Aerosol Studies on and Around Antarctica

Antarctica provides an excellent environment to examine the natural and background aerosols in the atmosphere over snow and ice. The Indian efforts (metrological measurements) at Antarctica were initiated with the establishment of the first Antarctic station in Eastern Antarctica during the first Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA) in 1981. The detailed and systematic characterization of physical and optical properties of coastal Antarctic aerosols over Indian Antarctic stations Maitri and Bharati were initiated during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007 to 2009. Since then, several scientific publications were emerged from the Indian side on Antarctic aerosols. This article provides a brief review of the Indian efforts on Antarctic aerosols.