Optical properties of cirrus clouds during monsoon over Indian subcontinent

The monsoon water cycle is the lifeline to over 60% of the world´s population. The precipitation of the clouds in the monsoon season depends on the microphysical properties of the clouds. The effect of aerosol on cirrus clouds is being looked into through this work as an effort to study the role of aerosol on Indian Monsoon. The microphysical properties of high altitude clouds were obtained from the ground based lidar experiments at a low latitude station in the Indian subcontinent. Measurements during the Indian monsoon period from the inland station National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) Gadanki (13.5_ N, 79.2_ E), Tirupati, India were used for the investigation. The seasonal variation of depolarization characteristics of the cirrus clouds were analyzed. The results obtained over a period of one year from January2002 to December 2002 were presented.