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 and Raj Kumar
Additional contact information
Kesar Chand: North East Regional Center, G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE), Itanagar 791113, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Jagdish Chandra Kuniyal: G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE), Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263643, Uttarakhand, India
Shruti Kanga: Centre for Climate Change and Water Research, Suresh GyanVihar University, Jaipur 302017, Rajasthan, India
Raj Paul Guleria: Directorate of Higher Education Shimla, Government of Himachal Pradesh, Lalpani, Shimla 171001, Himachal Pradesh, India
Gowhar Meraj: Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar 190018, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Pankaj Kumar: Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama 240-0115, Kanagawa, Japan
Majid Farooq: Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar 190018, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Suraj Kumar Singh: Centre for Sustainable Development, Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur 302017, Rajasthan, India
Mahendra Singh Nathawat: Department of Geography, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Maidan Garhi Rd, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068, India
Netrananda Sahu: Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India
Raj Kumar: Department of Physics, Government Degree College Jukhala, Bilaspur 174001, Himachal Pradesh, India

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: aerosol; climate; AERONET; MODIS; CALIPSO; radiative forcing; Himalayas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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