TY - JOUR
T1 - Weakened baroclinic activity causes an abrupt rise in fog in the Indo-Gangetic Plain
AU - Gunturu, Udaya
AU - Kumar, Vinay
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-12-15
Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the support of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change by the government, industry and foundation funding, the MIT Energy Initiative, and industrial sponsors. We thank the King Abdullah University of Sci-ence and Technology (KAUST) for supporting Udaya Bhaskar Gunturu. Vinay Kumar has been supported by the Texas A&M University, Kingsville
PY - 2021/12/13
Y1 - 2021/12/13
N2 - Dense and widespread winter fog in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) causes a significant reduction in visibility and worsened air pollution. Despite extensive observational campaigns, the key processes in the formation and persistence of fog are not yet clear. The global increase in surface temperatures led to a decline in the incidence of fog, whereas the IGP experienced a sudden increase in fog incidence. It is shown here that abruptly reduced activity of the western disturbances (WD) around 1996-97 resulted in a sudden decline of the cloud cover in the region, with a concomitantly enhanced radiative cooling of the surface and the atmosphere. These abrupt changes, aided by the impacts of human activities, altered the dynamics and thermodynamics of the boundary layer to favor fog formation. Also, the critical role of the extensive deep subsidence in the modulation of stable stratification and turbulence, which are essential for fog formation, is elucidated.
AB - Dense and widespread winter fog in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) causes a significant reduction in visibility and worsened air pollution. Despite extensive observational campaigns, the key processes in the formation and persistence of fog are not yet clear. The global increase in surface temperatures led to a decline in the incidence of fog, whereas the IGP experienced a sudden increase in fog incidence. It is shown here that abruptly reduced activity of the western disturbances (WD) around 1996-97 resulted in a sudden decline of the cloud cover in the region, with a concomitantly enhanced radiative cooling of the surface and the atmosphere. These abrupt changes, aided by the impacts of human activities, altered the dynamics and thermodynamics of the boundary layer to favor fog formation. Also, the critical role of the extensive deep subsidence in the modulation of stable stratification and turbulence, which are essential for fog formation, is elucidated.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/674034
UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL096114
U2 - 10.1029/2021gl096114
DO - 10.1029/2021gl096114
M3 - Article
SN - 0094-8276
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
ER -