Publications

Huang, J; Bu, LB; Kumar, KR; Khan, R; Devi, NSMPL (2020). Investigating the relationship between aerosol and cloud optical properties inferred from the MODIS sensor in recent decades over East China. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, 239, 117812.

Abstract
In the present paper, we have analyzed the spatiotemporal distributions and trends of aerosol optical depth observed at 550 nm (AOD(550)), and its relation with the optical properties of clouds over East China. For this purpose, we have used the long-term (2000-2017) data obtained from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra satellite to examine and understand the existing relationship between them. The spatial gradient of AOD(550) showed an increase from the South to the North of the study domain. However, the seasonal variation of AOD(550) was found high in summer and low during the winter. We have noticed a significant increasing trend in AOD over the northern part of the study area, especially in autumn and winter seasons. The study also investigated the spatial and temporal changes to understand the relationship between AOD and cloud properties, namely cloud fraction (CF), cloud top temperature (CTT), Cloud effective radius (CER) and cloud top pressure (CTP), respectively. Besides, the linear regression analysis was conducted to estimate the time series trend for the aerosol and cloud properties during the study period. Further, the regional correlation maps were adopted to improve our understanding of the existing relationship between aerosol and cloud properties. A positive correlation between AOD and CF and CER is evident in most of the places in East China.

DOI:
10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117812

ISSN:
1352-2310