Influence of aerosols on snow cover during 2003 to 2021 over Northern Pakistan

Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and transportation of aerosols from other regions are contributing remarkably to atmospheric pollution in Pakistan. This study investigates the influence of aerosols on snow cover in Northern Pakistan from 2003 to 2021. The present study acquired snow cover data from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS-NET), Land Data Assimilation System (hereafter FLDAS), and dust aerosols (dust extinction Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and dust surface mass concentration) from Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA 2) over Northern Pakistan. The longest distribution (2003-2021) of MERRA 2-AOD (>0.05) was observed over the Hindukush and the Himalaya ranges. The highest seasonal distribution of dust surface mass concentration was observed in the monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons, whereas the lowest concentrations occurred during winter and post-monsoon seasons. A positive correlation of >0.15 over the Kashmir and similar to 0.13 over the Himalaya range was observed between snow cover and dust surface mass concentration. Moreover, the highest positive correlation of >0.69 between snow cover and precipitation was also observed over the Karakoram range. The MERRA 2-AOD, MERRA 2 dust surface mass concentration, and FLDAS snow cover depict statistically insignificant trends from 2003 to 2021.