Aerosol optical properties retrieved using Skyradiometer at Hanle in western Himalayas

A Skyradiometer was installed at Hanle in Ladakh, in October 2007 as a part of the site characterization program for the proposed National Large Solar Telescope project. Aerosol optical depth (AOD), single scattering albedo (SSA), volume size distribution, and refractive indices were retrieved at five spectral channels, using measurements of direct and diffuse solar irradiation. At 500 nm, the yearly average values of AOD and SSA were found to be 0.05 and 0.965, respectively. The volume size distribution shows a general bimodal behavior with two peaks at around 7–10 and 0.1–0.2μm with an occasional tri-modal behavior.