Open AccessRain‐Induced Soil NO x Emission From India During the Onset of the Summer Monsoon: A Satellite Perspective
Author(s) -
Ghude Sachin D.,
Lal D. M.,
Beig G.,
van der A Ronald,
Sable Dipali
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2009jd013367
Subject(s) - troposphere , monsoon , precipitation , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , satellite , ozone monitoring instrument , tropospheric ozone , climatology , population , meteorology , geography , geology , physics , astronomy , demography , sociology
Rain‐induced soil NO x emission in the rural regions in India has been investigated using satellite observations of daily tropospheric NO 2 columns from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We selected three rural regions with low population density where industrial and transportation activities are notably less in comparison to other regions of India. We show that OMI‐derived tropospheric NO 2 columns capture the NO x pulses from soil during the onset of the rainy season (June) over the regions considered in our analysis. Strong enhancements in tropospheric NO 2 columns after the active spell of precipitation and subsequent decrease during the break spell have been observed. We argue that this enhancement is due to rain‐induced soil NO x pulsing after the onset of summer monsoon rainfall over the dry soil in the study regions. Relating OMI tropospheric NO 2 columns to surface NO x emission, soil emission accounts for an average emission flux of ∼23–28 ng N m −1 s −1 during the pulsing event. Lightning is unlikely to account for the enhanced OMI tropospheric NO 2 columns over the study regions.