Fog Over Indo-Gangetic Plains—A Study Using Multisatellite Data and Ground Observations

Every year, fog formation over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of Indian region during the winter months of December-January is believed to create numerous health hazards, economic loss, and cross-country transportation of aerosols. It has attracted the global scientific community´s attention to address the uncertainties pertaining to its formation and physico-chemical properties. In this paper, we made an attempt to study the fog conditions that occurred over the north Indian region and long-range transport of aerosols from the fog region towards the southern region during November 2008, using multisatellite data sets and ground-based observations on aerosol properties and solar irradiance in the urban region of Hyderabad, India. Ground measurements showed a considerable increase in aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm ( ~ 30%) and a decrease in total solar irradiance ( ~ 7%) over Hyderabad, India, during the fog period compared to a normal day corresponding to 04 November 2008.