Seasonal variations of aerosol over Dona Paula, a coastal site on the west coast of India

We report here the observations of the aerosol studies carried-out for three years (2000–2002) at Dona-Paula, Goa (15.456°N, 73.801°E), a coastal site on the west coast of India. Aerosol optical depths were measured using a five channel sunphotometer with wavelengths at 440, 500, 675, 870 and 936 nm. The site enjoys a tropical climate and is under the influence of the strong southwest or summer monsoon and weak northeast or winter monsoon. Being a coastal station land-sea breeze play an important role in the variations of the aerosol loading over the site and their transport to the Arabian Sea. The mean aerosol optical thicknesses (AOT) at 500 and 870 nm are 0.46 (±0.15) and 0.23 (±0.097), respectively, while the Angstrom exponent is 1.31 (±0.347). The aerosol properties over the site showed a distinct seasonal variations, with high values of AOT observed during summer, with mean values of 0.48 (±0.15) and 0.26 (±0.09) at 500 and 870 nm, respectively, while during the winter relatively low values were observed, with mean value of 0.41 (±0.14) and 0.19 (±0.09) at 500 and 870 nm, respectively. The values of Angstrom exponents observed at the site suggest that the aerosol comprise mostly of the small size particles, with relatively larger particles being observed during summer than winter. An anti-correlation is observed between the inter-annual variations in the aerosol loading and the rainfall over Goa. Aerosol properties show diurnal variations, with comparatively lower values of AOT being observed in the evening. These diurnal variations are within a limit of 10% of the average values observed for the day. Seasonal patterns in the diurnal variations of aerosol optical depths have been observed. Considering the effect of the meteorological parameters over the aerosol, it is observed that the AOT is positively correlated with water vapor column, however the wind is found to aid in the reduction of aerosol load over Goa. It can be inferred from the weak negative correlation between AOT and Angstrom exponent that the contribution of large size particles in increasing the aerosol load was marginal. The aerosol optical depth derived from SeaWiFS at 865 nm was found to agree well with the measured values at 870 nm. However, the Angstrom exponent values from SeaWiFS at 510 nm were found to be underestimated.