Strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Susceptibility Linked to Dust‐Induced Ice Cloud Modification

Abstract A growing body of research has underscored the radiative impact of mineral dust in influencing Indian summer monsoon rainfall variability. However, the various aerosol‐cloud‐precipitation interaction mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we analyze multisatellite observations to examine...

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Main Authors: Piyushkumar N. Patel, Ritesh Gautam, Takuro Michibata, Harish Gadhavi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-07-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081634
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author Piyushkumar N. Patel
Ritesh Gautam
Takuro Michibata
Harish Gadhavi
author_facet Piyushkumar N. Patel
Ritesh Gautam
Takuro Michibata
Harish Gadhavi
author_sort Piyushkumar N. Patel
collection DOAJ
description Abstract A growing body of research has underscored the radiative impact of mineral dust in influencing Indian summer monsoon rainfall variability. However, the various aerosol‐cloud‐precipitation interaction mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we analyze multisatellite observations to examine dust‐induced modification in ice clouds and precipitation susceptibility. We show contrasting dust‐induced changes in ice cloud regimes wherein despite a 25% reduction in ice particle radius in thin ice clouds, we find ~40% increase in ice particle radius and ice water path in thick ice clouds resulting in the cloud deepening and subsequently strengthened precipitation susceptibility, under strong updraft regimes. The observed dust‐ice cloud‐precipitation interactions are supported by a strong correlation between the interannual monsoon rainfall variability and dust frequency. This microphysical‐dynamical coupling appears to provide negative feedback to aerosol‐cloud interactions, which acts to buffer enhanced aerosol wet scavenging. Our results underscore the importance of incorporating meteorological regime‐dependent dust‐ice cloud‐precipitation interactions in climate simulations.
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publishDate 2019-07-01
publisher Wiley
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-21b6537eb799418c99cc1e4f0722bfee2025-08-20T02:09:04ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072019-07-0146148431844110.1029/2018GL081634Strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Susceptibility Linked to Dust‐Induced Ice Cloud ModificationPiyushkumar N. Patel0Ritesh Gautam1Takuro Michibata2Harish Gadhavi3Space & Atmospheric Sciences Division Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad IndiaEnvironmental Defense Fund Washington DC USAResearch Institute for Applied Mechanics Kyushu University Fukuoka JapanSpace & Atmospheric Sciences Division Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad IndiaAbstract A growing body of research has underscored the radiative impact of mineral dust in influencing Indian summer monsoon rainfall variability. However, the various aerosol‐cloud‐precipitation interaction mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we analyze multisatellite observations to examine dust‐induced modification in ice clouds and precipitation susceptibility. We show contrasting dust‐induced changes in ice cloud regimes wherein despite a 25% reduction in ice particle radius in thin ice clouds, we find ~40% increase in ice particle radius and ice water path in thick ice clouds resulting in the cloud deepening and subsequently strengthened precipitation susceptibility, under strong updraft regimes. The observed dust‐ice cloud‐precipitation interactions are supported by a strong correlation between the interannual monsoon rainfall variability and dust frequency. This microphysical‐dynamical coupling appears to provide negative feedback to aerosol‐cloud interactions, which acts to buffer enhanced aerosol wet scavenging. Our results underscore the importance of incorporating meteorological regime‐dependent dust‐ice cloud‐precipitation interactions in climate simulations.https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081634aerosol‐cloud‐precipitation interactionssatellite remote sensingcloud invigorationdust‐ice cloud interactionsdynamical feedbackIndian Monsoon
spellingShingle Piyushkumar N. Patel
Ritesh Gautam
Takuro Michibata
Harish Gadhavi
Strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Susceptibility Linked to Dust‐Induced Ice Cloud Modification
Geophysical Research Letters
aerosol‐cloud‐precipitation interactions
satellite remote sensing
cloud invigoration
dust‐ice cloud interactions
dynamical feedback
Indian Monsoon
title Strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Susceptibility Linked to Dust‐Induced Ice Cloud Modification
title_full Strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Susceptibility Linked to Dust‐Induced Ice Cloud Modification
title_fullStr Strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Susceptibility Linked to Dust‐Induced Ice Cloud Modification
title_full_unstemmed Strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Susceptibility Linked to Dust‐Induced Ice Cloud Modification
title_short Strengthened Indian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Susceptibility Linked to Dust‐Induced Ice Cloud Modification
title_sort strengthened indian summer monsoon precipitation susceptibility linked to dust induced ice cloud modification
topic aerosol‐cloud‐precipitation interactions
satellite remote sensing
cloud invigoration
dust‐ice cloud interactions
dynamical feedback
Indian Monsoon
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081634
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AT riteshgautam strengthenedindiansummermonsoonprecipitationsusceptibilitylinkedtodustinducedicecloudmodification
AT takuromichibata strengthenedindiansummermonsoonprecipitationsusceptibilitylinkedtodustinducedicecloudmodification
AT harishgadhavi strengthenedindiansummermonsoonprecipitationsusceptibilitylinkedtodustinducedicecloudmodification