Aerosols

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Aerosols:
  • Aerosols are solid or liquid particles suspended in a mixture of gases.
  • Aerosols covers a wide spectrum of small particles, like sea salt particles, mineral dust, pollen, drops of sulphuric acid and many others.
Sources:
Aerosols originate from a wide variety of natural and anthropogenic sources. Some of them are:-
  • Vehicular exhaust
  • Half-burnt crop residue
  • Dust particles
  • Chemical effluents
Impact:
  • Aerosols have a great impact on several atmospheric phenomena.
  • They influence the heat budget of the Earth.
  • They impact the hydrological cycle.
  • They have influence on atmospheric circulation.
  • They form the dust clouds which shield the earth from the sun’s rays, depressing land and sea temperatures.
Removal of aerosols:
  • Aerosols can be removed from the atmosphere by different ways depending upon their size and disposition.
  • Aerosol particles can be removed by Wet deposition process (by this  80–90% of aerosol particles are removed) and Dry deposition process (by this remaining 10%-20% of aerosol are removed).
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM):
  • It was founded in 1962 at Pune.
  • It  is an autonomous institute which works under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
  • It works to generate scientific knowledge in the field of meteorology and atmospheric sciences.
  • It functions as a national centre for basic and applied research in monsoon meteorology.
Section : Environment & Ecology