the spring months. Earlier studies also have shown the influence of transported plumes originating from crop residue burning in the northwest India over the Himalayan sites 17,43,44,47 . Kaskaoutis et al 44 attributed the high aerosol loading observed over the eastern Himalaya during post-monsoon to the possible transport of plumes originated from crop residue and biomass burning activities over the western IGP (mainly Punjab).…”

Section: Role Of Transport From Source Regionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The airmasses having long continental overpass, pick up dust and carbonaceous aerosols from western and northwestern India and transport them to the IGP and the Himalaya. Several studies carried out from the other Himalayan locations suggest that biomass (agricultural) burning over the IGP and forest fires over the Himalayan foothills are one of the major sources of carbonaceous aerosols during premonsoon 17,43,44 . Such build-up of absorbing aerosols during pre-monsoon over IGP and the Himalayan slopes, and anomalous mid and upper tropospheric warming induced by these aerosols are postulated to cause anomalies in the Asian summer monsoon due to an atmospheric radiativedynamical process proposed as elevated heat pump (EHP) effect 5,10 .…”

Section: Spring-time Enhancement In Black Carbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spring-Time Enhancement in Aerosol Burden over a High-Altitude Location in Western Trans-Himalaya:Results from Long-Term Observations

2016

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“…10(d)) during 12 May-16 May emphasized the occurrence of some special anthropogenic or natural events (burning activities). This sudden increase in fine mode aerosol concentration can be attributed to the smoke originating from agricultural crop residue (wheat straw) burning activities or vegetation fire as reported by Vadrevu et al (2011Vadrevu et al ( , 2012 and Mishra and Shibata (2012b). To confirm our hypothesis, we used level 2 version 3.01 data (night-time) for the aerosol subtypes and aerosol backscatter (β 532 ) from space-borne lidar CALIOP (Omar et al, 2009) on 12 th May, 2009 (Fig.…”

Section: Specific Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergistic Approach for the Aerosol Monitoring and Identification of Types over Indo-Gangetic Basin in Pre-Monsoon Season

Mishra

Shibata

Srivastava

2014

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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Vegetation fires in the himalayan region – Aerosol load, black carbon emissions and smoke plume heights

Cited by 122 publications

References 44 publications

Similarities and differences of aerosol optical properties between southern and northern sides of the Himalayas

Similarities and differences of aerosol optical properties between southern and northern sides of the Himalayas

Spring-Time Enhancement in Aerosol Burden over a High-Altitude Location in Western Trans-Himalaya:Results from Long-Term Observations

Synergistic Approach for the Aerosol Monitoring and Identification of Types over Indo-Gangetic Basin in Pre-Monsoon Season

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