The greening of Northwest Indian subcontinent and reduction of dust abundance resulting from Indian summer monsoon revival
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s41598-018-23055-5.pdf
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Author(s)
Jin, Qinjian
Wang, Chien
Date Issued
March 2018
Journal
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Jin, Qinjian and Chien Wang. “The Greening of Northwest Indian Subcontinent and Reduction of Dust Abundance Resulting from Indian Summer Monsoon Revival.” Scientific Reports 8, 1 (March 2018): 4573 © 2018 The Author(s)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The trends of both rainfall and circulation strength of the Indian summer monsoon has been reviving since 2002. Here, using observational data, we demonstrate a statistically significant greening over the Northwest Indian Subcontinent and a consequent decline in dust abundance due to the monsoon revival. The enhanced monsoonal rainfall causes an increase in soil moisture, which results in a significant greening in the Northwest Indian Subcontinent. These increases in rainfall, soil moisture, and vegetation together lead to a substantial reduction of the dust abundance in this region, especially the Thar Desert, as shown by a negative trend in satellite-retrieved aerosol optical depth. The monsoonal rainfall-induced trends in vegetation growth and dust abundance in the Northwest Indian Subcontinent have important implications for agriculture production and air quality given the projected increases and a westward expansion of the global summer monsoon rainfall at the end of this century.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science
Terms of Use
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23055-5
