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Zeb B, Alam K, Khan R, Ditta A, Iqbal R, Elsadek MF, Raza A, Elshikh MS. Characteristics and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols based on long-term AERONET investigations in an urban environment of Pakistan. Sci Rep 2024; 14:8548. [PMID: 38609467 PMCID: PMC11014990 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58981-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Radiative balance, local climate, and human health are all significantly influenced by aerosol. Recent severe air pollution over Lahore, a city in Pakistan calls for more thorough research to determine the negative impacts brought on by too many aerosols. To study regional aerosol characteristics and their differences from various aspects, in-depth and long-term (2007-2020) investigations of the columnar aerosol properties over the urban environment of Lahore were carried out by using AERONET data. The Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD400) and Angstrom Exponent (AE400-870) vary from low values of 0.10 to a maximum value of 4.51 and from 0.03 to 1.81, respectively. The huge differences in the amount of AOD440 as well as AE440-870 show the large fluctuation of aerosol classes because of various sources of their emission. During the autumn and winter seasons, the decreasing trend of the optical parameters of aerosols like Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) and Asymmetry Parameter (ASY) with increasing wavelength from 675 to 1020 nm indicates the dominance of light-absorbing aerosols (biomass burning (BB) and industrial/urban (UI). Due to the long-distance dust movement during spring, summer, and autumn, coarse mode particles predominated in Lahore during the study period. Dust type (DD) aerosols are found to be the dominant one during spring (46.92%), summer (54.31%), and autumn (57.46%) while urban industry (BB/UI) was dominant during the winter season (53.21%). During each season, the clean continental (CC) aerosols are found to be in negligible amounts, indicating terrible air quality in Lahore City. The present research work fills up the study gap in the optical properties of aerosols in Lahore and will help us understand more fully how local aerosol fluctuation affects regional climate change over the urban environment of Lahore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bahadar Zeb
- Department of Mathematics, Sheringal Dir (Upper), Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Khan Alam
- Department of Physics, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
| | - Rehana Khan
- Department of Physics, Higher Education Colleges, Govt. of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Allah Ditta
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir (U), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18000, Pakistan.
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia.
| | - Rashid Iqbal
- Department of Agronomy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan
| | - Mohamed Farouk Elsadek
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. 2455, 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ahsan Raza
- Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374, Müncheberg, Germany.
| | - Mohamed Soliman Elshikh
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Prasad P, Basha G, Ratnam MV. Is the atmospheric boundary layer altitude or the strong thermal inversions that control the vertical extent of aerosols? THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 802:149758. [PMID: 34454150 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
It is well known that the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) plays a significant role in controlling the variability of atmospheric constituents such as aerosols and trace-gases. Hence, significant diurnal and seasonal variation in these will be observed as the ABL altitude does. However, on several occasions, high aerosol concentration in the lidar measurements is observed even above the ABL altitude. This raised a question that up to what extent ABL altitude acts as a capping layer for these pollutants? From the detailed analysis carried out using long-term (2010-2018) lidar observations and simultaneous radiosonde profiles obtained from Gadanki, India, we show that 'there exist thermal inversions (TI), which are stronger than the ABL inversions, that fully control the vertical extent'. The detailed characteristics of TI (inversion strength (IS) and inversion depth (ID)) are also obtained. The results revealed that aerosol concentrations below the TI altitude increases with IS (ID) up to 3-4 K (300-400 m) during winter whereas in pre-monsoon it increases up to 2-3 K (100-200 m). Thus, IS of up to 2-4 K is required to fully trap the aerosol concentrations and this TI coincide with the ABL inversions for 51.7% only, particularly during the winter and pre-monsoon seasons. This analysis is further extended to different geographical locations of India using the aerosol profiles obtained from CALIPSO and a network of 23 radiosonde stations. The observed results provided further evidence that the vertical distribution of aerosols is restricted to the maximum extent by the TI but not the ABL altitude. These observations lead us to propose a hypothesis that 'trapping of aerosols fully occurs up to particular IS and ID only and the ABL altitude is not the deciding factor most of the time for capping the aerosol vertical distribution'. These findings will greatly help in modeling the diffusion and transport of air pollutants in the lower troposphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Prasad
- National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Gadanki, India
| | - Ghouse Basha
- National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Gadanki, India
| | - M Venkat Ratnam
- National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Gadanki, India.
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Spatiotemporal Trends of Aerosols over Urban Regions in Pakistan and Their Possible Links to Meteorological Parameters. ATMOSPHERE 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/atmos11030306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Aerosol optical depth (AOD) has become one of the most crucial parameters for climate change assessment on regional and global scales. The present study investigates trends in AOD using long-term data derived from moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer (MODIS) over twelve regions in Pakistan. Different statistical tests are used to assess the annual and seasonal trends in AOD. Results reveal increasing AOD trends over most of the selected regions with an obvious increase over the north and northeastern parts of the study area. Annually, increasing trends (0.0002–0.0047 year−1) were observed over seven regions, with three being statistically significant. All the selected regions experience increasing AOD trends during the winter season with six being statistically significant while during the summer season seven regions experience increasing AOD trends and the remaining five exhibit the converse with two being statistically significant. The changes in the sign and magnitude of AOD trends have been attributed to prevailing meteorological conditions. The decreasing rainfall and increasing temperature trends mostly support the increasing AOD trend over the selected regions. The high/low AOD phases during the study period may be ascribed to the anomalies in mid-tropospheric relative humidity and wind fields. The summer season is generally characterized by high AOD with peak values observed over the regions located in central plains, which can be attributed to the dense population and enhanced concentration of industrial and vehicular emissions over this part of the study area. The results derived from the present study give an insight into aerosol trends and could form the basis for aerosol-induced climate change assessment over the study area.
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Evaluation of the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) Aerosol Algorithm for Himawari-8 Data. REMOTE SENSING 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/rs11232771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Himawari-8, operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), is a new generation geostationary satellite that provides remote sensing data to retrieve atmospheric aerosol optical depth (AOD) at high spatial (1 km) and high temporal (10 min) resolutions. The Geostationary- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth exchange (GeoNEX) project recently adapted the multiangle implementation of atmospheric correction (MAIAC) algorithm, originally developed for joint retrieval of AOD and surface anisotropic reflectance with the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, to generate Earth monitoring products from the latest geostationary satellites including Himawari-8. This study evaluated the GeoNEX Himawari-8 ~1 km MAIAC AOD retrieved over all the aerosol robotic network (AERONET) sites between 6°N–30°N and 91°E–127°E. The corresponding JMA Himawari-8 AOD products were also evaluated for comparison. We only used cloud-free and the best quality satellite AOD retrievals and compiled a total of 16,532 MAIAC-AERONET and 21,737 JMA-AERONET contemporaneous pairs of AOD values for 2017. Statistical analyses showed that both MAIAC and JMA data are highly correlated with AERONET AOD, with the correlation coefficient (R) of ~0.77, and the root mean squared error (RMSE) of ~0.16. The absolute bias of MAIAC AOD (0.02 overestimation) appears smaller than that of the JMA AOD (0.05 underestimation). In comparison with the JMA data, the time series of MAIAC AOD were more consistent with AERONET AOD values and better capture the diurnal variations of the latter. The dependence of MAIAC AOD bias on scattering angles is also discussed.
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Tiwari S, Tiwari S, Hopke PK, Attri SD, Soni VK, Singh AK. Variability in optical properties of atmospheric aerosols and their frequency distribution over a mega city "New Delhi," India. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2016; 23:8781-93. [PMID: 26810661 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-6060-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2015] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The role of atmospheric aerosols in climate and climate change is one of the largest uncertainties in understanding the present climate and in capability to predict future climate change. Due to this, the study of optical properties of atmospheric aerosols over a mega city "New Delhi" which is highly polluted and populated were conducted for two years long to see the aerosol loading and its seasonal variability using sun/sky radiometer data. Relatively higher mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) (0.90 ± 0.38) at 500 nm and associated Angstrom exponent (AE) (0.82 ± 0.35) for a pair of wavelength 400-870 nm is observed during the study period indicating highly turbid atmosphere throughout the year. Maximum AOD value is observed in the months of June and November while minimum is in transition months March and September. Apart from this, highest value of AOD (AE) value is observed in the post-monsoon [1.00 ± 0.42 (1.02 ± 0.16)] season followed by the winter [0.95 ± 0.36 (1.02 ± 0.20)] attributed to significance contribution of urban as well as biomass/crop residue burning aerosol which is further confirmed by aerosol type discrimination based on AOD vs AE. During the pre-monsoon season, mostly dust and mixed types aerosols are dominated. AODs value at shorter wavelength observed maximum in June and November while at longer wavelength maximum AOD is observed in June only. For the better understanding of seasonal aerosol modification process, the aerosol curvature effect is studied which show a strong seasonal dependency under a high turbid atmosphere, which are mainly associated with various emission sources. Five days air mass back trajectories were computed. They suggest different patterns of particle transport during the different seasons. Results suggest that mixtures of aerosols are present in the urban environment, which affect the regional air quality as well as climate. The present study will be very much useful to the modeler for validation of satellite data with observed data during estimation of radiative effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Tiwari
- Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
| | - Suresh Tiwari
- Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (New Delhi Branch), Prof Ramnath Vij Marg, New Delhi, 110060, India
| | - P K Hopke
- CARES, Clarkson University, Box 5708, Potsdam, NY, 13699-5708, USA
| | - S D Attri
- India Meteorological Department, New Delhi, 110001, India
| | - V K Soni
- India Meteorological Department, New Delhi, 110001, India
| | - Abhay Kumar Singh
- Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.
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Zhang Y, Yu H, Eck TF, Smirnov A, Chin M, Remer LA, Bian H, Tan Q, Levy R, Holben BN, Piazzolla S. Aerosol daytime variations over North and South America derived from multiyear AERONET measurements. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1029/2011jd017242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Kumar S, Devara PCS, Dani KK, Sonbawne SM, Saha SK. Sun-sky radiometer–derived column-integrated aerosol optical and physical properties over a tropical urban station during 2004–2009. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1029/2010jd014944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Nair US, McNider R, Patadia F, Christopher SA, Fuller K. Sensitivity of nocturnal boundary layer temperature to tropospheric aerosol surface radiative forcing under clear-sky conditions. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1029/2010jd014068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Kaskaoutis DG, Badarinath KVS, Kumar Kharol S, Rani Sharma A, Kambezidis HD. Variations in the aerosol optical properties and types over the tropical urban site of Hyderabad, India. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1029/2009jd012423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Gogoi MM, Krishna Moorthy K, Babu SS, Bhuyan PK. Climatology of columnar aerosol properties and the influence of synoptic conditions: First‐time results from the northeastern region of India. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1029/2008jd010765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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