We present the longest (1998 to 2013) cirrus cloud climatology over a tropical station using a ground-based lidar. A statistically significant increase is found in the altitude of sub-visible cirrus clouds. Also a systematic shift from thin to sub-visible cirrus cloud type is observed. Ground-based lidar is found to detect more number of sub-visible cirrus clouds than space-based lidar. These findings have implications to global warming and stratosphere-troposphere water vapour exchange studies.

Emission inventories are a key component of simulating past, present and future climate. In this article we have evaluated three black carbon emission inventories for emissions of India using observations made from a strategic location. Annual average simulated black carbon concentration is found to be 35% to 60% lower than observed concentration because of underestimation of emissions of southern India in the inventories.

The study of atmospheric convection is important for the understanding of evolution of diurnal cycles of rainfall. High-resolution observations of vertical profiles of temperature and relative humidity are very useful for understanding the behaviour of these convections. Microwave radiometers are becoming useful tools for it. In this paper, we propose a new method to retrieve these profiles based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy interface systems and find that this method has a better skill of retrieval.