Dynamical characteristics of atmospheric aerosols over IG region

Abstract

The dynamical characteristics of atmospheric aerosols over the Indo-Gangetic (IG) region are primarily dependent on the geographical settings and meteorological conditions. Detailed analysis of multi satellite data and ground observations have been carried out over three different cities i.e. Kanpur, Greater Noida and Amritsar during 2010-2013. Level-3 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) terra daily global grid product with spatial resolution of 1° × 1° shows the mean AOD at 500 nm wavelength value of 0.73, 0.70 and 0.67 with the standard deviation of 0.43, 0.39 and 0.36 respectively over Amritsar, Greater Noida and Kanpur. Our detailed analysis shows characteristic behavior of aerosols from west to east in the IG region depending upon the proximity of desert regions of Arabia. We have observed large influx of dusts from the Thar desert and Arabia peninsula during pre-monsoon season (April-June), highly affecting Amritsar which is close to the desert region.