Research Projects

Atmospheric aerosol particles serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) play an important role in the formation of clouds and precipitation, and influence atmospheric chemistry and physics, the hydrological cycle and climate. Incongruous representation of accurate CCN data in climate models, owing to limited measurements fails to assess the response of cloud characteristics and precipitation processes to increasing anthropogenic aerosol concentrations and represents one of the largest uncertainties in the current understanding of the climate change. The paucity of such observations over India is highly contradictory to its global relevance as major source of aerosol particles and their role in radiation budget, precipitation, and hydrological cycle. This project is measuring CCN for acquiring high-quality field measurement data in Indian continental and marine boundary layer during different levels of anthropogenic pollution at a given location scanning three meteorological season for full one year; and the development and application of formalisms for efficient description and prediction of CCN properties and concentrations.