Spatial Variability and Radiative Impact of Aerosol along the Brahmaputra River Valley in India: Results from a Campaign

• 作者: Arup Borgohain Meenakshi Devi Nilamoni Barman P. L. N. Raju Shyam Sundar Kundu
• 来源期刊: 环境保护(英文)
• 学科: 地球科学
• 关键词: Brahmaputra VALLEY AEROSOL RADIATIVE FORCING Land CAMPAIGN Black Carbon
• 年，卷（期）: 2018,（4）
• 页码范围: 405-430
• 页数: 26页
• 分类号: P4

摘要

The first ever land campaign to study the spatial variability of the aerosol characteristics along the Brahmaputra river valley (BRV) in Assam, North-Eastern India, was conducted during 2011. Measurements were made over 13 locations for Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), scattering coefficient, particulate matter, black carbon (BC) concentration and meteorological parameters. The BRV is divided into three sectors longitudinally viz western sector (WS), central sector (CS), and eastern sector (ES). Significant Spatial heterogeneity in AOD and BC concentration was observed (p < 0.05) with the highest values over WS and a continual decrease from WS to ES with aerosol dominance in PM2.5 category along the entire valley. The Angstrom coefficient measured using different wavelength pairs showed spatial variability indicating dominance of fine particles over WS and coarse particles in ES with a probable bimodal distribution. The scattering and absorption coefficient shows dominance of both types of aerosol over WS than other areas. The shortwave radiative forcing was higher over the WS than CS and ES of the valley. The campaign revealed that under favorable wind conditions, the BRV is loaded with significant amount of natural and anthropogenic aerosol during local winter and is influenced by the long-range transport of aerosols from the Indo-Gangetic plain.