TY - JOUR
T1 - Spatio-temporal variations of absorbing aerosols and their relationship with meteorology over four high altitude sites in glaciated region of Pakistan
AU - Nasir, Jawad
AU - Zeb, Bahadar
AU - Sorooshian, Armin
AU - Mansha, Muhammad
AU - Alam, Khan
AU - Ahmad, Ifthikhar
AU - Rizvi, Hussain Haider
AU - Shafiq, Muhammad
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical support of Prof. Xu Baiqing, Institute of Tibetan Plateau, Chinese Academy of Sciences for sites selection as well as motivation for the said study. The authors gratefully acknowledge the MODIS and OMI scientific teams from NASA for the provision of the satellite data utilized in this study. The working team (http://ready.arl.noaa.gov) for the HYSPLIT trajectories is also acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/9/1
Y1 - 2019/9/1
N2 - In high Asia, absorbing aerosols, particularly black carbon (BC) and dust, reportedly have strong effects on glaciers and the hydrological cycle. Knowledge about influence of BC over Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalaya (HKH) region in northern Pakistan is limited and therefore, required in-depth investigation. This study reports on the ground based BC and satellite based aerosol variations during the period 2016–2017, over four high altitude stations, including Astore, Gilgit, Sost, and Skardu, representing HKH range in northern Pakistan. Hourly, daily, and monthly variations of BC aerosol were examined in relation to meteorology. BC aerosols exhibited diurnal variations with sharp morning and evening peaks. During the study period BC concentrations were in the range of 0.9–6.1 μg/m3 over the study locations. During the study period, the average BC concentration over Astore, Gilgit, Sost and Skardue were 2.6 ± 0.7, 3.7 ± 0.6, 2.1 ± 1.1 and 3.0 ± 1.0 μg/m3, respectively. AOD varies from 0.01 to 0.16 and AI ranges from 0.2 to 5.5 during the study period. BC aerosols exhibited positive correlations with temperature and wind speed, in addition to a negative correlation with relative humidity. BC also has a positive correlation with AOD and AI. The long range transport of aerosols to the receptor sites were from central Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East and India as well.
AB - In high Asia, absorbing aerosols, particularly black carbon (BC) and dust, reportedly have strong effects on glaciers and the hydrological cycle. Knowledge about influence of BC over Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalaya (HKH) region in northern Pakistan is limited and therefore, required in-depth investigation. This study reports on the ground based BC and satellite based aerosol variations during the period 2016–2017, over four high altitude stations, including Astore, Gilgit, Sost, and Skardu, representing HKH range in northern Pakistan. Hourly, daily, and monthly variations of BC aerosol were examined in relation to meteorology. BC aerosols exhibited diurnal variations with sharp morning and evening peaks. During the study period BC concentrations were in the range of 0.9–6.1 μg/m3 over the study locations. During the study period, the average BC concentration over Astore, Gilgit, Sost and Skardue were 2.6 ± 0.7, 3.7 ± 0.6, 2.1 ± 1.1 and 3.0 ± 1.0 μg/m3, respectively. AOD varies from 0.01 to 0.16 and AI ranges from 0.2 to 5.5 during the study period. BC aerosols exhibited positive correlations with temperature and wind speed, in addition to a negative correlation with relative humidity. BC also has a positive correlation with AOD and AI. The long range transport of aerosols to the receptor sites were from central Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East and India as well.
KW - Aerosol index
KW - Aerosol optical depth
KW - Black carbon
KW - Karakoram
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jastp.2019.05.010
DO - 10.1016/j.jastp.2019.05.010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85066440737
VL - 190
SP - 84
EP - 95
JO - Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
JF - Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
SN - 1364-6826
ER -