Delhi experiences frequent dust storms during the pre-monsoon season. We studied one such event that occurred on May 30th, 2014 at New Delhi to understand the changes in the optical properties of aerosols. The present study utilizes the aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the ground and satellite measurements along with reanalysis data. The aerosol characteristics were examined during the pre-week and post-week of the dust storm event. The results show that AOD values reach ~ 1.0 in all the modes of measurements (i.e., sun photometer, MODIS, and MERRA-2) on the dust event day. MODIS-derived Aerosol Angstrom Exponent (AAE), which gradually decreases from 1.7 ± 0.3 to 1.1 ± 0.3, shows the presence of coarse mode particles during the event. The aerosol layer at an elevation from 1 to 2 km was observed using indigenously developed dual-polarization micro-pulse lidar (MPL) system during the dust event. The source of the dust during the storm was identified by the air mass back-trajectories analysis. The dust column mass density averaged 24 hourly at 850 hPa is 780 mg m⁻² with a prevailing wind direction of west to east with wind speed of 11–13 ms⁻¹. Shortwave aerosol direct radiative forcing (SWADRF) diurnally averaged at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), the atmosphere (ATM), and surface (SUR) are found to be − 10 W m⁻², 27 W m⁻², and − 37 W m⁻², respectively. The heating rate was enhanced by 56% (from 0.16 to 0.25 K day⁻¹) during the event in the whole atmospheric column. Visibility decreased by 31% during the dust storm day compared with its average value of non-dust storm days.

在季风前的季节里，德里经常遇到沙尘暴。我们研究了2014年5月30日在新德里发生的一次此类事件，以了解气溶胶光学特性的变化。本研究利用了来自地面和卫星测量的气溶胶光学深度（AOD）以及重新分析数据。在沙尘暴事件的前一周和后一周检查了气溶胶特性。结果表明，在尘埃事件发生日，所有测量模式（即，太阳光度计，MODIS和MERRA-2）的AOD值均达到〜1.0。从MODIS衍生的气溶胶埃指数（AAE）从1.7±0.3逐渐减小到1.1±0.3，表明事件期间存在粗模式粒子。在尘埃事件期间，使用本地开发的双极化微脉冲激光雷达（MPL）系统观察到海拔1至2 km的气溶胶层。暴风雨期间的尘埃来源通过空气质量反向轨迹分析得以识别。在850 hPa处平均每24小时计算一次的粉尘塔质量密度为780 mg m⁻²，主要风向为西风向东，风速为11-13 ms ^-1。大气（TOA），大气（ATM）和表面（SUR）顶部的昼夜平均短波气溶胶直接辐射强迫（SWADRF）为-10 W m ^-2，27 W m ^-2和-分别为37W m ^-2。在整个大气塔中，整个过程中加热速率提高了56％（从0.16 day到0.25 K day ^-1）。与非沙尘暴天的平均值相比，沙尘暴天的能见度降低了31％。