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Title: Sources of black carbon aerosols in South Asia and surrounding regions during the Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, Gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB)

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online)
 [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [6]
  1. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
  2. Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Thiruvanantpuram (India)
  3. Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore (India). Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic. Sciences
  4. Indian Space Research Organization (HQ), Bangalore (India)
  5. Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States). Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research.
  6. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

This study examines differences in the surface black carbon (BC) aerosol loading between the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and the Arabian Sea (AS) and identifies dominant sources of BC in South Asia and surrounding regions during March–May 2006 (Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, Gases and Radiation Budget, ICARB) period. A total of 13 BC tracers are introduced in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry to address these objectives. The model reproduced the temporal and spatial variability of BC distribution observed over the AS and the BoB during the ICARB ship cruise and captured spatial variability at the inland sites. In general, the model underestimates the observed BC mass concentrations. However, the model–observation discrepancy in this study is smaller compared to previous studies. Model results show that ICARB measurements were fairly well representative of the AS and the BoB during the pre-monsoon season. Elevated BC mass concentrations in the BoB are due to 5 times stronger influence of anthropogenic emissions on the BoB compared to the AS. Biomass burning in Burma also affects the BoB much more strongly than the AS. Results show that anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions, respectively, accounted for 60 and 37% of the average ± standard deviation (representing spatial and temporal variability) BC mass concentration (1341 ± 2353 ng m-3) in South Asia. BC emissions from residential (61%) and industrial (23%) sectors are the major anthropogenic sources, except in the Himalayas where vehicular emissions dominate. We find that regional-scale transport of anthropogenic emissions contributes up to 25% of BC mass concentrations in western and eastern India, suggesting that surface BC mass concentrations cannot be linked directly to the local emissions in different regions of South Asia.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1209237
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online), Vol. 15, Issue 10; ISSN 1680-7324
Publisher:
European Geosciences UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 50 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

How Will Air Quality Change in South Asia by 2050? journal February 2018
Carbonaceous aerosols over Pune and Hyderabad (India) and influence of meteorological factors journal July 2015
Residential energy use emissions dominate health impacts from exposure to ambient particulate matter in India journal February 2018
Multi-Model Evaluation of Meteorological Drivers, Air Pollutants and Quantification of Emission Sources over the Upper Brahmaputra Basin journal November 2019
The impact of residential combustion emissions on atmospheric aerosol, human health, and climate journal January 2016
Variations in O 3 , CO, and CH 4 over the Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon season: shipborne measurements and model simulations journal January 2017
Variations in O3, CO, and CH4 over the Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon season: Ship-borne measurements and model simulations posted_content July 2016

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