Abstract
Measurements and models show that enhanced aerosol concentrations can modify macro- and micro-physical properties of clouds. Here, we examine the effect of aerosols on continental mesoscale convective cloud systems during the Indian summer monsoon and find that these aerosol–cloud interactions have a net cooling effect at the surface and the top-of-atmosphere. Long-term (2002–2016) satellite data provide evidence of aerosol-induced cloud invigoration effect (AIvE) during the Indian summer monsoon. The AIvE leads to enhanced formation of thicker stratiform anvil clouds at higher altitudes. These AIvE-induced stratiform anvil clouds are also relatively brighter because of the presence of smaller sized ice particles. As a result, AIvE-induced increase in shortwave cloud radiative forcing is much larger than longwave cloud radiative forcing leading to the intensified net cooling effect of clouds over the Indian summer monsoon region. Such aerosol-induced cooling could subsequently decrease the surface diurnal temperature range and have significant feedbacks on lower tropospheric turbulence in a warmer and polluted future scenario.
Highlights
Measurements and models show that enhanced aerosol concentrations can modify macroand micro-physical properties of clouds
Cloud-resolving modeling studies further illustrated that aerosol-induced cloud invigoration effect (AIvE) is primarily associated with the increase in cloud top height (CTH), cloud fraction (CF), vertical lifting of cloud droplets followed by a subsequent increase in ice-phase hydrometeors[24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]
This study focuses on Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) region (17°N–27°N and 74°E–88°E, hereafter referred to as the ISMReg shown by the bounded box in Supplementary Figure 1A)
Summary
Measurements and models show that enhanced aerosol concentrations can modify macroand micro-physical properties of clouds. AIvE-associated increase in occurrence and lifetime of stratiform anvil cloud branch of mature MCSs and microphysical changes such as reduction in the size of ice particles can significantly enhance the cloud albedo, causing a net cooling at the TOA and the surface[29,36].
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