atmospheric aerosol loading and properties over india: a review

Atmospheric aerosols are very crucial from air pollution and health perspective as well as for regional and global climate. this paper attempts to summarize the aerosol loading and their properties such as aerosol optical depth (aod), single scattering albedo (ssa), angstrom exponent, and radiative forcing, over india. all the above mentioned parameters have shown significant variability with change in the site and season. from various studies it was observed that aod is relatively higher over northern part of india as compared to southern and eastern part. generally, lower values of ssa were observed over all sites during winter and postmonsoon seasons which indicates the dominance of absorbing type aerosol during these seasons. also the arf within atmosphere showed comparatively higher values during novemberdecember and lower value during august and september all over the india. the current state of knowledge about aerosol sources, interactions and their effects on environment is limited because of its complexity. therefore, more focused research in needed to understand the aerosol’s role in climatic phenomenon.