Planetary Boundary Layer and aerosol interactions over the Indian sub-continent

Aerosols, both natural as well as anthropogenic, affect the radiative forcing of Earth's climate and reduce surface albedo. The Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) height, which depends upon surface heat budget, is analyzed considering the increase in green house gases (GHGs) from pre-industrial to post-industrial era. The PBL climatology shows deeper PBL during pre-monsoon and summer monsoon seasons as compared to post-monsoon and winter. The PBL height has decreased in post-industrial decade compared to pre-industrial decade. The PBL height reduction is due to increasing aerosol and GHGs' concentrations in the recent decades, which causes surface warming and upper tropospheric cooling. Similarly, due to higher loading of the volcanic aerosol injected from the low latitude eruptions, the atmospheric circulation has been affected. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.