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This study evaluates the performance of four impact-type disdrometers installed at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, located on the leeside of the Western Ghats (WG). Further, seasonal variation of rain microphysical properties is studied during premonsoon (March-May), monsoon (June-September), postmonsoon (October-November), and winter (December-February). The four disdrometers exhibit comparable raindrop size distribution (DSD) patterns, though negligible differences are found at smaller drop diameters. The DSD shows higher concentrations of smaller (large-size) drops during monsoon (pre-monsoon and postmonsoon). Principal component analysis revealed three distinct modes of DSD characteristics. Monsoon DSDs are associated with a group of numerous smaller drops allied with shallow storm heights (warm rain). The premonsoon and postmonsoon DSDs are clustered in a group where ice-based processes dominate, resulting in higher median drop diameters (D0) and smaller normalized intercept parameters (Nw). The fitted gamma DSD model indicates higher mass-weighted mean diameter (Dm) during premonsoon, and higher intercept parameter during monsoon, whereas postmonsoon and winter have intermediate values. DSD stratified with rain rate shows that the Dm values increase with an increase in rain rate during winter, monsoon and postmon-soon, whereas in premonsoon, Dm increases initially and then decreases. Higher Dm and lower Nw are observed during convective rain in all seasons. The fitted slope-shape parameter relationships show a considerable seasonal variation. The DSD on the WG's leeside is notably different from the windward slopes and other WG locations. Different microphysical and dynamical mechanisms lead to seasonal differences in DSD characteristics. In monsoon, a considerable volume of water vapour advected from the Arabian Sea promotes the formation of raindrops through collision-coalescence processes, which may result in a higher proportion of smaller and midsized raindrops. The deeper clouds during pre-monsoon and postmonsoon indicate mixed-phase processes, which lead to mid and large-sized raindrops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new global dataset of annually averaged ultrafine particle (UFP) concentrations at the Earth's surface for the years 2015–2017 has been developed through numerical simulations using the ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry model (EMAC). We present total and size-resolved concentrations along with their interannual variability. Size distributions of emitted particles from the contributing source sectors have been derived based on literature reports. The model results of UFP concentrations are evaluated using particle size distribution and particle number concentration measurements from available datasets and the literature. While we obtain reasonable agreement between the model results and observations (logarithmic-scale correlation of r=0.76 for non-remote, polluted regions), the highest values of observed, street-level UFP concentrations are systematically underestimated, whereas in rural environments close to urban areas the model generally overestimates observed UFP concentrations. As the relatively coarse global model does not resolve concentration gradients in urban centres and industrial UFP hotspots, high-resolution data of anthropogenic emissions are used to account for such differences in each model grid box, obtaining UFP concentrations with unprecedented 0.1∘×0.1∘ horizontal resolution at the Earth's surface. This observation-guided downscaling further improves the agreement with observations, leading to an increase in the logarithmic-scale correlation between observed and simulated UFP concentrations to r=0.84 in polluted environments (and 0.95 in all regions), a decrease in the root mean squared logarithmic error (from 0.57 to 0.43), and removal of discrepancies associated with air quality and population density gradients within the model grid boxes. The model results are made publicly available for studies on public health and other impacts of atmospheric UFPs, as well as for intercomparison with other regional and global models and datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian subcontinent receives ~80% of its annual total rainfall during Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and since last 100 years the prediction of interannual variability of ISM is limited due to incomplete understanding of various processes and their localized influence on the development of varying scales of convective systems. The present study reports that the intense lightning contributed from the deepest convections occurring over Indian subcontinent are concentrated in four specific regions: (a) southwest coast, (b) Gangetic‐Brahmaputra plain, (c) Himalayan foothills and (d) southeast coast. The spatial and temporal variations of deep convections, size of "convection fractions" and associated physical mechanisms are described. It shows an annual cycle of systematic onset and withdrawal of deep convections and associated lightning depending on region and season. The southwest coast region is developing very deep convections during premonsoon and postmonsoon seasons but less lightning during monsoon. While Arabian Sea sources high moisture to this region in monsoon season, the orographic lift of low‐level westerlies by Western Ghats may effectively assist the warm rain processes and produce highest rainfall, low lightning and low area of deep convections. Highest flash rates, high number of days with lightning and higher area of convection are observed in Gangetic‐Brahmaputra plain but relatively lower rainfall compared to southwest coast region during monsoon. The sustained strong updrafts over the Gangetic‐Brahmaputra plain region are supported by the moisture source from warmer Bay of Bengal, incidence of monsoon trough and the continental heating. Significant lightning activity observed in northwest part of Himalayan foothills during winter is associated with Western Disturbances (WD) phenomena. The diurnal variation of lightning flash rate and size of "convective fraction" in these regions show two modes at 1200 and 1800 UTC and it indicates active day time surface heating and nocturnal cooling processes together contribute to total rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is a crucial process driving aerosol number concentrations in the atmosphere; it can significantly impact the evolution of atmospheric aerosol and cloud processes. This study analyses at least one year of asynchronous particle number size distributions at six different locations in India. We also analyze the frequency of NPF and its contribution to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. We found that the NPF frequency has a considerable seasonal variability. At the measurement sites analyzed in this study, NPF frequently occurs in March-May (pre-monsoon, about 21 % of the days) and is the least common in October-November (post-monsoon, about 7 % of the days). Considering the NPF events in all locations, the particle formation rate (JNUC) varied by more than an order of magnitude (0.01-0.6 cm-3 s-1) and the growth rate (GRNUC) by about three orders of magnitude (0.2-17.2 nm h-1). We found that JNUC was higher by nearly an order of magnitude during NPF events in urban areas than mountain sites. GRNUC did not show a systematic difference. Our results showed that NPF events could significantly modulate the shape of particle number size distributions and CCN concentrations in India. The contribution of a given NPF event to CCN concentrations was the highest in urban locations (4.3 x 103 cm-3 per event and 1.2 x 103 cm-3 per event for 50 nm and 100 nm, respectively) as compared to mountain-background sites (2.7 x 103 cm-3 per event and 1.0 x 103 cm-3 per event). To better understand atmospheric NPF and its contribution to CCN concentrations, we would need long-term observational data from various diverse environments in India, aided with regional model simulations to help interpret field observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of raindrop size distribution (DSD) is analyzed during wet and dry spells of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) in the Western Ghats (WGs) region by using Joss-Waldvogel Disdrometer (JWD) measurements. The observed DSDs are fitted with gamma distribution, and the DSD characteristics are studied during ISM season (June-September) of 2012-2015. The DSD spectra show distinct diurnal variation during the wet and dry spells. The dry spells exhibit a strong diurnal cycle with two peaks, while the diurnal cycle is not so prominent in the wet spells. Results reveal the microphysical characteristics of warm rain during both the wet and dry periods. Even though the warm rain processes are dominant in the WGs region, the underlying dynamical processes cause the differences in DSD characteristics during the wet and dry spells. In addition, the differences in DSD spectra with different rain rates are also observed. The DSD spectra are further analyzed by separating into stratiform and convective types. Finally, an empirical relationship between the slope parameter, µ and shape parameter, µ is derived by best fitting the quadratic polynomial for the observed data during both wet and dry spells as well as for the stratiform and convective types of rain. The µ-relations obtained in the present study are slightly different in comparison with the previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper overviews the progress in the sky radiometer technology and development of the network called SKYNET. It is found that the technology has produced useful on-site calibration methods, retrieval algorithms, and data analyses from the sky radiometer observation of aerosol, cloud, water vapor and ozone. Increasing collaborations of users in the SKYNET community are becoming a useful platform for research and operation. The paper also presents issues of the technology for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of raindrop size distribution (DSD) is analyzed during wet and dry spells of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) over Western Ghats (WGs) using Joss-Waldvogel Disdrometer (JWD) measurements. The observed DSDs are fitted with gamma distribution, and the characteristic DSDs are studied during the summer monsoon seasons (June–September) of 2012–2015. The DSD spectra show distinct diurnal variation during wet and dry spells. The dry spells exhibit a strong diurnal cycle with two peaks, while the diurnal cycle is not prominent in the wet spells. The observational results reveal the microphysical characteristics of warm rain during both the wet and dry spells. Even though the warm rain processes are dominant over WGs during monsoon, the underlying dynamical processes cause the differences in DSD characteristics during wet and dry spells. In addition, the differences in DSD spectra with different rain rates are also observed during the wet and dry spells. The DSD spectra are further analyzed by separating into stratiform and convective types. Finally, an empirical relation between slope parameter, Λ and shape parameter, μ is derived by best fitting the quadratic polynomial for the observed data during both wet and dry spells as well as for the stratiform and convective types of precipitation. The Λ–μ relations obtained in the present study are slightly different in comparison with the earlier studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]