AEROSOLS AND RELATED WEATHER DYNAMICS

Chandramani Choubey (email-choube543213@gmail.com)

INTRODUCTION: Here in order to understand aerosols impact on weather

and climate, we have gone through different literature based on it. On the basis of
the findings of research model or differently run simulation model and the
perturbation, we can say that there is a wide impact of aerosols on radiation
balance of earth atmosphere, cloud formation its properties, monsoonal variation
over Asian continent. With the help of different research article I tried to analyze
all this related issues. Aerosols absorb and scatter both solar and terrestrial
radiation and produce strong surface as well as atmospheric radiative forcing
effects (Acharya and Sreekesh 2013).

Aerosols in atmosphere are suspensions of solid and liquid particles. Aerosols are
everywhere in air and can be observed as dust, smoke, and haze. We can see both
natural and man-made aerosols; while natural aerosols found everywhere but man-
made are particular for any region which impact local climatic condition. Both
biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion contribute to the loading in South and
Southeast Asia. Fossil fuel combustion is the major contributor to the mid- and
high latitude aerosol loading (Ramnathan 2001). For detailed analysis of impact of
aerosols on local weather condition we generally quantify its concentration over an
area by measuring aerosols optical depth (AOD), which is the vertical integral of
the incident light, either scattered or absorbed by aerosols.

Mineral dust and anthropogenic aerosols can affect Earth’s climate by heating the
atmosphere and cooling the surface because of their absorption and scattering of
solar radiation (direct effect) as well as interacting with clouds by acting as cloud
condensation nuclei and ice nuclei (indirect effect). IPCC 5th report has pointed out
that the total radiative forcing both direct and indirect forcing of aerosols is –0.9 (–
1.9 to –0.1 Wm-2). A negative aerosol forcing implies that the change in aerosols
relative to the initial state exerts a cooling influence, whereas a positive forcing
would mean the change in aerosols exerts a warming influence. TOA forcing, can
change the atmospheric temperature structure, affecting vertical mixing, cloud
formation and evolution, and monsoons system (Kim et al., 2006)
ANALYSIS:
There are four way of assessing aerosols properties and its impact on radiation.
These are: First- aerosols optical depth (AOD), which is vertical integral of light
either absorbed or scattered by aerosols particle measured for a particular column
of vertical extent. This helps us to aerosols photochemical properties and hence
radiative forcing upon weather condition of that particular region. Second is single
scattering albedo (SSA) which describes the fraction of light interacting with the
particle that is scattered, compared to the total that is scattered and absorbed.
Values of SSA range from 0 for totally absorbing i.e. dark particles to 1 for purely
scattering ones in nature, but we have seen SSA is rarely lower than about 0.75.
The third quantity is the asymmetry parameter (g) which explains scattered
radiation angular distribution. The value of g ranges from -1 to +1. -1 value
represent entirely black-scattering particles, for uniform scattering value is 0 and
for entirely forwarding-scattering the value is +1. The fourth quantity is surface
albedo (A) which is a measure of reflectivity at the ground. So it is important in
assessing the energy balance near the surface. The values range from 0 for purely
absorbing to 1 for purely reflecting surface.

If there is long-range transport of aerosols to the Himalayan region happen then it

leads to substantial effect on regional climate change. The tropospheric warming
caused by the absorbing aerosols over the Himalaya is important due to its role in
influencing the middle–upper tropospheric temperature gradient between the
Himalaya–Tibetan Plateau and the oceanic region to the south, which controls the
onset of the Asian monsoon and consequent influence on monsoon rainfall. These
include the role of photochemistry in the new particle formation events at the free
tropospheric altitudes, temporal evolution and annual cycle in BC concentration
over the Himalaya, dust transport and associated changes in physical and optical
properties of aerosols and spring-time enhancement in aerosol optical depth (AOD)
and BC.

Sometimes due to absorption of solar radiation by particles there is a reduction in

cloudiness, which is called as semi-direct effect. This occurs because absorbing
aerosol warms the atmosphere, which changes the atmospheric stability, and
reduces surface flux. Bollasina et al. showed a link between high loads of
absorbing aerosols and deficient spring-time precipitation through regression of
rainfall on aerosol index (AI), and attributed it to dissipation of clouds through the
aerosol semi-direct effect.

The spring-time enhancement over high-altitude free-tropospheric locations is a

well-established feature noticed over several sites spread across the globe.
Andrews et al. presented the climatology of aerosol optical properties based on
long-term, in situ measurements over several high-altitude locations spread across
the 20–500N lat. band in the northern hemisphere. They observed that the amount
of light absorption and scattering at such high-altitude sites either peaks in spring
or it has a broad spring to summer enhancement. The reasons are attributed to the
pollution outflow from upwind regions aided by stronger upslope transport and
enhanced atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) heights flushing out the aerosols to
higher altitudes through convective transport. Over the Himalaya also, strong
westerly associated with the Asian monsoon prevail during pre-monsoon. The air
masses having long continental overpass, pick up dust and carbonaceous aerosols
from western and northwestern India and transport them to the IGP and the
Himalaya. Several studies carried out from the other Himalayan locations suggest
that biomass (agricultural) burning over the IGP and forest fires over the
Himalayan foothills are one of the major sources of carbonaceous aerosols during
pre-monsoon. Such build-up of absorbing aerosols during pre-monsoon over IGP
and the Himalayan slopes, and anomalous mid and upper tropospheric warming
induced by these aerosols are postulated to cause anomalies in the Asian summer
monsoon due to an atmospheric radiative–dynamical process proposed as elevated
heat pump (EHP) effect.

Brun et al., using satellite data analysis, suggested that the aerosol intrusion in
Himalayan valleys due to the strong northwesterly winds above the Himalayan
ridges could result in the advection of dust, mixed with fine mode aerosol particles,
and subsequently the formation of elevated aerosol layers during pre-monsoon
season. Information on enhancement in aerosol concentrations and high aerosol
loading events over the Himalayan region during spring is useful to understand the
aspects of EHP hypothesis. Wonsick et al. used convection as a proxy to rainfall
and reported enhanced convection and rainfall in the Himalayan foothills during
high-aerosol years (with larger AOD values). Ji et al. reported that, there are less
seasonal variations in the dry deposition, but the wet deposition rate of aerosols is
greater during the non-monsoon seasons than the monsoon season in the northwest
Himalayan regions. The efficient long range transport resulting in higher amounts
of absorbing aerosols such as BC and dust during spring, and its subsequent
deposition on snow and ice-cover, coupled with increased amounts of solar
insolation during this season may have strong climate consequences, resulting in
atmospheric warming, changes in surface albedo and enhancing the retreat of
glaciers.

Aerosol optical depth increases exponentially with sea-surface wind speed. Sea salt
contributes 60% to the composite aerosol optical depth. The presence of aerosols
over Arabian Sea during summer monsoon season decreases the short wave
radiation arriving at the surface by as much as 21 W m-2 and increases top of the
atmosphere reflected radiation by 18 Wm-2 (Vinoj and Satheesh 2003). During
summer monsoon winds are mainly southwesterly (i.e., from ocean), which during
the winter monsoon are mainly northeasterly (i.e., from land) (Moorthy and
Satheesh, 2000).

Aerosols affect Earth’s energy budget by scattering and absorbing radiation we can
say it the “direct effect” and by modifying amounts and microphysical and
radiative properties of clouds known as “indirect effects”. The first indirect effect
aerosols and drop concentrations. Large no of modeling work indicate that drop
concentrations increase with increasing aerosol. The second indirect effect is the
“cloud lifetime effect”, based on the premise that non-precipitating clouds will live
longer. In GCMs the “lifetime effect” is equivalent to changing the representation
of precipitation production and can be parameterized as an increase in cloud area
or cloud cover. The second indirect effect hypothesis states that the more numerous
and smaller drops associated with aerosol perturbations, suppress collision-induced
rain, and result in a longer cloud lifetime. Aerosols influence cloud properties
through their role as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Increases in aerosol particle
concentrations increase the CCN which will affect cloud properties. An increase in
CNN leads to more cloud droplets so that, for fixed cloud liquid water content, the
cloud droplet size will decrease. This effect leads to brighter clouds also known as
“cloud albedo effect”.

The addition of aerosols to the atmosphere alters the intensity of sunlight scattered
back to space, absorbed in the atmosphere, and arriving at the surface. Such a
perturbation of sunlight by aerosols is known as aerosol radiative forcing (RF). RF
is defined as a perturbation from an initial state, like aerosols loading from
preindustrial time to the end of 20th century. Also, the aerosol RF calculated at the
top of the atmosphere, the bottom of the atmosphere, or any altitude in between,
will result in different values.

Aerosol RF also include the wavelength range, the temporal averaging, the cloud
conditions and the aerosol-cloud interactions, the wide variety of aerosol sources
and types, the short atmospheric lifetime of aerosols, and the chemical and
microphysical processes occurring in the atmosphere. Also, aerosol RF at the
surface is stronger than that at TOA, exerting large impacts within the atmosphere
to alter the atmospheric circulation patterns and water cycle.

Aerosols act as sites at which water vapor can accumulate during cloud droplet
formation, serving as cloud condensation nuclei or CCN. Any change in number
concentration or hygroscopic properties of such particles has the potential to
modify the physical and radiative properties of clouds, may change cloud
brightness (Twomey,1977) and the intensity with which a cloud will precipitate.
Collectively changes in cloud processes due to anthropogenic aerosols are referred
to as aerosol indirect effects. So we can say that indirect effects of aerosols on
clouds include an increase in cloud brightness, change in precipitation and possibly
an increase in lifetime; thus the overall net impact of aerosols is an enhancement of
Earth’s reflectance (shortwave albedo).This reduces the sunlight reaching Earth’s
surface, producing a net climatic cooling, as well as a redistribution of the radiant
and latent heat energy deposited in the atmosphere. These effects can alter
atmospheric circulation and the water cycle, including precipitation patterns, on a
variety of length and time scales (e.g., Ramanathan et al., 2001).

Aerosols containing large concentrations of small CCN nucleate many small cloud
droplets, which coalesce very inefficiently into raindrops. One consequence of this
is suppression of rain over polluted regions. In satellite studies, the clouds within
and outside of pollution tracks had similar dimensions and contained similar
amounts of water. The only difference was in the reduction of the cloud particle
effective radius within the pollution tracks to less than 14 mm, the precipitation
threshold radius below which precipitation particles do not normally form.
Precipitation was observed only outside the pollution tracks, not in them. The
suppression of coalescence by smoke and air pollution also induced lower freezing
temperature of the cloud super cooled water and suppression of the ice
precipitation processes. Desert dust also suppresses precipitation from warm
clouds, but in addition, it has a strong ice-nucleating activity. The effect on
precipitation has been documented so far only on the basis of case studies, but it is
likely to be a major factor in reducing precipitation efficiency of clouds over land
where anthropogenic sources are a major source of CCN.

The large difference between TOA and surface forcing due to the absorbing
anthropogenic aerosols raises an important question related to the hydrological
cycle: How does the system adjust to the large reduction in surface solar
absorption? At the surface, there is a balance between radiation, latent heat flux
and sensible heat flux. One or all of these components will decrease to compensate
for the reduction in surface solar radiation.

CLIMATIC MODELS AND AEROSOLS:

The ocean and atmosphere general circulation climate models (OA-GCMs) have
shown that the global average temperature changes are largely determined by the
TOA forcing. Global surface warming due to GHGs should exceed the global
cooling effect of the aerosols; regionally, however, the aerosols’ cooling effects
could exceed the GHG’s warming. The simulation models also show competing
effects of aerosols and GHGs. Modern climate models suggest that the global
surface would warm by about 0.5 to 0.8 K per 1 W m-2 TOA forcing. Out of the 2.4
W m-2 20th century anthropogenic GHG forcing, about 0.4W m-2 is stored in the
oceans; the remaining 2 W m-2 should have caused a warming of about 1 to 1.6 K.
But the observed warming between 1900 and 2000 is only about 0.6 K.

OA-GCMs also show that a global mean surface warming will be accompanied by
increase in global precipitation by about 1 to 2% per Kelvin (increase in surface
temperature) because of the increase in evaporation, particularly from the oceans.
The evaporation increases because the saturation vapor pressure increases with
temperature. But 60 to 70 percent of the absorbed solar radiation at the surface is
balanced (on a global annual mean basis) by evaporation, and it is thus possible
that a major fraction of the reduction in surface solar radiation is balanced by a
reduction in evaporation. Reduction in the evaporation will have to be balanced by
a reduction in rainfall and effectively spin down the hydrological cycle.
The other model is Chemistry and Transport Models (CTMs) are used to test the
processes controlling aerosol spatial and temporal distributions, including aerosol
and precursor emissions, chemical and microphysical transformations, transport,
and removal. CTMs are used to describe the global aerosol system and to make
estimates of direct aerosol radiative forcing. In general, CTMs do not explore the
climate response to this forcing. But General Circulation Models (GCMs) have the
capability of including aerosol processes as a part of the climate system to estimate
aerosol climate forcing, including aerosol-cloud interactions, and the climate
response to this forcing.

More generally, aerosols can alter the location of solar radiation absorption within
the system, and this aspect alone can alter climate and precipitation even without
producing any change in net radiation at the top of the atmosphere. By decreasing
solar absorption at the surface, aerosols (from both the direct and indirect effects)
reduce the energy available for evapotranspiration, potentially resulting in a
decrease in precipitation. Energy absorption by aerosols above the boundary layer
can also inhibit precipitation by warming the air at altitude relative to the surface,
i.e. increasing atmospheric stability. The increased stability can then inhibit
convection, affecting both rainfall and atmospheric circulation (Ramanathan et al.,
2001).

GCM simulations examined the aerosol effects on hydrological cycle.

Ramanathan et al. (2005) showed from fully coupled ocean–atmosphere GCM
experiments that the “solar dimming” effect at the surface, i.e., the reduction of
solar radiation reaching the surface, due to the inclusion of absorbing aerosol
forcing causes a reduction in surface evaporation, a decrease in meridional sea
surface temperature (SST) gradient and an increase in atmospheric stability, and a
reduction in rainfall over South Asia. On the other hand Lau and Kim (2006)
examined the direct effects of aerosol on the monsoon water cycle variability from
GCM simulations with prescribed realistic global aerosol forcing and proposed the
“elevated heat pump” effect, suggesting that atmospheric heating by absorbing
aerosols (dust and black carbon), through water cycle feedback, may lead to a
strengthening of the South Asia monsoon.

This is also supported by Xue et al. (2008) who suggested that there exist two
regimes: the first, a precipitating regime at low aerosol concentrations where an
increase in aerosol will suppress precipitation and increase cloud cover and a
second, non-precipitating regime where the enhanced evaporation associated with
smaller drops will decrease cloud water and cloud fraction. Wang et al. (2003)
showed that polluted stratocumulus clouds tend to have lower water contents than
clean clouds because the small droplets associated with polluted clouds evaporate
more readily and induce an evaporation-entrainment feedback that dilutes the
cloud.

AEROSOLS AND INDIAN MANSOONAL CIRCULATION PATTERN:

Before onset of the monsoon, northern India particularly Indo-ganga plain and
Himalayan region experienced significant aerosols loading transported from desert
region of Thar ,Arabian peninsula and Iranian region. Staple burning in Punjab and
Haryana region also contribute immensely. This aerosols loading extend vertically
at an elevation up to 5 km as observed from the space-borne lidar measurements
(CALIPSO).This high elevation loading effect the weather parameter to great
extent. In the past decade or so, several field campaigns such as the Indian Ocean
Experiment (INDOEX), Aerosol characterization experiment (ACE) Asia, East
Asian Studies of Tropospheric Aerosols: An International Regional Experiment
(EAST-AIRE), with a suite of state-of-the-art instruments, have been conducted in
order to assess the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on the regional climate,
radiation and monsoon rainfall. (Li et al 2007).

There are four physical mechanisms underlying the aerosol–ISM connection. The
first pathway is the ‘‘solar dimming’’ effect. Due to scattering and absorbing
aerosols leads to the surface cooling effect in the Indian subcontinent which
reduces the south–north ocean–land thermal contrast and increase the atmospheric
stability, this weakened ISM circulations. The second pathway is absorbing
aerosols, particularly black carbon, which enhance the ISM rainfall by increasing
the sub-cloud moist static energy or the convective available potential energy. The
third pathway is the ‘‘elevated heat pump’’ (EHP) effect in which the dust aerosols
from northwestern desert accumulate around the Tibetan Plateau and heat the mid-
to-upper troposphere, which can result in an anomalous low pressure system over
the TP and strengthen the ISM .The fourth pathway is associated with the Middle-
East dust-induced atmospheric heating over the Iranian Plateau (IP) and the
Arabian Sea (AS). The Middle East dust aerosols can contribute to an enhanced
southwesterly monsoon flow over the AS resulting from the dust-induced heating
in the troposphere, which increases the ISM rainfall. The enhanced aerosol solar
absorption creates a temperature anomaly which amplifies the overturning of the
meridional circulation and thus causes to draw in more moisture from the Indian
Ocean.

There are various models used in the study of aerosols and monsoon. WRF-
Chemistry model simulates the aerosol emission, turbulent mixing, transport,
transformation, dry depositions, and wet scavenging of trace gases and aerosols
together. Dust emission is simulated by the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation
and Transport (GOCART) scheme through the use of surface winds and soil
erosion. Lee and Wang (2015) used Community Earth System Model which
includes component models for ocean-Parallel Ocean Program 2 (POP2),
atmosphere - Community Atmosphere Model, 4 (CAM4), land- Community Land
Model, 4 (CLM4), and land ice and sea ice- Community Ice Sheet Model (CISM)
and Community Ice Code 4 (CICE4), which examine the roles of aerosol forcing in
both pre- and post-onset periods.

Therefore, in the dry pre-monsoonal season in May-June, aerosol abundance is

much higher than during the actual monsoon season i.e. June–September.
Ramanathan include aerosol direct forcing in the monsoon season instead of the
pre monsoonal period, derive that including weakened meridional sea surface
temperature (SST) gradients, reduced evaporation, and increased atmospheric
stabilization, all contributing to reduced rainfall particularly over central India.
Using a coupled atmosphere and ocean general circulation model, Meehl et al.
(2008) again demonstrated the role of the solar dimming effect during the
monsoonal phase in weakening monsoonal circulation and precipitation. However,
they also found that the effect from absorbing aerosols during the pre-monsoonal
period enhances precipitation in certain areas such as northwestern India.
However, indirect aerosol effects can also exert substantial influence on the
monsoon system (Bollasina et al. 2011).

Indian subcontinent region is known to have high concentration of anthropogenic

aerosols which significantly influence the regional climate through direct radiative
forcing (Ramanathan 2008).Using time-evolving global distributions of black
carbon aerosols in a global coupled climate model (CCSM-3), Meehl et al. (2008)
show that such aerosols lead to increase in pre-monsoon (March–April-May)
rainfall while tend to decrease monsoon (June-July–August) rainfall over the
Indian region.

Aerosols like sulfates, nitrates and sea salt scatter the solar radiation, while
absorbing aerosols such as black carbon, smoke and mineral dust alter the spatial
gradient in the atmospheric solar heating, this lead to perturbation in the spatial
distribution of monsoonal rainfall in Indian subcontinent, with uneven regional
distribution of rainfall (Ramanathan et al. 2005).

Chung et al. (2002) used an atmospheric model with sea surface temperatures
(SSTs) fixed to their climatological cycle and aerosol forcing imposed in terms of a
radiative forcing perturbation (from October to May) over the Indian Ocean,
derived from INDOEX measurements. The results showed that the aerosols
induced surface cooling by reducing solar radiation at the surface but also
produced a warming of the lower troposphere by absorption. The dynamical
response was large: from the enhancement of the meridional temperature gradient
in the atmosphere and increased low-level convergence, which in turn led to
stronger pre monsoon rainfall.

Lau et al. (2006) have also ascertained the effects of absorbing aerosols on the
summer monsoon with an atmospheric model forced by specified SSTs and
proposed an “elevated heat pump”, upper-level heating anomaly over the Tibetan
Plateau in April and May that reinforces the meridional temperature gradient and
intensifies the monsoon over India in June and July. However, the impact of
aerosols on monsoon rainfall in a coupled model was found to be different from
that in uncoupled models with specified SSTs.

Ramanathan et al (2005), using a coupled ocean–atmosphere model with aerosols

over South Asia prescribed according to measurements, found that, while aerosol
absorption of solar radiation and consequent heating of the atmosphere leads to
enhanced upward motion over India during winter, it also leads to a weakening of
the monsoon circulation and a reduction of rainfall over India during summer. The
latter effect was attributed to the aerosol-induced decrease of the meridional SST
gradient in the Indian Ocean, with a consequent cooler trend of SSTs in the
northern Indian Ocean than in the southern part.

Chung and Ramanathan (2006) try to estimate the influence of aerosols by running
an atmospheric model with specified SSTs, imposing separately the SST trend in
the Indian Ocean and the South Asian haze radiative forcing. He estimated that
large-scale circulation changes arising from the modulation of the meridional SST
gradient offset the rainfall increment resulting from increased ascending motions
induced by aerosol heating of the low troposphere with an overall decrease of
monsoon rainfall over India. A present-day distribution of BC was generated by
assimilating satellite retrievals of optical depths and using a chemistry-transport
model. They found that BC aerosols lead to an increase of pre monsoon rainfall
over India but to a decrease in the monsoon season, with season-averaged break
monsoon conditions associated with cooler SSTs in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal and warmer SSTs to the south (i.e. a weaker latitudinal SST gradient).

Wang et al (2009) used an interactive aerosol-climate model with the DRF of

several different combinations of carbonaceous and sulfate aerosols as well as their
mixtures and examined the effects of these different aerosols on the Indian summer
monsoon circulation. In this four model simulations have been run, one- reference
run that excludes the radiative effects of any aerosol, and other three include DRF,
in which one was scattering aerosols like sulfate, second was absorbing aerosols
like carbonaceous aerosols and third was mixture of both i.e. sulfate and
carbonaceous aerosols. Scattering reflects the weak solar absorption.Through this
model we have seen that the absorption induces a local heating of the atmosphere
while it cools the Earth’s surface. The local atmospheric heating could affect the
atmospheric stability depending on the vertical location of the aerosol layer. The
surface cooling would create a temperature gradient between the area underneath
the aerosol layer and surrounding regions. This model indicate that the absorbing
aerosols affects convective precipitation both during the onset months (May and
June) and in the summer monsoon season (June – July –August).

We find that the influence of absorbing aerosols is reflected in a perturbation to the

sub-cloud layer moist energy structure, initiated with a heating by absorbing
aerosols of the planetary boundary layer, mostly over the land areas north of the
Arabian Sea and also along the south slope of the Tibetan Plateau. This is then
enhanced by the import of air mass with high water vapor concentration. The
corresponding anomalous sub-cloud layer airflow that brings relatively humid air
primarily originated from the Arabian Sea. So we can say that the alteration made
by absorbing aerosols to the distribution of MSE, the key factor determining the
location of convection based on the statistical equilibrium theory that exhibits the
most critical impact of these particles on large-scale summer monsoon circulation.

CONCLUSION:
With above observation we can conclude that aerosols in the atmosphere play very
important role in climate and weather modulation. So there is a need for proper
study to assess its impact. Since the aerosols variation associated with source, sink
and regional as well as long-range transport pathways that is in both vertical and
horizontal directions, so there is a need in improvement of climatic models.On a
global average basis, the sum of direct and indirect forcing by anthropogenic
aerosols at the top of the atmosphere is almost certainly negative i.e. a cooling
effect, which somehow mitigate the positive i.e. warming effect by GHGs. But still
due to spatial and temporal non-uniformity of the aerosol RF, it is not easy to
predict the mitigation of aerosols accurately (Kompalli et al. 2016). So it is very
important that all climate models should be based on their ability to represent not
only present climate, but also the changes that have occurred over roughly the past
century. This requires adequate understanding about the forcing that has occurred
over this period. Harvey (2004) concluded from assessing the response to aerosols
in eight coupled models that the aerosol impact on precipitation was larger than on
temperature. The current aerosol modeling capability demonstrated by chemical
transport models has not been fully incorporated into GCM simulations. Of the 20+
models used in the IPCC AR4 assessment, most included sulfate direct RF, but
only a fraction considered other aerosol types, and only less than a third included
aerosol indirect effects. The lack of a comprehensive representation of aerosols in
climate models makes it difficult to determine climate sensitivity, and thus to make
climate change predictions. On the account of impact of aerosols on monsoon we
have seen that the scattering aerosols have very limited impact on monsoon
circulation and precipitation. On the other hand, absorbing aerosols have a strong
influence on the monsoon circulation and the convective precipitation.
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