This special issue will include papers that guide the path forward in making reliable predictions of aerosol effects on the heat budget of the South East Asian subcontinent by improving our knowledge of aerosol processes and their influence on the Indian monsoon. Several recent major studies have aimed to provide a detailed determination of aerosol physical and chemical properties across India prior to and during the Indian monsoon, and results from these studies will be welcomed. Most recently the South West Asian Monsoon Interactions project used a combination of UK and Indian research aircraft and a network of ground-based measurement sites. The analysis of data will enable assessment of aerosol composition and mixing state, provide source characterization, and help quantify aerosol optical properties such as extinction, absorption, and single scattering albedo that drive regional climate. Results that use this detailed characterization to test representations of aerosol properties in regional and global climate models will be included. The special issue will report on evaluations of and improvements in model representations of aerosol properties with data over India.