Monsoon is the most distinct climate regime that affects the well-being for more than two thirds of the world population, chiefly in the developing and undeveloped countries. The majority of the monsoon regions happen to have heavy aerosol loading such as south and east Asia, Africa, South America, etc. Any interactions between aerosol and monsoon are likely to have profound impact on the weather and climate in these and downstream regions. Fundamentally, the monsoon climate is driven by heat sources and sinks in the atmosphere stemming from the strong thermal contrast between land and ocean induced by the seasonally varying incoming solar radiation. Aerosols, by reflecting and absorbing solar radiation, reduce surface insolation and weaken the land-ocean thermal contrast, thus inhibiting the formation of monsoons. The atmospheric thermodynamic state may also be altered by aerosol absorption, aerosol microphysical effect by serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) or ice nuclei (IN), etc. Many mechanisms have been put forth regarding how aerosols modulate cloud and precipitation, monsoon circulation, amplitude, frequency, intensity, and phase of monsoon changes. These mechanisms are complicated by feedbacks with large-scale moist environmental dynamics. There exist multi-scale interactions between aerosols and the monsoon system from the location-specific alteration of single-column stability to the organization of meso-scale cloud clusters, and to the modification of monsoon circulation and precipitation on continental scales. Climate-scale numerical model simulations have indicated strong sensitivities to aerosol loading and properties. This special session invites papers on any aspects of aerosol-monsoon interactions including but not exclusive to: (1) Aerosol properties in monsoon dominant regions; (2) Monsoon phenomena that are likely affected by aerosol (3) Fundamental mechanisms by which aerosol affect monsoon circulation, energy and water cycles; (4) Long-term trends of changes in monsoon climate that may be linked with aerosol; (5) Social and economic implications of aerosol-monsoon climate interactions.
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