Impacts of Aerosol Orographic Precipitation Interaction Associated with Western Disturbances over India Using Satellite Observations

Western disturbances (WDs) develop as extra-tropical low-pressure systems over the Mediterranean and lose their frontal structure as they move eastward toward India. The effect of aerosols on the microphysical characteristics of precipitation and clouds associated with WDs in February 2016 was investigated over the west coast of India and the adjacent Arabian region. This research highly depends on the era interim reanalysis ensemble with back-trajectory simulation. Among the WD event's pre-mature and mature phases, warm and humid prevailing winds were observed, resulting in substantial aerosol movement. Compared to the ERA-Interim thirty-year mean climatology, the temperature in the simulations was higher during the dissipating phase through to the mature phase. During the dispersing phase, the confluence of easterly and westerly winds was evident in the study region's eastern and northeastern areas. Over the northern and eastern sections of the country, there was a substantial quantity of high ratios of water-vapor mixing and a significant level of humidity. Precipitation occurred among the northeastern and eastern parts of the research area between the dissipating phases. All the forecasts overstated the precipitation over Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and West Bengal, whereas the model underestimated it over Kerala, Karnataka, Konkan, and Goa. Between the dissipating phases among the regions where rainfall was observed, the cloud fraction (CF) value of vertical integration was moderate to high. The significant relationship between aerosol optical depth (AOD) and precipitation showed a stimulating effect in the presence of aerosols, which results in enhanced rain during the dissipating phase.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of aerosols on the precipitation and cloud microphysical characteristics associated with Western Disturbances (WDs) in February 2016. The findings show that aerosols have a stimulating effect on rainfall during the dissipating phase. However, the model predictions of precipitation location and intensity have some discrepancies.