Aerosol optical depth, physical properties and radiative forcing over the Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea region (4° N–20° N to 50° E–78° E) has a unique weather pattern on account of the Indian monsoon and the associated winds that reverse direction seasonally. The aerosol data, collected using ship-borne and island platforms (for 8 years from 1995 to 2002) along with MODIS (onboard TERRA satellite) data (from 2000 to 2003) have been used to evolve a comprehensive characterisation of the spatial and temporal variation in the physical, chemical, and radiative properties of aerosols over the Arabian Sea. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) was found to increase with latitude between the equator and 12° N. Over the northern Arabian Sea (regions lying north of 12° N), AODs do not show significant latitudinal variations; the average aerosol optical depth for this region was 0.29±0.12 during winter monsoon season (WMS; November to March) and 0.47±0.14 during summer monsoon season (SMS; April/May to September). The corresponding Angstrom exponents were 0.7±0.12 and 0.3±0.08, respectively. The low values of the exponent during SMS indicate the dominance of large aerosols (mainly dust particles >1 µm). The latitudinal gradient in AOD in the southern Arabian Sea is larger during SMS compared to WMS.