{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,7]],"date-time":"2026-02-07T11:32:02Z","timestamp":1770463922439,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,22]],"date-time":"2023-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1684713600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"UGC Junior Research Fellowship (India)","award":["3421\/(NET-DEC 2018)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3421\/(NET-DEC 2018)"]}]},{"name":"the William Stamps Farish Chair endowments at the University of Texas at Austin","award":["3421\/(NET-DEC 2018)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3421\/(NET-DEC 2018)"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The unique geographical diversity and rapid urbanization across the Indian subcontinent give rise to large-scale spatiotemporal variations in urban heating and air emissions. The complex relationship between geophysical parameters and anthropogenic activity is vital in understanding the urban environment. This study analyses the characteristics of heating events using aerosol optical depth (AOD) level variability, across 43 urban agglomerations (UAs) with populations of a million or more, along with 13 industrial districts (IDs), and 14 biosphere reserves (BRs) in the Indian sub-continent. Pre-monsoon average surface heating was highest in the urban areas of the western (42 \u00b0C), central (41.9 \u00b0C), and southern parts (40 \u00b0C) of the Indian subcontinent. High concentration of AOD in the eastern part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain including the megacity: Kolkata (decadal average 0.708) was noted relative to other UAs over time. The statistically significant negative correlation (\u22120.51) between land surface temperature (LST) and AOD in urban areas during pre-monsoon time illustrates how aerosol loading impacts the surface radiation and has a net effect of reducing surface temperatures. Notable interannual variability was noted with, the pre-monsoon LST dropping in 2020 across most of the selected urban regions (approx. 89% urban clusters) while it was high in 2019 (for approx. 92% urban clusters) in the pre-monsoon season. The results indicate complex variability and correlations between LST and urban aerosol at large scales across the Indian subcontinent. These large-scale observations suggest a need for more in-depth analysis at city scales to understand the interplay and combined variability between physical and anthropogenic atmospheric parameters in mesoscale and microscale climates.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs15102681","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,22]],"date-time":"2023-05-22T05:04:44Z","timestamp":1684731884000},"page":"2681","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Large-Scale Urban Heating and Pollution Domes over the Indian Subcontinent"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1446-153X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Trisha","family":"Chakraborty","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India"}]},{"given":"Debashish","family":"Das","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Architecture, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4419-5757","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rafiq","family":"Hamdi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, 1180 Bruxelles, Belgium"}]},{"given":"Ansar","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, Lalbaba College, University of Calcutta, Howrah 711201, India"}]},{"given":"Dev","family":"Niyogi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geological (Earth and Planetary) Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78759, USA"},{"name":"Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78759, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3539","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2004.03.032","article-title":"New Directions: The growing urban heat and pollution \u201cisland\u201d effect\u2014Impact on chemistry and climate","volume":"38","author":"Crutzen","year":"2004","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e26","DOI":"10.1016\/S2542-5196(18)30261-4","article-title":"The impact of air pollution on deaths, disease burden, and life expectancy across the states of India: The Global Burden of Disease Study 2017","volume":"3","author":"Balakrishnan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet Planet. Health"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.1175\/EI-D-20-0017.1","article-title":"Variable impact of COVID-19 lockdown on air quality across 91 Indian cities","volume":"25","author":"Khan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Earth Interact."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network (2017). Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 (GBD 2016), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2119","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1064034","article-title":"Atmosphere: Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle","volume":"294","author":"Ramanathan","year":"2001","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"28269","article-title":"Mesoscale modeling study of the interactions between aerosols and PBL meteorology during a haze episode in China Jing-Jin-Ji and its near surrounding region-Part 2: Aerosols\u2019 radiative feedback effects","volume":"14","author":"Wang","year":"2014","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.1029\/2018EF001052","article-title":"The Role of Anthropogenic Aerosol Forcing in Interdecadal Variations of Summertime Upper-Tropospheric Temperature Over East Asia","volume":"7","author":"Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Earth\u2019s Future"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2019JD031414","DOI":"10.1029\/2019JD031414","article-title":"Near-Future Anthropogenic Aerosol Emission Scenarios and Their Direct Radiative Effects on the Present-Day Characteristics of the Indian Summer Monsoon","volume":"125","author":"Das","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Atmos."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"293","article-title":"Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company\u2019 s public news and information","volume":"14","author":"Grey","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychiatry Res."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5865","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-21-5865-2021","article-title":"How Asian aerosols impact regional surface temperatures across the globe","volume":"21","author":"Merikanto","year":"2021","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2431","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-14-2431-2014","article-title":"WRF-Chem simulations of a typical pre-monsoon dust storm in northern India: Influences on aerosol optical properties and radiation budget","volume":"14","author":"Kumar","year":"2014","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1029\/2012RG000388","article-title":"Global-scale attribution of anthropogenic and natural dust sources and their emission rates based on MODIS Deep Blue aerosol products","volume":"50","author":"Ginoux","year":"2012","journal-title":"Rev. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6289","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2007.03.060","article-title":"Aerosol radiative forcing over the Indo-Gangetic plains during major dust storms","volume":"41","author":"Prasad","year":"2007","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5903","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-15-5903-2015","article-title":"A multi-model evaluation of aerosols over South Asia: Common problems and possible causes","volume":"15","author":"Pan","year":"2015","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"727","DOI":"10.1080\/01431160701352121","article-title":"Impact of aerosol optical depth on seasonal temperatures in India: A spatio-temporal analysis","volume":"29","author":"Roy","year":"2008","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1007\/s12040-010-0008-7","article-title":"Recent trends in pre-monsoon daily temperature extremes over India","volume":"119","author":"Kothawale","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"(2022, May 25). Available online: https:\/\/mausam.imd.gov.in\/imd_latest\/contents\/ar2020.pdf."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"061704","DOI":"10.1117\/1.JRS.6.061704","article-title":"Evaluation of satellite-derived products for the characterization of the urban thermal environment","volume":"6","author":"Keramitsoglou","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Appl. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"1","article-title":"Remote sensing technique-a tool for environmental studies","volume":"6","author":"Chakraborty","year":"2017","journal-title":"ADBU J. Eng. Technol. Chakraborty"},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"27","article-title":"A Study of the Summertime Urban Heat Island over Delhi","volume":"1","author":"Pandey","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Sustain. Sci. Stud."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"818","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2018.04.254","article-title":"Interaction between Urban Heat Island and Urban Pollution Island during Summer in Berlin","volume":"636","author":"Li","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"100261","article-title":"Impacts of increased urbanization on surface temperature, vegetation, and aerosols over Bengaluru, India","volume":"16","author":"Sussman","year":"2019","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Appl. Soc. Environ."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1007\/s12040-019-1204-8","article-title":"Linkage of Aerosol Optical Depth with Rainfall and Circulation Parameters over the Eastern Gangetic Plains of India","volume":"128","author":"Sarthi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6479","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-20-6479-2020","article-title":"The Mechanisms and Seasonal Differences of the Impact of Aerosols on Daytime Surface Urban Heat Island Effect","volume":"20","author":"Han","year":"2020","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103074","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pce.2021.103074","article-title":"Retrieving Spatial Variation of Aerosol Level over Urban Mixed Land Surfaces Using Landsat Imageries: Degree of Air Pollution in Dhaka Metropolitan Area","volume":"126","author":"AlFaisal","year":"2022","journal-title":"Phys. Chem. Earth"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3817","DOI":"10.1080\/10106049.2020.1869331","article-title":"Estimation of Spatio-Temporal Variability in Land Surface Temperature over the Ganga River Basin Using MODIS Data","volume":"37","author":"Mal","year":"2022","journal-title":"Geocarto Int."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mielonen, T., Hienola, A., Merikanto, J., Lipponen, A., Laakso, A., Bergman, T., Korhonen, H., Kolmonen, P., Ghent, D., and Arola, A. (2018). The Climatic Significance of Biogenic Aerosols in the Boreal Region Now and in the Future. Authorea Prepr., 5\u20136.","DOI":"10.1002\/essoar.10500840.1"},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"(2023, January 01). Census 2021-Formation of Urban Agglomerations.pdf, Available online: https:\/\/censusindia.gov.in\/nada\/index.php\/catalog\/40512\/download\/44144\/ORGI_circular003_2021.pdf."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Putnik, D.G., and Cruz-Cunha, M.M. (2008). Encyclopedia of Networked and Virtual Organizations (3 Volumes), IGI Global.","DOI":"10.4018\/978-1-59904-885-7"},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"(2022, January 01). Available online: https:\/\/msme.gov.in\/."},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"(2023, January 01). Available online: https:\/\/en.unesco.org\/biosphere\/about\/."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"(2023, April 28). Available online: https:\/\/en.unesco.org\/biosphere\/aspac\/nokrek."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"(2023, April 28). Available online: https:\/\/en.unesco.org\/biosphere\/aspac\/pachmarhi."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"(2023, April 28). Available online: https:\/\/en.unesco.org\/biosphere\/aspac\/achanakmar-amarkantak."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"(2023, April 28). Available online: https:\/\/fsi.nic.in\/forest-report-2021-details."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1029\/2007EO020003","article-title":"Online analysis enhances use of NASA Earth Science Data","volume":"88","author":"Acker","year":"2007","journal-title":"Eos Trans. Am. Geophys. Union"},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"(2022, May 20). Available online: https:\/\/giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov\/giovanni\/."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"(2022, March 02). Available online: http:\/\/cola.gmu.edu\/grads\/."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Aftab, H., Mansoor, A.B., and Asim, M. (2008, January 23\u201324). A New Single Image Interpolation Technique for Super Resolution. Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE International Multitopic Conference, Karachi, Pakistan.","DOI":"10.1109\/INMIC.2008.4777808"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.22146\/jag.7204","article-title":"Comparison of Kriging and Inverse Distance Weighted (Idw) Interpolation Methods in Lineament Extraction and Analysis","volume":"5","author":"Setianto","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Appl. Geol."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.2307\/1412159","article-title":"The Proof and Measurement of Association between Two Things","volume":"15","author":"Spearman","year":"1904","journal-title":"Am. J. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"578","DOI":"10.1080\/01621459.1972.10481251","article-title":"Significance Testing of the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient","volume":"67","author":"Zar","year":"1972","journal-title":"J. Am. Stat. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4832","DOI":"10.1080\/01431161.2013.782114","article-title":"Seasonal variability in aerosol optical depth over India: A spatio-temporal analysis using the MODIS aerosol product","volume":"34","author":"Acharya","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2017.03.008","article-title":"Organic aerosols over Indo-Gangetic Plain: Sources, distributions and climatic implications","volume":"157","author":"Singh","year":"2017","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1029\/2009GL037641","article-title":"Enhanced pre-monsoon warming over the Himalayan-Gangetic region from 1979 to 2007","volume":"36","author":"Gautam","year":"2009","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12841","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-11-12841-2011","article-title":"Accumulation of aerosols over the Indo-Gangetic plains and southern slopes of the Himalayas: Distribution, properties and radiative effects during the 2009 pre-monsoon season","volume":"11","author":"Gautam","year":"2011","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"Dey, S., and Rongali, G. (2014). Satellite Meteoreology and Remote Sensing, Indian Institute of Technology. Available online: https:\/\/web.iitd.ac.in\/~sagnik\/SN1.pdf."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1475-4959.2007.232_3.x","article-title":"Urbanization and global environmental change: Local effects of urban warming","volume":"173","author":"Grimmond","year":"2007","journal-title":"Geogr. J."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"Grimmond, C.S.B., Ward, H.C., and Kotthaus, S. (2016). The Routledge Handbook of Urbanization and Global Environmental Change, Routledge."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"631","DOI":"10.1007\/s41748-020-00193-3","article-title":"The State-of-the-Art of Urban Climate Change Modeling and Observations","volume":"4","author":"Hamdi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Earth Syst. Environ."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14054","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-017-14213-2","article-title":"Dominant control of agriculture and irrigation on urban heat island in India","volume":"7","author":"Kumar","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_52","first-page":"1","article-title":"Comparison of Land Surface Temperature During and Before the Emergence of Covid-19 using Modis Imagery in Wuhan City, China","volume":"34","author":"Hadibasyir","year":"2020","journal-title":"Forum Geogr."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"144","DOI":"10.1039\/D0EM00358A","article-title":"COVID-19 lockdowns induced land surface temperature variability in mega urban agglomerations in India","volume":"23","author":"Nanda","year":"2021","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Processes Impacts"},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"390","DOI":"10.18520\/cs\/v119\/i2\/390-398","article-title":"COVID-19 Lockdown a Window of Opportunity to Understand the Role of Human Activity on Forest Fire Incidences in the Western Himalaya, India","volume":"119","author":"Gupta","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr. Sci."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6550","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0608998104","article-title":"Combined Climate and Carbon-Cycle Effects of Large-Scale Deforestation","volume":"104","author":"Bala","year":"2007","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"187","DOI":"10.1038\/35041545","article-title":"Offset of the Potential Carbon Sink from Boreal Forestation by Decreases in Surface Albedo","volume":"408","author":"Betts","year":"2000","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.3763\/cpol.2003.0318","article-title":"The Climatic Impacts of Land Surface Change and Carbon Management, and the Implications for Climate-Change Mitigation Policy","volume":"3","author":"Marland","year":"2003","journal-title":"Clim. Policy"},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2915","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1315126111","article-title":"Afforestation in China Cools Local Land Surface Temperature","volume":"111","author":"Peng","year":"2014","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_59","unstructured":"(2023, March 03). Available online: https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Seshachalam-Hills\/."},{"key":"ref_60","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"681587","DOI":"10.1155\/2010\/681587","article-title":"Urban Surface Temperature Reduction via the Urban Aerosol Direct Effect: A Remote Sensing and WRF Model Sensitivity Study","volume":"2010","author":"Jin","year":"2010","journal-title":"Adv. Meteorol."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/15\/10\/2681\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T19:39:43Z","timestamp":1760125183000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/15\/10\/2681"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,22]]},"references-count":60,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5]]}},"alternative-id":["rs15102681"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs15102681","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,22]]}}}