A wavelet-based spectral analysis of long-term time series of optical properties of aerosols obtained by lidar and radiometer measurements over an urban station in Western India

Over 700 weekly-spaced vertical profiles of aerosol number density have been archived during 14-year period (October 1986-September 2000) using a bi-static Argon ion lidar system at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune (18 degrees 43'N, 73 degrees 51'E, 559 m above mean sea level), India. The monthly resolved time series of aerosol distributions within the atmospheric boundary layer as well as at different altitudes aloft have been subjected to the wavelet-based spectral analysis to investigate different characteristic periodicities present in the long-term dataset. The solar radiometric aerosol optical depth (ADD) measurements over the same place during 1998-2003 have also been analyzed with the wavelet technique. Wavelet spectra of both the time series exhibited significant quasi-annual (around 12-14 months) and quasi-biennial (around 22-25 months) oscillations at statistically significant level. An overview on the lidar and radiometric data sets including the wavelet-based spectral analysis procedure is also presented. A brief statistical analysis concerning both annual and interannual variability of lidar and radiometer derived aerosol distributions has been performed to delineate the effect of different dominant seasons and associated meteorological conditions prevailing over the experimental site in Western India. Additionally, the impact of urbanization on the long-term trends in the lidar measurements of aerosol loadings over the experimental site is brought out. This was achieved by using the lidar observations and a preliminary data set built for inferring the urban aspects of the city of Pune, which included population, number of industries and vehicles etc. in the city. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.