Exploring aerosol optical depth: unveiling meteorological impacts over Lumbini, Nepal

Abstract

Lumbini (27°29.387’N, 83°16.745’E), the birthplace of Gautam Buddha which lies in Indo Gangetic plain, having elevation of about 100m. The main source of aerosol is due to the biomass burning, large amount of running vehicles and due to the industries and factories situated nearby cities and also from transboundary pollutants. The Central Instrument Monitoring Equipment Lab (CIMEL) sun photometer recorded the value of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) at different wavelengths. This study is focused on the daily variation of AOD and its Angstrom exponent and turbidity coefficient with rainfall and relative humidity. The findings from the statistical analysis reveals that there is positive correlation in between AOD and heavy rainfall. However, the correlation between AOD and humidity was found to be negative. The similar type of relationship was obtained with angstrom exponent and turbidity coefficient. Not only rainfall and relative humidity but there are also other parameters (temperature, wind speed, human activities, etc.) having key role in the increment or decrement of aerosols. Due to the insufficient data, we could not perform study with such parameters.