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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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2071-1050/14/1/179/ 2023-08-20T03:59:11+02:00 Aerosol Characteristics and Their Impact on the Himalayan Energy Budget 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 agris 2021-12-24 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010179 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Air, Climate Change and Sustainability https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14010179 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Sustainability; Volume 14; Issue 1; Pages: 179 aerosol climate AERONET MODIS CALIPSO radiative forcing Himalayas Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010179 2023-08-01T03:39:25Z 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. Text Aerosol Robotic Network MDPI Open Access Publishing Indian Sustainability 14 1 179 |
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Open Polar |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
aerosol climate AERONET MODIS CALIPSO radiative forcing Himalayas |
spellingShingle |
aerosol climate AERONET MODIS CALIPSO radiative forcing Himalayas 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 Aerosol Characteristics and Their Impact on the Himalayan Energy Budget |
topic_facet |
aerosol climate AERONET MODIS CALIPSO radiative forcing Himalayas |
description |
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. |
format |
Text |
author |
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 |
author_facet |
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 |
author_sort |
Kesar Chand |
title |
Aerosol Characteristics and Their Impact on the Himalayan Energy Budget |
title_short |
Aerosol Characteristics and Their Impact on the Himalayan Energy Budget |
title_full |
Aerosol Characteristics and Their Impact on the Himalayan Energy Budget |
title_fullStr |
Aerosol Characteristics and Their Impact on the Himalayan Energy Budget |
title_full_unstemmed |
Aerosol Characteristics and Their Impact on the Himalayan Energy Budget |
title_sort |
aerosol characteristics and their impact on the himalayan energy budget |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010179 |
op_coverage |
agris |
geographic |
Indian |
geographic_facet |
Indian |
genre |
Aerosol Robotic Network |
genre_facet |
Aerosol Robotic Network |
op_source |
Sustainability; Volume 14; Issue 1; Pages: 179 |
op_relation |
Air, Climate Change and Sustainability https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14010179 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010179 |
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Sustainability |
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14 |
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1 |
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179 |
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1774719812754210816 |