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Effect of Climate Change on Cloud Properties Over Arabian Sea and Central India

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Abstract

Global warming is the average temperature of the earth’s surface which has increased over the past century by about 0.6 °C. This rising temperature may vary precipitation patterns, more frequent droughts, rise in sea level and intense storms and can be termed as climate change. To understand uneven precipitation pattern for monsoon dominated region like India, there is a need to study cloud processes at high resolution with the help of cloud microphysical properties. Ocean is the major and primary source of cloud whereas local water bodies and re-evaporated water over land could be secondary source. Paper focuses over ocean (Arabian Sea) as well as over land (central India) to know the effect of global warming on cloud microphysical properties such as cloud effective radius and cloud liquid water content. Warming signal in terms of rise in sea surface temperature (0.1 °C/decade) as well as rise in surface air temperature (0.05 °C/decade) are observed over Arabian Sea and central India respectively. Satellite data show an increasing (0.5 µm/decade) trend in cloud effective radius over Arabian Sea, whereas it decreases (− 0.1 µm/decade) over central India. Increasing trend in temperature and cloud properties is may be due to warming signal. Aerosol concentration over ocean and land further helped to understand cloud processes with cloud microphysical properties. Paper will focus on the effect of warming signal in cloud properties over Arabian Sea and central India. This type of high resolution study may help to understand cloud processes which in turn may help to understand precipitation patterns.

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  1. Department of Science, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Raisan, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

    Ruchita Shah & Rohit Srivastava

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  1. Ruchita Shah
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Shah, R., Srivastava, R. Effect of Climate Change on Cloud Properties Over Arabian Sea and Central India. Pure Appl. Geophys. 176, 2729–2738 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-019-02125-3

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