Evaluation of the aerosol optical depth distribution and its chemical constituents over the Indian subcontinent from combined measurement and modeling platforms
Abstract
Observational studies during the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) and more recent field campaigns in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea have established the widespread occurrence of aerosols and trace gases of anthropogenic origin over ocean regions adjoining India. Chemical characteristic of aerosols measured during INDOEX showed that aerosol mass contained substantial amounts of both inorganic and organic pollutants and revealed the simultaneous presence of different tracer substances characteristic for biomass burning and fossil fuel burning influenced by polluted air masses originating over India or Southeast Asia and Arabia. In order to characterise aerosols present over the Indian main land, land campaigns were carried out under Indian Space Research Organisation Geosphere Biosphere (ISRO-GBP) program. Measurements during the ISRO-GBP land campaign and spatio-temporal characteristics of aerosols retrieved from satellite based observations indicated stations over the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) to have higher aerosol optical depth (AOD) compared to off-IGP stations over the Indian subcontinent. In the present work, we carry out an analysis of aerosol distribution over the Indian subcontinent from aerosol transport simulations in LMDZ-INCA which couples the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (LMDz) general circulation model (GCM) and the Interaction with Chemistry and Aerosols (INCA) model. AOD simulated over the IGP was estimated to be dominated by dust and sulfate during the southwest monsoon compared to sulphate, organic matter, and BC, during the winter monsoon. Evaluation of GCM simulated aerosol optical depth over the Indian subcontinent with the ground-based measurements during the various campaigns and satellite-based observations will be presented. The chemical constituents to the AOD measured and their probable sources will be evaluated.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFM.A21J..02V
- Keywords:
-
- 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0305 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE / Aerosols and particles;
- 0345 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE / Pollution: urban and regional