Direct radiative effects of anthropogenic aerosols on Indian summer monsoon circulation

Abstract

The direct radiative impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on the dynamics of Indian summer monsoon circulation are examined using the regional climate model version 4.1 (RegCM4.1). High anthropogenic aerosol optical depth (AAOD >0.1) and surface shortwave cooling ( 0.2 °C due to the dimming effect of anthropogenic aerosols. The aerosol-induced cooling leads to an increase in surface pressure over the local hotspots in the Indian landmass, which reduces the land-sea pressure contrast resulting in weakening of summer monsoon circulation. The simulated surface pressure anomaly also inhibits moisture transport from the BoB towards Indian landmass thereby enhancing precipitation over the BoB and parts of the east coast of India. The impacts are interpreted as conservative estimates because of the underestimation of AAOD by the model due to uncertainties in emission inventory and biases in simulated meteorology. Our results demonstrate the direct radiative impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on the Indian monsoon circulation and call for future studies combining the dynamical and microphysical impacts, which are not considered in this study.