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Two Contrasting Dust-Dominant Periods Over India Observed From Modis And Calipso Data, Ritesh Gautam, Zhaoyan Liu, Ramesh P. Singh, N. Christina Hsu

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Each year, prior to the onset of the Indian Summer Monsoon, the Gangetic Plains (GP), bounded by the high-altitude Himalayan mountains, are strongly influenced by the transport of dust outbreaks originating in the northwestern desert in India (known as the Thar Desert). Dust particles constitute the bulk of the regional aerosol loading which peaks annually during the pre-monsoon season. This paper integrates observations from space-borne sensors, namely MODIS and CALIPSO, together with ground sunphotometer measurements, to infer dust loading in the pre-monsoon aerosol build-up over source and sink regions in northern India. Detailed aerosol characterization from the synergetic observational assessment …