Aerosol Characteristics and Their Impact on the Himalayan Energy Budget

The extensive work on the increasing burden of aerosols and resultant climate implications shows a matter of great concern. In this study, we investigate the aerosol optical depth (AOD) variations in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) between its plains and alpine regions and the corresponding conseq...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability
Main Authors: Kesar Chand, Jagdish Chandra Kuniyal, Shruti Kanga, Raj Paul Guleria, Gowhar Meraj, Pankaj Kumar, Majid Farooq, Suraj Kumar Singh, Mahendra Singh Nathawat, Netrananda Sahu, Raj Kumar
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021
Subjects:
aerosol
climate
AERONET
MODIS
CALIPSO
radiative forcing
Environmental effects of industries and plants
TD194-195
Renewable energy sources
TJ807-830
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Indian
Aerosol Robotic Network
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010179
https://doaj.org/article/e9705a0b83f14755bef87a6d5193936c
Description
Summary:The extensive work on the increasing burden of aerosols and resultant climate implications shows a matter of great concern. In this study, we investigate the aerosol optical depth (AOD) variations in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) between its plains and alpine regions and the corresponding consequences on the energy balance on the Himalayan glaciers. For this purpose, AOD data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS, MOD-L3), Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), India, and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) were analyzed. Aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) was assessed using the atmospheric radiation transfer model (RTM) integrated into AERONET inversion code based on the Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (DISORT) module. Further, air mass trajectory over the entire IHR was analyzed using a hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. We estimated that between 2001 and 2015, the monthly average ARF at the surface (ARFSFC), top of the atmosphere (ARFTOA), and atmosphere (ARFATM) were −89.6 ± 18.6 Wm −2 , −25.2 ± 6.8 Wm −2 , and +64.4 ± 16.5 Wm −2 , respectively. We observed that during dust aerosol transport days, the ARFSFC and TOA changed by −112.2 and −40.7 Wm −2 , respectively, compared with low aerosol loading days, thereby accounting for the decrease in the solar radiation by 207% reaching the surface. This substantial decrease in the solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface increases the heating rate in the atmosphere by 3.1-fold, thereby acting as an additional forcing factor for accelerated melting of the snow and glacier resources of the IHR.

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