Considering the climate warming potential of atmospheric black carbon (BC), satellite-based retrieval is a novel idea. This study highlights the regional distribution of BC based on observations by the Cloud and Aerosol Imager-2 on board the GOSAT-2 satellite and near-surface measurements of BC in ARFINET. The satellite retrieval fairly depicts the regional and seasonal features of BC over the Indian region, which are similar to those recorded by surface observations.

The first observations of refractory black carbon aerosol size distributions and mixing state in South Asian outflow to the northern Indian Ocean were carried out as a part of the ICARB-2018 experiment during winter. Size distributions indicated mixed sources of BC particles in the outflow, which are thickly coated. The coating thickness of BC is controlled mainly by the availability of condensable species in the outflow.

Concurrent measurements of the altitude profiles of the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs), as a function of supersaturation (ranging from 0.2 % to 1.0 %), and aerosol optical properties were carried out aboard an instrumented aircraft across the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) just prior to the onset of the 2016 Indian summer monsoon (ISM). A high CCN concentration is observed up to 2.5 km across the IGP, indicating the significant possibility of aerosol indirect effects.

Aircraft-based measurements of vertical profiles of aerosol properties, across the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), prior to onset of the Indian summer monsoon reveal a highly absorbing aerosol system over the IGP. Aerosols over the west IGP are mostly natural, larger in size and scatter light efficiently. Those over the central and eastern IGP are mostly anthropogenic in origin, smaller in size and absorb more light. Elevated absorbing aerosol layers may modulate regional precipitation patterns.