Climate Change
Pollution
Extreme Weather Events
Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Italy
2015.09.30
For Better Monsoon Forecasts, Look to Air Pollution
Dr. Biondi will use the atmosphere over the Indian monsoon region as his lab. As a developing country, India’s levels of air pollution are currently increasing and, in certain periods, wind transporting desert dust contributes to aerosol levels. These tiny particles of dust and carbon are suspended in the atmosphere where they interact with solar and Earth radiation, warming or cooling the air around them. Collectively, these aerosols may alter the movement of heat within the atmosphere, leading to greater rainfall over parts of India and drought in others. By analyzing concrete atmospheric measurements, Dr. Biondi will first confirm this effect predicted by the models. In a novel approach, he will combine these observations with climate models to search for patterns in the aerosol/monsoon relationship.
If aerosols truly are impacting the regional distribution of precipitation in a predictable way, they will need to be incorporated into existing climate models. This will help Dr. Biondi achieve his ultimate goal of improving monsoon forecasting and even developing early warning systems. He expects that, as aerosol levels increase in the future, they will lead to drought for some areas and flooding for others. Knowing where and when the monsoon will hit is of utmost importance to the local communities whose livelihood it determines. His work will serve other agricultural regions well beyond India, as well, that are at once vulnerable to and dependent upon the monsoon.
To add or modify information on this page, please contact us at the following address: community.research@axa.com

Riccardo
BIONDI
Institution
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
National Research Council (CNR)
Country
Italy
Nationality
Italian
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