ARIES, Nainital: a strategically important location for climate change studies in the Central Gangetic Himalayan region

Abstract

ARIES, acronym for Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, located in the Central Gangetic Himalayan (CGH) region is emerging as one of the unique sites for climate change studies. The long-term, in situ, precise measurements of aerosols and trace gases obtained from this region provide valuable inputs for climate studies. Atmospheric scientists from ARIES are actively involved in nearsurface measurements for meteorology, aerosols and trace gases as well as vertical profiling. The Institute is also providing the observational infrastructure and research support to three major projects of the Indian Space Research Organization, Geosphere Biosphere Programme, which basically deals with the measurement of aerosols, trace gases and boundary-layer experiments. The upcoming stratosphere–troposphere radar and high-power micro-pulse lidar observational facilities will be utilized for the continuous vertical profiling of winds, aerosol and cloud properties at a very fine resolution in time and space. Apart from this, atmospheric scientists of ARIES also have active national and international research collaborations. The important results obtained from these research activities are highlighted and upcoming major observational facilities in the field of atmospheric sciences are discussed. They clearly demonstrate the importance of the unique geographical location of ARIES for climate change studies in the CGH region. These measurements and routine meteorological observations provide the necessary atmospheric corrections to the astrophysical observations taken using optical telescopes located at the site.