Complex Hygroscopic Behavior of Ambient Aerosol Particles Revealed by a Piezoelectric Technique.

Understanding the complex interactions between atmospheric aerosols and water vapor in subsaturated regions of the atmosphere is crucial for modeling and predicting aerosol-cloud-radiation-climate interactions. However, the microphysical mechanisms of these interactions for ambient aerosols remain poorly understood. For this study, size-resolved samples were collected from a high-altitude, relatively clean site situated in the Western Ghats of India during the monsoon season, in order to study background and preindustrial processes as a baseline for climate functioning within the context of the most polluted region of the world.

Black carbon over tropical Indian coast during the COVID-19 lockdown: inconspicuous role of coastal meteorology.

Black carbon (BC) aerosols critically impact the climate and hydrological cycle. The impact of anthropogenic emissions and coastal meteorology on BC dynamics, however, remains unclear over tropical India, a globally identified hotspot. In this regard, we have performed in situ measurements of BC over a megacity (Chennai, 12° 59' 26.

Seasonal variation of the dominant allergenic fungal aerosols - One year study from southern Indian region.

Quantitative estimations of fungal aerosols are important to understand their role in causing respiratory diseases to humans especially in the developing and highly populated countries. In this study we sampled and quantified the three most dominantly found allergenic airborne fungi, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium cladosporioides, and Alternaria alternata from ambient PM samples using the quantitative PCR (qPCR) technique in a southern tropical Indian region, for one full year. Highest concentrations of A.

An assessment of subsurface contamination of an urban coastal aquifer due to oil spill.

Incidences of leakages of chemicals from underground oil storage tanks or oil-carrying pipelines have posed huge threat to the coastal aquifers around the world. One such leak was recently identified and notified by the people of Tondiarpet, Chennai, India. The assessment of the contamination level was done by obtaining electrical resistivity maps of the subsurface, drilling of 20 new borewells for soil and water analysis, and testing the water quality of 30 existing borewells.

Terrestrial Macrofungal Diversity from the Tropical Dry Evergreen Biome of Southern India and Its Potential Role in Aerobiology.

Macrofungi have long been investigated for various scientific purposes including their food and medicinal characteristics. Their role in aerobiology as a fraction of the primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs), however, has been poorly studied. In this study, we present a source of macrofungi with two different but interdependent objectives: (i) to characterize the macrofungi from a tropical dry evergreen biome in southern India using advanced molecular techniques to enrich the database from this region, and (ii) to assess whether identified species of macrofungi are a potential source of atmospheric PBAPs.