Anthropogenic emissions from South Asia reverses the aerosol indirect effect over the northern Indian Ocean.

ABSTRACT: Atmospheric aerosols play an important role in the formation of warm clouds by acting as efficient cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and their interactions are believed to cool the Earth-Atmosphere system ('first indirect effect or Twomey effect') in a highly uncertain manner compared to the other forcing agents. Here we demonstrate using long-term (2003-2016) satellite observations (NASA's A-train satellite constellations) over the northern Indian Ocean, that enhanced aerosol loading (due to anthropogenic emissions) can reverse the first indirect effect significantly. In contrast to Twomey effect, a statistically significant increase in cloud effective radius (CER, µm) is observed with respect to an increase in aerosol loading for clouds having low liquid water path (LWP < 75 g m^-2

SUBMITTER: Jose S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7591568 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature