Aerosols and contrasting monsoon conditions over the Himalayan region

Impact of aerosols on the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) variability is well documented; however there are limited studies which have quantified the role of aerosols in modifying the amount of rainfall. To address this research problem, we make use of the remotely sensed data set of precipitation and aerosols from different observations. In the present study remotely sensed precipitation data set has been utilised to define contrasting monsoon conditions over the Himalayan region. As per the classical definition, active and break spells are defined over the central part of the Indian land region, and during the break spells over the central Indian region, the Himalayan region receives substantial amount of rainfall. It is found that accumulation of more dust over the Uttarakhand region significantly (negative correlation with rainfall; significant at 5% significance level) suppresses the rainfall during break spells. We propose that the substantial aerosol loading and its associated dynamical feedback over the Himalayan foothills may have considerable impact on the amount of rainfall over the mountainous regions of the Indian subcontinent. Results presented in this paper are supported by the statistically robust significance test and would be useful to develop the understanding of the role of aerosols in modulating the rainfall intensity during the summer monsoon season.