Towards understanding the variability of aerosol characteristics over the Indo-Gangetic Plain

Ground and satellite based measurements show significant loading of atmospheric aerosols over the highly populated Indo-Gangetic Plains with implications to both air quality and regional climate. Recent studies have found varying trends in aerosol loading over this region during different seasons. However, most of these trends were associated or linked to changes in the strength of emission sources of both natural and anthropogenic origin. In this study, using data from multiple satellites (MODIS and MISR) and reanalysis (ECMWF, NCEP) products, we show that emission characteristics over the West or North-western part of India have significant impact on aerosol loading over the IGP irrespective of the seasons. Though it is known that variability in a combination of meteorological parameters impact aerosol loading conditions, we show that it is possible to explain them by using just the wind speed as a proxy. This shows that even slight changes to emission over Northwestern part of the Indian region may have significant impact on aerosol loading conditions over IGP with implications to air quality and regional climate.