Altitude variation of aerosol properties over the Himalayan range inferred from spatial measurements

► Vertical profiles of aerosols (BC mass concentration, total number concentration and optical depths) up to ∼2000 m are deduced from spaced measurements over Himalayas. ► These profiles showed sharp changes in concentration and AOD with height, across the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). ► Within the ABL, the aerosols were finer in nature and of more absorbing type than those above and at the peak. ► The ABL aerosols are strongly influenced by inhabited valley and the ABL dynamics that loft them to the peak by the afternoon. ► The estimated aerosol heating rates were higher in the plains and within the ABL and found to decrease sharply with increase in altitude.