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
