Aerosol indirect effect over the Indian Ocean

Abstract

We analyze the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite data over the seas adjacent to the Indian sub-continent to investigate the effect of aerosols on the size distribution of cloud droplets and ice crystals (indirect aerosol effect). During the winter months of increased anthropogenic pollution we observe smaller sizes of cloud droplets in water clouds in agreement with the expected aerosol indirect effect. However, contrary to our expectations, we find that during episodes of increased pollution the effective radius of ice crystals is shifted toward the larger rather than smaller sizes. We propose a combination of natural seasonal variability of meteorological conditions and an "inverse aerosol indirect effect" caused by heterogeneous ice nucleation as a possible explanation of observed ice crystal growth. The ECHAM4 (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast Hamburg version 4th generation GCM) results with heterogeneous ice nucleation reproduce the observed increase in ice crystal size during the enhanced pollution episodes. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.