Articles | Volume 25, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8769-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8769-2025
Research article
 | 
12 Aug 2025
Research article |  | 12 Aug 2025

Regional transport of aerosols from northern India and its impact on boundary layer height and air quality over Chennai, a coastal megacity in southern India

Saleem Ali, Chandan Sarangi, and Sanjay Kumar Mehta

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Cited articles

Ali, S., Mehta, S. K., Ananthavel, A., and Reddy, T. V. R.: Temporal and vertical distributions of the occurrence of cirrus clouds over a coastal station in the Indian monsoon region, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8321–8342, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8321-2022, 2022. 
Ananthavel, A., Mehta, S. K., Ali, S., Reddy, T. V. R., Annamalai, V., and Rao, D. N.: Micro Pulse Lidar measurements in coincidence with CALIPSO overpasses: Comparison of tropospheric aerosols over Kattankulathur (12.82° N, 80.04° E), Atmos. Pollut. Res., 12, 101082, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2021.101082, 2021a. 
Ananthavel, A., Mehta, S. K., Reddy, T. V. R., Ali, S., and Rao, D. N.: Vertical distributions and columnar properties of the aerosols during different seasons over Kattankulathur (12.82° N, 80.04° E): A semi-urban tropical coastal station, Atmos. Environ., 256, 118457, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2021.118457, 2021b. 
Aruna, K., Kumar, T. V. L., Rao, D. N., Murthy, B. V. K., Babu, S. S., and Moorthy, K. K.: Black carbon aerosols in a tropical semi-urban coastal environment: Effects of boundary layer dynamics and long range transport, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phy., 104, 116–125, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2013.08.020, 2013. 
Baars, H., Ansmann, A., Engelmann, R., and Althausen, D.: Continuous monitoring of the boundary-layer top with lidar, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 7281–7296, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-7281-2008, 2008. 
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Short summary
The pollutants over northern India are transported towards southern India under the influence of the prevalent wind system, especially during the winter season. This long-range transport induces widespread haziness over southern India, lasting for days. We evaluated the occurrence of such transport episodes over southern India using observational methods and found that it suppresses the boundary layer height by approximately 40 % compared to clear days, while exacerbating the surface pollution by approximately 50 %–60 %.
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