Radiative forcing of black carbon over eastern India

Abstract

Measurements of aerosol Black Carbon using a 7 channel Aethalometer at Visakhapatnam, a coastal tropical station on the east coast of India are used to study the temporal variation of surface BC mass concentration. The surface BC mass concentrations show a significant diurnal variation which is seasonally dependant. Analysis using the multi spectral data indicates that the BC mass does not show significant absorption due to non-BC aerosol species which indicates that the surface BC mass is dominated by fossil fuel sources with no indication of any other strong anthropogenic source. The Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model was used in conjunction with Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds (OPAC) to estimate the BC radiative forcing. The results show large negative surface forcing during winter (-35.78 W/ m2), moderate during summer (-16.8 W/m2) and lower forcing during monsoon (-9.9 W/m2 ) and post monsoon (-2.81 W/2). The forcing at the top of the atmosphere is positive for all the seasons. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.