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Seasonal characteristics of boundary layer over a high-altitude rural site in Western India: implications on dispersal of particulate matter

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 28, pages 35266–35277 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The temporal variability of the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) over Mahabaleshwar was studied for a period of 1 year from 1 December 2015 to 30 November 2016 using microwave radiometer (MWR) observations. The PBLH over Mahabaleshwar was found to be the highest during the pre-monsoon (March–May) season and lowest during the winter (December–February) season. The seasonal mean of PBLH was estimated to be 339±88 m during winter, 485±70 m during pre-monsoon, 99±153 m during monsoon, and 438±24 m during post-monsoon season. Frequency distribution analysis of PBLH during pre-monsoon season revealed that the formation of turbulence internal boundary layer (TIBL) is evident. In contrast, cold and moist air mass during the monsoon season enhances the wind shear with lower buoyancy term which results in lowering of PBLH. The comparison of PBLH between MWR and radiosonde observations shows a good correlation (r2 = 0.66, p=0.001). The growth rate was observed to be 388 m/h during pre-monsoon, 206 m/h during winter, 57 m/h during monsoon, and 167 m/h during post-monsoon season. The seasonal mean concentration of PM2.5 was found to be 42.3±4.6 μg/m3during winter, 33.4±8.7 μg/m3 during pre-monsoon, 6.6±2.2 μg/m3 during monsoon, and 26.1±1.7 μg/m3during post-monsoon season. The effect of higher loading of scattering-type aerosol (dust particle) was also investigated as a case study. The analysis reveals the inverse relationship between the PBL height variability and the particulate loading indicating the importance of aerosol direct effect. Analysis of the ventilation coefficient (Vc) revealed that the dissipation potential was higher (1736 m2/s) during pre-monsoon season as compared to (1191 m2/s, 455m2/s, and 1580 m2/s) winter, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank the Director, IITM, for the continuous encouragement and support. IITM and HACPL are fully funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India.

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Data can be made available on request to the authors.

Funding

High Altitude Cloud Physics Laboratory (HACPL) is fully funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

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  1. Sachin Suresh Patil & Shrikant Dutta Dudhambe

    Present address: Tesscorn Aerofluid Inc., Bangalore, India

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  1. Indian institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pune, India

    Mohammed Yusuff Aslam, Subrata Mukherjee, Vasudevan Anil Kumar, Rohit Dilip Patil, Sachin Suresh Patil, Shrikant Dutta Dudhambe, Sanjay Kumar Saha & Govindan Pandithurai

  2. Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India

    Subrata Mukherjee

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Contributions

Mohammed Yusuff Aslam and Subrata Mukherjee conceptualized the work. Vasudevan Anil Kumar, Rohit Dilip Patil, Sachin Suresh Patil, Shrikant Dutta Dudhambe, and Sanjay Kumar Saha collected data and performed QA/QC. Mohammed Yusuff Aslam and Subrata Mukherjee performed the analysis and wrote the paper. Govindan Pandithurai corrected the manuscript and helped in interpreting the results.

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Correspondence to Subrata Mukherjee.

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Aslam, M.Y., Mukherjee, S., Kumar, V.A. et al. Seasonal characteristics of boundary layer over a high-altitude rural site in Western India: implications on dispersal of particulate matter. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 35266–35277 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13163-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13163-7

Keywords

  • PBLH
  • PM2.5
  • TIBL
  • Ventilation coefficient
  • MWR
  • Radiosonde