Recent advances in understanding secondary organic aerosol: Implications for global climate forcing: Advances in Secondary Organic Aerosol

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shrivastava, Manish; Cappa, Christopher D.; Fan, Jiwen

Anthropogenic emissions and land-use changes have modified atmospheric aerosol concentrations and size distributions over time. Understanding pre-industrial conditions and changes in organic aerosol due to anthropogenic activities is important because these features 1) influence estimates of aerosol radiative forcing and 2) can confound estimates of the historical response of climate to increases in greenhouse gases (e.g. the ‘climate sensitivity’). Secondary organic aerosol (SOA), formed in the atmosphere by oxidation of organic gases, represents a major fraction of global submicron-sized atmospheric organic aerosol. Over the past decade, significant advances in understanding SOA properties and formation mechanisms have occurred through a combinationmore » of laboratory and field measurements, yet current climate models typically do not comprehensively include all important SOA-relevant processes. Therefore, major gaps exist at present between current measurement-based knowledge on the one hand and model implementation of organic aerosols on the other. The critical review herein summarizes some of the important developments in understanding SOA formation that could potentially have large impacts on our understanding of aerosol radiative forcing and climate. We highlight the importance of some recently discovered processes and properties that influence the growth of SOA particles to sizes relevant for clouds and radiative forcing, including: formation of extremely low-volatility organics in the gas-phase; isoprene epoxydiols (IEPOX) multi-phase chemistry; particle-phase oligomerization; and physical properties such as viscosity. In addition, this review also highlights some of the important processes that involve interactions between natural biogenic emissions and anthropogenic emissions, such as the role of sulfate and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) on SOA formation from biogenic volatile organic compounds. Studies that relate the observed evolution of organic

Organic condensation - a vital link connecting aerosol formation to climate forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riipinen, I.; Pierce, J. R.; Yli-Juuti, T.; Nieminen, T.; Häkkinen, S.; Ehn, M.; Junninen, H.; Lehtipalo, K.; Petäjä, T.; Slowik, J.; Chang, R.; Shantz, N. C.; Abbatt, J.; Leaitch, W. R.; Kerminen, V.-M.; Worsnop, D. R.; Pandis, S. N.; Donahue, N. M.; Kulmala, M.

2011-01-01

Atmospheric aerosol particles influence global climate as well as impair air quality through their effects on atmospheric visibility and human health. Ultrafine (<100 nm) particles often dominate aerosol numbers, and nucleation of atmospheric vapors is an important source of these particles. To have climatic relevance, however, the freshly-nucleated particles need to grow in size. We combine observations from two continental sites (Egbert, Canada and Hyytiälä, Finland) to show that condensation of organic vapors is a crucial factor governing the lifetimes and climatic importance of the smallest atmospheric particles. We demonstrate that state-of-the-science organic gas-particle partitioning models fail to reproduce the observations, and propose a modeling approach that is consistent with the measurements. We demonstrate the large sensitivity of climatic forcing of atmospheric aerosols to these interactions between organic vapors and the smallest atmospheric nanoparticles - highlighting the need for representing this process in global climate models.

Future Climate Impacts of Direct Radiative Forcing Anthropogenic Aerosols, Tropospheric Ozone, and Long-lived Greenhouse Gases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Wei-Ting; Liao, Hong; Seinfeld, John H.

2007-01-01

Long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the most important driver of climate change over the next century. Aerosols and tropospheric ozone (O3) are expected to induce significant perturbations to the GHG-forced climate. To distinguish the equilibrium climate responses to changes in direct radiative forcing of anthropogenic aerosols, tropospheric ozone, and GHG between present day and year 2100, four 80-year equilibrium climates are simulated using a unified tropospheric chemistry-aerosol model within the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) general circulation model (GCM) 110. Concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, primary organic (POA) carbon, secondary organic (SOA) carbon, black carbon (BC) aerosols, and tropospheric ozone for present day and year 2100 are obtained a priori by coupled chemistry-aerosol GCM simulations, with emissions of aerosols, ozone, and precursors based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emissions Scenario (SRES) A2. Changing anthropogenic aerosols, tropospheric ozone, and GHG from present day to year 2100 is predicted to perturb the global annual mean radiative forcing by +0.18 (considering aerosol direct effects only), +0.65, and +6.54 W m(sup -2) at the tropopause, and to induce an equilibrium global annual mean surface temperature change of +0.14, +0.32, and +5.31 K, respectively, with the largest temperature response occurring at northern high latitudes. Anthropogenic aerosols, through their direct effect, are predicted to alter the Hadley circulation owing to an increasing interhemispheric temperature gradient, leading to changes in tropical precipitation. When changes in both aerosols and tropospheric ozone are considered, the predicted patterns of change in global circulation and the hydrological cycle are similar to those induced by aerosols alone. GHG-induced climate changes, such as amplified warming over high latitudes, weakened Hadley circulation, and increasing precipitation over the

ARM-Led Improvements Aerosols in Climate and Climate Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ghan, Steven J.; Penner, Joyce E.

2016-07-25

The DOE ARM program has played a foundational role in efforts to quantify aerosol effects on climate, beginning with the early back-of-the-envelope estimates of direct radiative forcing by anthropogenic sulfate and biomass burning aerosol (Penner et al., 1994). In this chapter we review the role that ARM has played in subsequent detailed estimates based on physically-based representations of aerosols in climate models. The focus is on quantifying the direct and indirect effects of anthropogenic aerosol on the planetary energy balance. Only recently have other DOE programs applied the aerosol modeling capability to simulate the climate response to the radiative forcing.

Aerosol and ozone changes as forcing for climate evolution between 1850 and 2100

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szopa, Sophie; Balkanski, Y.; Schulz, M.; Bekki, S.; Cugnet, D.; Fortems-Cheiney, A.; Turquety, S.; Cozic, A.; Déandreis, C.; Hauglustaine, D.; Idelkadi, A.; Lathière, J.; Lefevre, F.; Marchand, M.; Vuolo, R.; Yan, N.; Dufresne, J.-L.

2013-05-01

Global aerosol and ozone distributions and their associated radiative forcings were simulated between 1850 and 2100 following a recent historical emission dataset and under the representative concentration pathways (RCP) for the future. These simulations were used in an Earth System Model to account for the changes in both radiatively and chemically active compounds, when simulating the climate evolution. The past negative stratospheric ozone trends result in a negative climate forcing culminating at -0.15 W m-2 in the 1990s. In the meantime, the tropospheric ozone burden increase generates a positive climate forcing peaking at 0.41 W m-2. The future evolution of ozone strongly depends on the RCP scenario considered. In RCP4.5 and RCP6.0, the evolution of both stratospheric and tropospheric ozone generate relatively weak radiative forcing changes until 2060-2070 followed by a relative 30 % decrease in radiative forcing by 2100. In contrast, RCP8.5 and RCP2.6 model projections exhibit strongly different ozone radiative forcing trajectories. In the RCP2.6 scenario, both effects (stratospheric ozone, a negative forcing, and tropospheric ozone, a positive forcing) decline towards 1950s values while they both get stronger in the RCP8.5 scenario. Over the twentieth century, the evolution of the total aerosol burden is characterized by a strong increase after World War II until the middle of the 1980s followed by a stabilization during the last decade due to the strong decrease in sulfates in OECD countries since the 1970s. The cooling effects reach their maximal values in 1980, with -0.34 and -0.28 W m-2 respectively for direct and indirect total radiative forcings. According to the RCP scenarios, the aerosol content, after peaking around 2010, is projected to decline strongly and monotonically during the twenty-first century for the RCP8.5, 4.5 and 2.6 scenarios. While for RCP6.0 the decline occurs later, after peaking around 2050. As a consequence the relative

A Strategy to Assess Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing of Climate Using Satellite Radiation Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufman, Yoram J.; Tanre, Didier; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Atmospheric aerosols have a complex internal chemical composition and optical properties. Therefore it is difficult to model their impact on redistribution and absorption of solar radiation, and the consequent impact on atmospheric dynamics and climate. The use in climate models of isolated aerosol parameters retrieved from satellite data (e.g. optical thickness) may result in inconsistent calculations, if the model assumptions differ from these of the satellite retrieval schemes. Here we suggest a strategy to assess the direct impact of aerosol on the radiation budget at the top and bottom of the atmosphere using satellite and ground based measurements of the spectral solar radiation scattered by the aerosol. This method ensures consistent use of the satellite data and increases its accuracy. For Kaufman and Tanre: Strategy for aerosol direct forcing anthropogenic aerosol in the fine mode (e.g. biomass burning smoke and urban pollution) consistent use of satellite derived optical thickness can yield the aerosol impact on the spectral solar flux with accuracy an order of magnitude better than the optical thickness itself. For example, a simulated monthly average smoke optical thickness of 0.5 at 0.55 microns (forcing of 40-50 W/sq m) derived with an error of 20%, while the forcing can be measured directly with an error of only 0-2 W/sq m. Another example, the effect of large dust particles on reflection of solar flux can be derived three times better than retrievals of optical thickness. Since aerosol impacts not only the top of the atmosphere but also the surface irradiation, a combination of satellite and ground based measurements of the spectral flux, can be the most direct mechanism to evaluate the aerosol effect on climate and assimilate it in climate models. The strategy is applied to measurements from SCAR-B and the Tarfox experiments. In SCAR-B aircraft spectral data are used to derive the 24 hour radiative forcing of smoke at the top of the atmosphere of

Climatic Effects of 1950-2050 Changes in US Anthropogenic Aerosols. Part 1; Aerosol Trends and Radiative Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leibensperger, E. M.; Mickley, L. J.; Jacob, D. J.; Chen, W.-T.; Seinfeld, J. H.; Nenes, A.; Adams, P. J.; Streets, D. G.; Kumar, N.; Rind, D.

2012-01-01

We calculate decadal aerosol direct and indirect (warm cloud) radiative forcings from US anthropogenic sources over the 1950-2050 period. Past and future aerosol distributions are constructed using GEOS-Chem and historical emission inventories and future projections from the IPCC A1B scenario. Aerosol simulations are evaluated with observed spatial distributions and 1980-2010 trends of aerosol concentrations and wet deposition in the contiguous US. Direct and indirect radiative forcing is calculated using the GISS general circulation model and monthly mean aerosol distributions from GEOS-Chem. The radiative forcing from US anthropogenic aerosols is strongly localized over the eastern US. We find that its magnitude peaked in 1970-1990, with values over the eastern US (east of 100 deg W) of -2.0Wm(exp-2 for direct forcing including contributions from sulfate (-2.0Wm-2), nitrate (-0.2Wm(exp-2), organic carbon (-0.2Wm(exp-2), and black carbon (+0.4Wm(exp-2). The uncertainties in radiative forcing due to aerosol radiative properties are estimated to be about 50 %. The aerosol indirect effect is estimated to be of comparable magnitude to the direct forcing. We find that the magnitude of the forcing declined sharply from 1990 to 2010 (by 0.8Wm(exp-2) direct and 1.0Wm(exp-2 indirect), mainly reflecting decreases in SO2 emissions, and project that it will continue declining post-2010 but at a much slower rate since US SO2 emissions have already declined by almost 60% from their peak. This suggests that much of the warming effect of reducing US anthropogenic aerosol sources has already been realized. The small positive radiative forcing from US BC emissions (+0.3Wm(exp-2 over the eastern US in 2010; 5% of the global forcing from anthropogenic BC emissions worldwide) suggests that a US emission control strategy focused on BC would have only limited climate benefit.

Importance of Anthropogenic Aerosols for Climate Prediction: a Study on East Asian Sulfate Aerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartlett, R. E.; Bollasina, M. A.

2017-12-01

Climate prediction is vital to ensure that we are able to adapt to our changing climate. Understandably, the main focus for such prediction is greenhouse gas forcing, as this will be the main anthropogenic driver of long-term global climate change; however, other forcings could still be important. Atmospheric aerosols represent one such forcing, especially in regions with high present-day aerosol loading such as Asia; yet, uncertainty in their future emissions are under-sampled by commonly used climate forcing projections, such as the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). Globally, anthropogenic aerosols exert a net cooling, but their effects show large variation at regional scales. Studies have shown that aerosols impact locally upon temperature, precipitation and hydroclimate, and also upon larger scale atmospheric circulation (for example, the Asian monsoon) with implications for climate remote from aerosol sources. We investigate how future climate could evolve differently given the same greenhouse gas forcing pathway but differing aerosol emissions. Specifically, we use climate modelling experiments (using HadGEM2-ES) of two scenarios based upon RCP2.6 greenhouse gas forcing but with large differences in sulfur dioxide emissions over East Asia. Results show that increased sulfate aerosols (associated with increased sulfur dioxide) lead to large regional cooling through aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions. Focussing on dynamical mechanisms, we explore the consequences of this cooling for the Asian summer and winter monsoons. In addition to local temperature and precipitation changes, we find significant changes to large scale atmospheric circulation. Wave-like responses to upper-level atmospheric changes propagate across the northern hemisphere with far-reaching effects on surface climate, for example, cooling over Europe. Within the tropics, we find alterations to zonal circulation (notably, shifts in the Pacific Walker cell) and monsoon

Forced vs unforced drivers of Atlantic SST variability - linking forced role to magnitude of aerosol forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Booth, B.; Dunstone, N.; Halloran, P. R.; Andrews, T.; Bellouin, N.; Martin, E. R.

2014-12-01

Historical variations in North Atlantic SSTs have been a key driver of regional climate change - linked to drought frequency in the Sahel, Amazon and American Mid-West, rainfall and heat waves in Europe and frequency of Atlantic tropical storms. Traditionally these SST variations were deemed to arise from internally generated ocean variability. We present results from recent studies (Booth et al, 2012, Dunstone, 2013) that identify a mechanism via which volcanic and industrial aerosols could explain a large fraction of observed Atlantic variability, and its associated climate impacts. This work has prompted a lot of subsequent discussion about the relative contribution of ocean generated and external forced variability in the Atlantic. Here we present new results, that extend this earlier work, by looking at forced variability in the CMIP5 modelling context. This provides new insights into the potential externally forced role aerosols may play in the real world. CMIP5 models that represent aerosol-cloud interactions tend to have stronger correlations to observed variations in SSTs, but disagree on the magnitude of forced variability that they explain. We can link this contribution to the magnitude of aerosol forcing in each of these models - a factor that is both dependent on the aerosol parameterisation and the representation of boundary layer cloud in this region. This suggests that whether aerosols have played a larger or smaller role in historical Atlantic variability is tied to whether aerosols have a larger or smaller aerosol forcing (particularly indirect) in the real world. This in turn suggests that benefits of reducing current aerosol uncertainty are likely to extend beyond better estimates of global forcing, to providing a clearer picture of the past aerosol driven role in historical regional climate change.

Constraining Carbonaceous Aerosol Climate Forcing by Bridging Laboratory, Field and Modeling Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubey, M. K.; Aiken, A. C.; Liu, S.; Saleh, R.; Cappa, C. D.; Williams, L. R.; Donahue, N. M.; Gorkowski, K.; Ng, N. L.; Mazzoleni, C.; China, S.; Sharma, N.; Yokelson, R. J.; Allan, J. D.; Liu, D.

2014-12-01

Biomass and fossil fuel combustion emits black (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) aerosols that absorb sunlight to warm climate and organic carbon (OC) aerosols that scatter sunlight to cool climate. The net forcing depends strongly on the composition, mixing state and transformations of these carbonaceous aerosols. Complexities from large variability of fuel types, combustion conditions and aging processes have confounded their treatment in models. We analyse recent laboratory and field measurements to uncover fundamental mechanism that control the chemical, optical and microphysical properties of carbonaceous aerosols that are elaborated below: Wavelength dependence of absorption and the single scattering albedo (ω) of fresh biomass burning aerosols produced from many fuels during FLAME-4 was analysed to determine the factors that control the variability in ω. Results show that ω varies strongly with fire-integrated modified combustion efficiency (MCEFI)—higher MCEFI results in lower ω values and greater spectral dependence of ω (Liu et al GRL 2014). A parameterization of ω as a function of MCEFI for fresh BB aerosols is derived from the laboratory data and is evaluated by field data, including BBOP. Our laboratory studies also demonstrate that BrC production correlates with BC indicating that that they are produced by a common mechanism that is driven by MCEFI (Saleh et al NGeo 2014). We show that BrC absorption is concentrated in the extremely low volatility component that favours long-range transport. We observe substantial absorption enhancement for internally mixed BC from diesel and wood combustion near London during ClearFlo. While the absorption enhancement is due to BC particles coated by co-emitted OC in urban regions, it increases with photochemical age in rural areas and is simulated by core-shell models. We measure BrC absorption that is concentrated in the extremely low volatility components and attribute it to wood burning. Our results support

Factors Affecting Aerosol Radiative Forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jingxu; Lin, Jintai; Ni, Ruijing

2016-04-01

Rapid industrial and economic growth has meant a large amount of aerosols in the atmosphere with strong radiative forcing (RF) upon the climate system. Over parts of the globe, the negative forcing of aerosols has overcompensated for the positive forcing of greenhouse gases. Aerosol RF is determined by emissions and various chemical-transport-radiative processes in the atmosphere, a multi-factor problem whose individual contributors have not been well quantified. In this study, we analyze the major factors affecting RF of secondary inorganic aerosols (SIOAs, including sulfate, nitrate and ammonium), primary organic aerosol (POA), and black carbon (BC). We analyze the RF of aerosols produced by 11 major regions across the globe, including but not limited to East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, North America, and Western Europe. Factors analyzed include population size, per capita gross domestic production (GDP), emission intensity (i.e., emissions per unit GDP), chemical efficiency (i.e., mass per unit emissions) and radiative efficiency (i.e., RF per unit mass). We find that among the 11 regions, East Asia produces the largest emissions and aerosol RF, due to relatively high emission intensity and a tremendous population size. South Asia produce the second largest RF of SIOA and BC and the highest RF of POA, in part due to its highest chemical efficiency among all regions. Although Southeast Asia also has large emissions, its aerosol RF is alleviated by its lowest chemical efficiency. The chemical efficiency and radiative efficiency of BC produced by the Middle East-North Africa are the highest across the regions, whereas its RF is lowered by a small per capita GDP. Both North America and Western Europe have low emission intensity, compensating for the effects on RF of large population sizes and per capita GDP. There has been a momentum to transfer industries to Southeast Asia and South Asia, and such transition is expected to continue in the coming years. The

Factors Affecting Aerosol Radiative Forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Lin, J.; Ni, R.

2016-12-01

Rapid industrial and economic growth has meant large amount of aerosols in the atmosphere with strong radiative forcing (RF) upon the climate system. Over parts of the globe, the negative forcing of aerosols has overcompensated for the positive forcing of greenhouse gases. Aerosol RF is determined by emissions and various chemical-transport-radiative processes in the atmosphere, a multi-factor problem whose individual contributors have not been well quantified. In this study, we analyze the major factors affecting RF of secondary inorganic aerosols (SIOAs, including sulfate, nitrate and ammonium), primary organic aerosol (POA), and black carbon (BC). We analyze the RFof aerosols produced by 11 major regions across the globe, including but not limited to East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, North America, and Western Europe. Factors analyzed include population size, per capita gross domestic production (GDP), emission intensity (i.e., emissionsper unit GDP), chemical efficiency (i.e., mass per unit emissions) and radiative efficiency (i.e., RF per unit mass). We find that among the 11 regions, East Asia produces the largest emissions and aerosol RF, due to relatively high emission intensity and a tremendous population size.South Asia produce the second largest RF of SIOA and BC and the highest RF of POA, in part due to its highest chemical efficiency among all regions. Although Southeast Asia also has large emissions,its aerosol RF is alleviated by its lowest chemical efficiency.The chemical efficiency and radiative efficiency of BC produced by the Middle East-North Africa are the highest across the regions, whereas its RF is loweredbyasmall per capita GDP.Both North America and Western Europe have low emission intensity, compensating for the effects on RF of large population sizes and per capita GDP. There has been a momentum to transfer industries to Southeast Asia and South Asia, and such transition is expected to continue in the coming years. The resulting

The Use of Remote Sensing to Resolve the Aerosol Radiative Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufman, Y. J.; Tanre, D.; Remer, Lorraine

1999-01-01

Satellites are used for remote sensing of aerosol optical thickness and optical properties in order to derive the aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing of climate. Accuracy of the derived aerosol optical thickness is used as a measure of the accuracy in deriving the aerosol radiative forcing. Several questions can be asked to challenge this concept. Is the accuracy of the satellite-derived aerosol direct forcing limited to the accuracy of the measured optical thickness? What are the spectral bands needed to derive the total aerosol forcing? Does most of the direct or indirect aerosol forcing of climate originate from regions with aerosol concentrations that are high enough to be detected from space? What should be the synergism ground-based and space-borne remote sensing to solve the problem? We shall try to answer some of these questions, using AVIRIS airborne measurements and simulations.

Atmospheric Aerosol Properties and Climate Impacts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chin, Mian; Kahn, Ralph A.; Remer, Lorraine A.; Yu, Hongbin; Rind, David; Feingold, Graham; Quinn, Patricia K.; Schwartz, Stephen E.; Streets, David G.; DeCola, Phillip;

Remote Sensing of Aerosol and Aerosol Radiative Forcing of Climate from EOS Terra MODIS Instrument

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufman, Yoram; Tanre, Didier; Remer, Lorraine; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The recent launch of EOS-Terra into polar orbit has begun to revolutionize remote sensing of aerosol and their effect on climate. Terra has five instruments, two of them,Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multiangle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) are designed to monitor global aerosol in two different complementary ways. Here we shall discuss the use of the multispectral measurements of MODIS to derive: (1) the global distribution of aerosol load (and optical thickness) over ocean and land; (2) to measure the impact of aerosol on reflection of sunlight to space; and (3) to measure the ability of aerosol to absorb solar radiation. These measurements have direct applications on the understanding of the effect of aerosol on climate, the ability to predict climate change, and on the monitoring of dust episodes and man-made pollution. Principles of remote sensing of aerosol from MODIS will be discussed and first examples of measurements from MODIS will be provided.

Roles of production, consumption and trade in global and regional aerosol radiative forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, J.; Tong, D.; Davis, S. J.; Ni, R.; Tan, X.; Pan, D.; Zhao, H.; Lu, Z.; Streets, D. G.; Feng, T.; Zhang, Q.; Yan, Y.; Hu, Y.; Li, J.; Liu, Z.; Jiang, X.; Geng, G.; He, K.; Huang, Y.; Guan, D.

2016-12-01

Anthropogenic aerosols exert strong radiative forcing on the climate system. Prevailing view regards aerosol radiative forcing as a result of emissions from regions' economic production, with China and other developing regions having the largest contributions to radiative forcing at present. However, economic production is driven by global demand for computation, and international trade allows for separation of regions consuming goods and services from regions where goods and related aerosol pollution are produced. It has recently been recognized that regions' consumption and trade have profoundly altered the spatial distribution of aerosol emissions and pollution. Building upon our previous work, this study quantifies for the first time the roles of trade and consumption in aerosol climate forcing attributed to different regions. We contrast the direct radiative forcing of aerosols related to regions' consumption of goods and services against the forcing due to emissions produced in each region. Aerosols assessed include black carbon, primary organic aerosol, and secondary inorganic aerosols including sulfate, nitrate and ammonium. We find that global aerosol radiative forcing due to emissions produced in East Asia is much stronger than the forcing related to goods and services ultimately consumed in that region because of its large net export of emissions-intensive goods. The opposite is true for net importers like Western Europe and North America: global radiative forcing related to consumption is much greater than the forcing due to emissions produced in these regions. Overall, trade is associated with a shift of radiative forcing from net importing to net exporting regions. Compared to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, the short atmospheric lifetimes of aerosols cause large localized differences in radiative forcing. International efforts to reduce emissions in the exporting countries will help alleviate trade-related climate and health impacts of

Aerosol Absorption and Radiative Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stier, Philip; Seinfeld, J. H.; Kinne, Stefan; Boucher, Olivier

2007-01-01

We present a comprehensive examination of aerosol absorption with a focus on evaluating the sensitivity of the global distribution of aerosol absorption to key uncertainties in the process representation. For this purpose we extended the comprehensive aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM by effective medium approximations for the calculation of aerosol effective refractive indices, updated black carbon refractive indices, new cloud radiative properties considering the effect of aerosol inclusions, as well as by modules for the calculation of long-wave aerosol radiative properties and instantaneous aerosol forcing. The evaluation of the simulated aerosol absorption optical depth with the AERONET sun-photometer network shows a good agreement in the large scale global patterns. On a regional basis it becomes evident that the update of the BC refractive indices to Bond and Bergstrom (2006) significantly improves the previous underestimation of the aerosol absorption optical depth. In the global annual-mean, absorption acts to reduce the shortwave anthropogenic aerosol top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative forcing clear-sky from -0.79 to -0.53 W m(sup -2) (33%) and all-sky from -0.47 to -0.13W m(sup -2 (72%). Our results confirm that basic assumptions about the BC refractive index play a key role for aerosol absorption and radiative forcing. The effect of the usage of more accurate effective medium approximations is comparably small. We demonstrate that the diversity in the AeroCom land-surface albedo fields contributes to the uncertainty in the simulated anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcings: the usage of an upper versus lower bound of the AeroCom land albedos introduces a global annual-mean TOA forcing range of 0.19W m(sup -2) (36%) clear-sky and of 0.12W m(sup -2) (92%) all-sky. The consideration of black carbon inclusions on cloud radiative properties results in a small global annual-mean all-sky absorption of 0.05W m(sup -2) and a positive TOA forcing perturbation of 0

Contributions to the Understanding of Aerosol Microphysics Towards Improving the Assessment of Climate Radiative Forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawson, Kyle William

The study of climate and the associated impacts imposed by human activity has garnered the attention of scientists and policy makers since the 1950s. Research into the various atmospheric constituents that interact with solar radiation thus modulating Earth's radiative budget has been largely focused on the contributions from greenhouse gases and later focused on the role of atmospheric aerosol. The role of atmospheric aerosol, i.e. a solid or aqueous phase particulate, is complex and presents an opportunity for bettering the assessments of climate radiative forcing (i.e. the fraction of climate change due to anthropogenic, rather than natural, activities) in several ways. First, motivated to better understand the radiative effects of the Earth's background aerosol state to improve the assessment of anthropogenic effects, an experimental study on the water uptake ability of xanthan gum as a proxy for marine hydrogel, a component of natural primary emitted seaspray aerosol, is presented. Marine hydrogel comprises an organic component of the ocean surface microlayer that is released to the atmosphere via the bursting of bubbles generated by entrainment of air through crashing waves. This study investigates the water uptake ability (i.e. hygroscopicity) of these particles when exposed to a range of relative humidity (RH). The hydration characteristics of aerosolized pure xanthan gum as well as xanthan gum/salt mixtures were studied using a hygroscopic tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) and cloud condensation nuclei counter (CCNc). The hygroscopicity of the various solutions were compared to theoretical thermodynamic calculations accounting for the component volume fractions as a function of relative humidity. The data show that pure xanthan gum aerosol hygroscopicity behaves as other organic polysaccharides and, when combined with salts, is reasonably approximated by the volume fraction mixing rules above 90% RH. Deviations occur below 90% RH as well as for

Confronting the Uncertainty in Aerosol Forcing Using Comprehensive Observational Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, J. S.; Regayre, L. A.; Yoshioka, M.; Pringle, K.; Sexton, D.; Lee, L.; Carslaw, K. S.

2017-12-01

The effect of aerosols on cloud droplet concentrations and radiative properties is the largest uncertainty in the overall radiative forcing of climate over the industrial period. In this study, we take advantage of a large perturbed parameter ensemble of simulations from the UK Met Office HadGEM-UKCA model (the aerosol component of the UK Earth System Model) to comprehensively sample uncertainty in aerosol forcing. Uncertain aerosol and atmospheric parameters cause substantial aerosol forcing uncertainty in climatically important regions. As the aerosol radiative forcing itself is unobservable, we investigate the potential for observations of aerosol and radiative properties to act as constraints on the large forcing uncertainty. We test how eight different theoretically perfect aerosol and radiation observations can constrain the forcing uncertainty over Europe. We find that the achievable constraint is weak unless many diverse observations are used simultaneously. This is due to the complex relationships between model output responses and the multiple interacting parameter uncertainties: compensating model errors mean there are many ways to produce the same model output (known as model equifinality) which impacts on the achievable constraint. However, using all eight observable quantities together we show that the aerosol forcing uncertainty can potentially be reduced by around 50%. This reduction occurs as we reduce a large sample of model variants (over 1 million) that cover the full parametric uncertainty to around 1% that are observationally plausible.Constraining the forcing uncertainty using real observations is a more complex undertaking, in which we must account for multiple further uncertainties including measurement uncertainties, structural model uncertainties and the model discrepancy from reality. Here, we make a first attempt to determine the true potential constraint on the forcing uncertainty from our model that is achievable using a comprehensive

Climate forcings and feedbacks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, James

1993-01-01

Global temperature has increased significantly during the past century. Understanding the causes of observed global temperature change is impossible in the absence of adequate monitoring of changes in global climate forcings and radiative feedbacks. Climate forcings are changes imposed on the planet's energy balance, such as change of incoming sunlight or a human-induced change of surface properties due to deforestation. Radiative feedbacks are radiative changes induced by climate change, such as alteration of cloud properties or the extent of sea ice. Monitoring of global climate forcings and feedbacks, if sufficiently precise and long-term, can provide a very strong constraint on interpretation of observed temperature change. Such monitoring is essential to eliminate uncertainties about the relative importance of various climate change mechanisms including tropospheric sulfate aerosols from burning of coal and oil smoke from slash and burn agriculture, changes of solar irradiance changes of several greenhouse gases, and many other mechanisms. The considerable variability of observed temperature, together with evidence that a substantial portion of this variability is unforced indicates that observations of climate forcings and feedbacks must be continued for decades. Since the climate system responds to the time integral of the forcing, a further requirement is that the observations be carried out continuously. However, precise observations of forcings and feedbacks will also be able to provide valuable conclusions on shorter time scales. For example, knowledge of the climate forcing by increasing CFC's relative to the forcing by changing ozone is important to policymakers, as is information on the forcing by CO2 relative to the forcing by sulfate aerosols. It will also be possible to obtain valuable tests of climate models on short time scales, if there is precise monitoring of all forcings and feedbacks during and after events such as a large volcanic eruption

Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing: Calculations and Measurements from the Tropospheric

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, P. B.; Hignett, P.; Stowe, L. L.; Livingston, J. M.; Kinne, S.; Wong, J.; Chan, K. Roland (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Radiative forcing is defined as the change in the net (downwelling minus upwelling) radiative flux at a given level in the atmosphere. This net flux is the radiative power density available to drive climatic processes in the earth-atmosphere system below that level. Recent research shows that radiative forcing by aerosol particles is a major source of uncertainty in climate predictions. To reduce those uncertainties, TARFOX was designed to determine direct (cloud-free) radiative forcing by the aerosols in one of the world's major industrial pollution plumes--that flowing from the east coast of the US over the Atlantic Ocean. TARFOX measured a variety of aerosol radiative effects (including direct forcing) while simultaneously measuring the chemical, physical, and optical properties of the aerosol particles causing those effects. The resulting data sets permit a wide variety of tests of the consistency, or closure, among the measurements and the models that link them. Because climate predictions use the same or similar model components, closure tests help to assess and reduce prediction uncertainties. In this work we use the TARFOX-determined aerosol, gas, and surface properties to compute radiative forcing for a variety of aerosol episodes, with inadvisable optical depths ranging from 0.07 to 0.6. We calculate forcing by several techniques with varying degrees of sophistication, in part to test the range of applicability of simplified techniques--which are often the only ones feasible in climate predictions by general circulation models (GCMs). We then compare computed forcing to that determined from: (1) Upwelling and downwelling fluxes (0.3-0.7 mm and 0.7-3.0 mm) measured by radiometers on the UK MRF C-130. and (2) Daily average cloud-free absorbed solar and emitted thermal radiative flux at the top of the atmosphere derived from the AVHRR radiometer on the NOAA- 14 satellite. The calculations and measurements all yield aerosol direct radiative forcing in the

Large contribution of natural aerosols to uncertainty in indirect forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carslaw, K. S.; Lee, L. A.; Reddington, C. L.; Pringle, K. J.; Rap, A.; Forster, P. M.; Mann, G. W.; Spracklen, D. V.; Woodhouse, M. T.; Regayre, L. A.; Pierce, J. R.

2013-11-01

The effect of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud droplet concentrations and radiative properties is the source of one of the largest uncertainties in the radiative forcing of climate over the industrial period. This uncertainty affects our ability to estimate how sensitive the climate is to greenhouse gas emissions. Here we perform a sensitivity analysis on a global model to quantify the uncertainty in cloud radiative forcing over the industrial period caused by uncertainties in aerosol emissions and processes. Our results show that 45 per cent of the variance of aerosol forcing since about 1750 arises from uncertainties in natural emissions of volcanic sulphur dioxide, marine dimethylsulphide, biogenic volatile organic carbon, biomass burning and sea spray. Only 34 per cent of the variance is associated with anthropogenic emissions. The results point to the importance of understanding pristine pre-industrial-like environments, with natural aerosols only, and suggest that improved measurements and evaluation of simulated aerosols in polluted present-day conditions will not necessarily result in commensurate reductions in the uncertainty of forcing estimates.

Does Aerosol Geoengineering the Earth's Climate Pass a Cost-Benefit Test?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, K.; Urban, N.; Tuana, N.

2007-12-01

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are changing the Earth's climate with potentially dangerous consequences. Ratified international agreements call for a reduction of CO2 emissions to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Recent studies have, however, proposed an alternative strategy: to geoengineer Earth's climate by injecting aerosol precursors into the stratosphere. It is often claimed that aerosol geoengineering would provide net economic benefits because geoengineering requires far lower near-term investments compared to deep cuts in CO2 emissions. However, aerosol geoengineering projects can also cause nontrivial economic costs. This is because aerosol geoengineering hinges on successfully counterbalancing the forcing effects of CO2 emissions (which decay over centuries) with the forcing effects of aerosol emissions (which decay within years). A failure to maintain this delicate balance can lead to abrupt climatic changes, with potentially substantial economic damages. Deferring cuts in CO2 emissions in favor of aerosol geoengineering is hence a deeply uncertain gamble, as it requires so far unknown institutions to reliably control aerosol forcings over centuries. Here we use a simple economic model to evaluate potential costs and benefits of aerosol geoengineering for a wide range of the deeply uncertain parameters. We show that aerosol geoengineering projects may cause economic damages that can far exceed the benefits and may hence fail a cost-benefit test.

Satellite Remote Sensing of Aerosol Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Remer, Lorraine; Kaufman, Yoram; Ramaprasad, Jaya; Procopio, Aline; Levin, Zev

1999-01-01

The role of aerosol forcing remains one of the largest uncertainties in estimating man's impact on the global climate system. One school of thought suggests that remote sensing by satellite sensors will provide the data necessary to narrow these uncertainties. While satellite measurements of direct aerosol forcing appear to be straightforward, satellite measurements of aerosol indirect forcing will be more complicated. Pioneering studies identified indirect aerosol forcing using AVHRR data in the biomass burning regions of Brazil. We have expanded this analysis with AVHRR to include an additional year of data and assimilated water vapor fields. The results show similar latitudinal dependence as reported by Kaufman and Fraser, but by using water vapor observations we conclude that latitude is not a proxy for water vapor and the strength of the indirect effect is not correlated to water vapor amounts. In addition to the AVHRR study we have identified indirect aerosol forcing in Brazil at much smaller spatial scales using the MODIS Airborne Simulator. The strength of the indirect effect appears to be related to cloud type and cloud dynamics. There is a suggestion that some of the cloud dynamics may be influenced by smoke destabilization of the atmospheric column. Finally, this study attempts to quantify remote sensing limitations due to the accuracy limits of the retrieval algorithms. We use a combination of numerical aerosol transport models, ground-based AERONET data and ISCCP cloud climatology to determine how much of the forcing occurs in regions too clean to determine from satellite retrievals.

Energy-based and process-based constraints on aerosol-climate interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, K.; Sato, Y.; Takemura, T.; Michibata, T.; Goto, D.; Oikawa, E.

2017-12-01

Recent advance in both satellite observations and global modeling provides us with a novel opportunity to investigate the long-standing aerosol-climate interaction issue at a fundamental process level, particularly with a combined use of them. In this presentation, we will highlight our recent progress in understanding the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction and its implication for global climate with a synergistic use of a state-of-the-art global climate model (MIROC), a global cloud-resolving model (NICAM) and recent satellite observations (A-Train). In particular, we explore two different aspects of the aerosol-climate interaction issue, i.e. (i) the global energy balance perspective with its modulation due to aerosols and (ii) the process-level characteristics of the aerosol-induced perturbations to cloud and precipitation. For the former, climate model simulations are used to quantify how components of global energy budget are modulated by the aerosol forcing. The moist processes are shown to be a critical pathway that links the forcing efficacy and the hydrologic sensitivity arising from aerosol perturbations. Effects of scattering (e.g. sulfate) and absorbing (e.g. black carbon) aerosols are compared in this context to highlight their distinctively different impacts on climate and hydrologic cycle. The aerosol-induced modulation of moist processes is also investigated in the context of the second aspect above to facilitate recent arguments on possible overestimates of the aerosol-cloud interaction in climate models. Our recent simulations with NICAM are shown to highlight how diverse responses of cloud to aerosol perturbation, which have been failed to represent in traditional climate models, are reproduced by the high-resolution global model with sophisticated cloud microphysics. We will discuss implications of these findings for a linkage between the two aspects above to aid advance process-based understandings of the aerosol-climate interaction and

A New Paradigm for Diagnosing Contributions to Model Aerosol Forcing Error: Diagnosing Model Aerosol Forcing Error

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, A. L.; Feldman, D. R.; Freidenreich, S.

A new paradigm in benchmark absorption-scattering radiative transfer is presented that enables both the globally averaged and spatially resolved testing of climate model radiation parameterizations in order to uncover persistent sources of biases in the aerosol instantaneous radiative effect (IRE). A proof of concept is demonstrated with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory AM4 and Community Earth System Model 1.2.2 climate models. Instead of prescribing atmospheric conditions and aerosols, as in prior intercomparisons, native snapshots of the atmospheric state and aerosol optical properties from the participating models are used as inputs to an accurate radiation solver to uncover model-relevant biases. Thesemore » diagnostic results show that the models' aerosol IRE bias is of the same magnitude as the persistent range cited (~1 W/m 2) and also varies spatially and with intrinsic aerosol optical properties. The findings presented here underscore the significance of native model error analysis and its dispositive ability to diagnose global biases, confirming its fundamental value for the Radiative Forcing Model Intercomparison Project.« less

A New Paradigm for Diagnosing Contributions to Model Aerosol Forcing Error: Diagnosing Model Aerosol Forcing Error

DOE PAGES

Jones, A. L.; Feldman, D. R.; Freidenreich, S.; ...

2017-12-07

A new paradigm in benchmark absorption-scattering radiative transfer is presented that enables both the globally averaged and spatially resolved testing of climate model radiation parameterizations in order to uncover persistent sources of biases in the aerosol instantaneous radiative effect (IRE). A proof of concept is demonstrated with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory AM4 and Community Earth System Model 1.2.2 climate models. Instead of prescribing atmospheric conditions and aerosols, as in prior intercomparisons, native snapshots of the atmospheric state and aerosol optical properties from the participating models are used as inputs to an accurate radiation solver to uncover model-relevant biases. Thesemore » diagnostic results show that the models' aerosol IRE bias is of the same magnitude as the persistent range cited (~1 W/m 2) and also varies spatially and with intrinsic aerosol optical properties. The findings presented here underscore the significance of native model error analysis and its dispositive ability to diagnose global biases, confirming its fundamental value for the Radiative Forcing Model Intercomparison Project.« less

an aerosol climatology optical properties and its associated direct radiative forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinne, Stefan

2010-05-01

Aerosol particles are quite complex in nature. Aerosol impacts on the distribution of radiative energy and on cloud microphysics have been debated climate impact issues. Here, a new aerosol-climatology is presented, combining the consistency and completeness of global modelling with quality data by ground-monitoring. It provides global monthly maps for spectral aerosol optical properties and for concentrations of CCN and IN. Based on the optical properties the aerosol direct forcing is determined. And with environmental data for clouds and estimates on the anthropogenic fraction from emission experiments with global modelling even the climate relevant aerosol direct forcing at the top of the atmosphere (ToA) is determined. This value is rather small near -0.2W/m2 with limited uncertainty estimated at (+/-0.3) due to uncertainties in aerosol absorption and underlying surface conditions or clouds.

A global modeling study on carbonaceous aerosol microphysical characteristics and radiative forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, S. E.; Menon, S.; Koch, D.; Bond, T. C.; Tsigaridis, K.

2010-02-01

Recently, attention has been drawn towards black carbon aerosols as a short-term climate warming mitigation candidate. However the global and regional impacts of the direct, cloud-indirect and semi-direct forcing effects are highly uncertain, due to the complex nature of aerosol evolution and the way that mixed, aged aerosols interact with clouds and radiation. A detailed aerosol microphysical scheme, MATRIX, embedded within the GISS climate model is used in this study to present a quantitative assessment of the impact of microphysical processes involving black carbon, such as emission size distributions and optical properties on aerosol cloud activation and radiative forcing. Our best estimate for net direct and indirect aerosol radiative forcing between 1750 and 2000 is -0.56 W/m2. However, the direct and indirect aerosol effects are quite sensitive to the black and organic carbon size distribution and consequential mixing state. The net radiative forcing can vary between -0.32 to -0.75 W/m2 depending on these carbonaceous particle properties at emission. Assuming that sulfates, nitrates and secondary organics form a coating around a black carbon core, rather than forming a uniformly mixed particle, changes the overall net aerosol radiative forcing from negative to positive. Taking into account internally mixed black carbon particles let us simulate correct aerosol absorption. Black carbon absorption is amplified by sulfate and nitrate coatings, but even more strongly by organic coatings. Black carbon mitigation scenarios generally showed reduced radiative forcing when sources with a large proportion of black carbon, such as diesel, are reduced; however reducing sources with a larger organic carbon component as well, such as bio-fuels, does not necessarily lead to climate benefits.

Climate and health implications of future aerosol emission scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Partanen, Antti-Ilari; Landry, Jean-Sébastien; Damon Matthews, H.

2018-02-01

Anthropogenic aerosols have a net cooling effect on climate and also cause adverse health effects by degrading air quality. In this global-scale sensitivity study, we used a combination of the aerosol-climate model ECHAM-HAMMOZ and the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model to assess the climate and health effects of aerosols emissions from three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5) and two new (LOW and HIGH) aerosol emission scenarios derived from RCP4.5, but that span a wider spectrum of possible future aerosol emissions. All simulations had CO2 emissions and greenhouse gas forcings from RCP4.5. Aerosol forcing declined similarly in the standard RCP aerosol emission scenarios: the aerosol effective radiative forcing (ERF) decreased from -1.3 W m-2 in 2005 to between -0.1 W m-2 and -0.4 W m-2 in 2100. The differences in ERF were substantially larger between LOW (-0.02 W m-2 in 2100) and HIGH (-0.8 W m-2) scenarios. The global mean temperature difference between the simulations with standard RCP aerosol emissions was less than 0.18 °C, whereas the difference between LOW and HIGH reached 0.86 °C in 2061. In LOW, the rate of warming peaked at 0.48 °C per decade in the 2030s, whereas in HIGH it was the lowest of all simulations and never exceeded 0.23 °C per decade. Using present-day population density and baseline mortality rates for all scenarios, PM2.5-induced premature mortality was 2 371 800 deaths per year in 2010 and 525 700 in 2100 with RCP4.5 aerosol emissions; in HIGH, the premature mortality reached its maximum value of 2 780 800 deaths per year in 2030, whereas in LOW the premature mortality at 2030 was below 299 900 deaths per year. Our results show potential trade-offs in aerosol mitigation with respect to climate change and public health as ambitious reduction of aerosol emissions considerably increased warming while decreasing mortality.

Natural and Anthropogenic Aerosols in the World's Megacities and Climate Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kafatos, M.; Singh, R.; El-Askary, H.; Qu, J.

2005-12-01

The world's megacities are the sites of production of a variety of aerosols and are themselves affected by natural and human-induced aerosols. In particular, sources of aerosols impacting cities include: industrial and automobile emission; sand and dust storms from, e.g., the Sahara and Gobi Deserts; as well as fire-induced aerosols. Improving the ability of various stakeholder organizations to respond effectively to high concentrations of aerosols, with special emphasis on mineral dust from dust storms; smoke from controlled burns, wild fires and agricultural burning; and anthropogenic aerosols, would be an important goal not just to understand climate forcings but also to be able to better respond to the increasing amounts of aerosols at global and regional levels. Cities and surrounding areas are affected without good estimates of the current and future conditions of the aerosols and their impact on regional and global climate. Remotely sensed (RS) NASA, NOAA and international platform data can be used to characterize the properties of aerosol clouds and special hazard events such as sand and dust storms (SDS). Aerosol analysis and prediction-model capabilities from which stakeholders can choose the tools that best match their needs and technological expertise are important. Scientists validating mesoscale and aerosol-transport models, aerosol retrievals from satellite measurements are indispensable for robust climate predictions. Here we give two examples of generic SDS cases and urban pollution and their possible impact on climate: The Sahara desert is a major source of dust aerosols dust transport is an important climatic process. The aerosols in the form of dust particles reflect the incoming solar radiation to space, thereby reducing the amount of radiation available to the ground, known as `direct' radiative forcing of aerosols. The aerosols also change the cloud albedo and microphysical properties of clouds, known as `indirect' radiative forcing of

Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing Based on Combined A-Train Observations: Towards All-sky Estimates and Attribution to Aerosol Type

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redemann, Jens; Shinozuka, Y.; Kacenelenbogen, M.; Russell, P.; Vaughan, M.; Ferrare, R.; Hostetler, C.; Rogers, R.; Burton, S.; Livingston, J.;

The Aerosol-Monsoon Climate System of Asia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, William K. M.; Kyu-Myong, Kim

2012-01-01

In Asian monsoon countries such as China and India, human health and safety problems caused by air-pollution are worsening due to the increased loading of atmospheric pollutants stemming from rising energy demand associated with the rapid pace of industrialization and modernization. Meanwhile, uneven distribution of monsoon rain associated with flash flood or prolonged drought, has caused major loss of human lives, and damages in crop and properties with devastating societal impacts on Asian countries. Historically, air-pollution and monsoon research are treated as separate problems. However a growing number of recent studies have suggested that the two problems may be intrinsically intertwined and need to be studied jointly. Because of complexity of the dynamics of the monsoon systems, aerosol impacts on monsoons and vice versa must be studied and understood in the context of aerosol forcing in relationship to changes in fundamental driving forces of the monsoon climate system (e.g. sea surface temperature, land-sea contrast etc.) on time scales from intraseasonal variability (weeks) to climate change ( multi-decades). Indeed, because of the large contributions of aerosols to the global and regional energy balance of the atmosphere and earth surface, and possible effects of the microphysics of clouds and precipitation, a better understanding of the response to climate change in Asian monsoon regions requires that aerosols be considered as an integral component of a fully coupled aerosol-monsoon system on all time scales. In this paper, using observations and results from climate modeling, we will discuss the coherent variability of the coupled aerosol-monsoon climate system in South Asia and East Asia, including aerosol distribution and types, with respect to rainfall, moisture, winds, land-sea thermal contrast, heat sources and sink distributions in the atmosphere in seasonal, interannual to climate change time scales. We will show examples of how elevated

On the Feasibility of Studying Shortwave Aerosol Radiative Forcing of Climate Using Dual-Wavelength Aerosol Backscatter Lidar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redemann, Jens; Russell, Philip B.; Winker, David M.; McCormick, M. Patrick; Hipskind, R. Stephen (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The current low confidence in the estimates of aerosol-induced perturbations of Earth's radiation balance is caused by the highly non-uniform compositional, spatial and temporal distributions of tropospheric aerosols on a global scale owing to their heterogeneous sources and short lifetimes. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that the inclusion of aerosol effects in climate model calculations can improve agreement with observed spatial and temporal temperature distributions. In light of the short lifetimes of aerosols, determination of their global distribution with space-borne sensors seems to be a necessary approach. Until recently, satellite measurements of tropospheric aerosols have been approximate and did not provide the full set of information required to determine their radiative effects. With the advent of active aerosol remote sensing from space (e.g., PICASSO-CENA), the applicability fo lidar-derived aerosol 180 deg -backscatter data to radiative flux calculations and hence studies of aerosol effects on climate needs to be investigated.

Climate forcings in the industrial era.

PubMed

Hansen, J E; Sato, M; Lacis, A; Ruedy, R; Tegen, I; Matthews, E

1998-10-27

The forcings that drive long-term climate change are not known with an accuracy sufficient to define future climate change. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are well measured, cause a strong positive (warming) forcing. But other, poorly measured, anthropogenic forcings, especially changes of atmospheric aerosols, clouds, and land-use patterns, cause a negative forcing that tends to offset greenhouse warming. One consequence of this partial balance is that the natural forcing due to solar irradiance changes may play a larger role in long-term climate change than inferred from comparison with GHGs alone. Current trends in GHG climate forcings are smaller than in popular "business as usual" or 1% per year CO2 growth scenarios. The summary implication is a paradigm change for long-term climate projections: uncertainties in climate forcings have supplanted global climate sensitivity as the predominant issue.

Climate Forcings in the Industrial Era

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, James E.; Sato, Makiko; Lacis, Andrew; Ruedy, Reto; Tegen, Ina; Matthews, Elaine

1998-01-01

The forcings that drive long-term climate change are not known with an accuracy sufficient to define future climate change. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are well measured, cause a strong positive (warming) forcing. But other, poorly measured, anthropogenic forcings, especially changes of atmospheric aerosols, clouds, and land-use patterns, cause a negative forcing that tends to offset greenhouse warming. One consequence of this partial balance is-that the natural forcing due to solar irradiance changes may play a larger role in long-term climate change than inferred from comparison with GHGs alone. Current trends in GHG climate forcings are smaller than in popular "business as usual" or 1% per year CO2 growth scenarios. The summary implication is a paradigm change for long-term climate projections: uncertainties in climate forcings have supplanted global climate sensitivity as the predominant issue.

Climate forcings in the Industrial era

PubMed Central

Hansen, James E.; Sato, Makiko; Lacis, Andrew; Ruedy, Reto; Tegen, Ina; Matthews, Elaine

1998-01-01

The forcings that drive long-term climate change are not known with an accuracy sufficient to define future climate change. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are well measured, cause a strong positive (warming) forcing. But other, poorly measured, anthropogenic forcings, especially changes of atmospheric aerosols, clouds, and land-use patterns, cause a negative forcing that tends to offset greenhouse warming. One consequence of this partial balance is that the natural forcing due to solar irradiance changes may play a larger role in long-term climate change than inferred from comparison with GHGs alone. Current trends in GHG climate forcings are smaller than in popular “business as usual” or 1% per year CO2 growth scenarios. The summary implication is a paradigm change for long-term climate projections: uncertainties in climate forcings have supplanted global climate sensitivity as the predominant issue. PMID:9788985

Climate Forcing in the Industrial Era

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, James E.

1998-01-01

The forcings that drive long-term climate change are not known with an accuracy sufficient to define future climate change. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are well measured, cause a strong positive (warming) forcing. But other, poorly measured, anthropogenic forcings, especially changes of atmospheric aerosols, clouds, and land-use patterns, cause a negative forcing that tends to offset greenhouse warming. One consequence of this partial balance is that the natural forcing due to solar irradiance changes may play a larger role in long-term climate change than inferred from comparison with GHGs alone. Current trends in GHG climate forcings are smaller than in popular "business as usual" or 1% per year CO2 growth scenarios. The summary implication is a paradigm change for long-term climate projections: uncertainties in climate forcings have supplanted global climate sensitivity as the predominant issue.

Role of Climate Change in Global Predictions of Future Tropospheric Ozone and Aerosols

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liao, Hong; Chen, Wei-Ting; Seinfeld, John H.

2006-01-01

A unified tropospheric chemistry-aerosol model within the Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model II is applied to simulate an equilibrium CO2-forced climate in the year 2100 to examine the effects of climate change on global distributions of tropospheric ozone and sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, black carbon, primary organic carbon, secondary organic carbon, sea salt, and mineral dust aerosols. The year 2100 CO2 concentration as well as the anthropogenic emissions of ozone precursors and aerosols/aerosol precursors are based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A2. Year 2100 global O3 and aerosol burdens predicted with changes in both climate and emissions are generally 5-20% lower than those simulated with changes in emissions alone; as exceptions, the nitrate burden is 38% lower, and the secondary organic aerosol burden is 17% higher. Although the CO2-driven climate change alone is predicted to reduce the global O3 concentrations over or near populated and biomass burning areas because of slower transport, enhanced biogenic hydrocarbon emissions, decomposition of peroxyacetyl nitrate at higher temperatures, and the increase of O3 production by increased water vapor at high NOx levels. The warmer climate influences aerosol burdens by increasing aerosol wet deposition, altering climate-sensitive emissions, and shifting aerosol thermodynamic equilibrium. Climate change affects the estimates of the year 2100 direct radiative forcing as a result of the climate-induced changes in burdens and different climatological conditions; with full gas-aerosol coupling and accounting for ozone and direct radiative forcings by the O2, sulfate, nitrate, black carbon, and organic carbon are predicted to be +0.93, -0.72, -1.0, +1.26, and -0.56 W m(exp -2), respectively, using present-day climate and year 2100 emissions, while they are predicted to be +0.76, -0.72, 0.74, +0.97, and -0.58 W m(exp -2

Global Aerosol Radiative Forcing Derived from Sea WiFS-Inferred Aerosol Optical Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chou, Ming-Dah; Chan, Pui-King; Wang, Menghua

1999-01-01

Aerosol optical properties inferred from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) radiance measurements are used to compute the aerosol shortwave radiative forcing using a radiative transfer model. The aerosol optical thickness at the wavelength of 865-nm is taken from the SeaWIFS archive. It is found that the nominal optical thickness over oceans ranges from 0.1 to 0.2. Using a maritime aerosol model and the radiances measured at the various SeaWiFS channels, the Angstrom exponent is determined to be 0.2174, the single-scattering albedo to be 0.995, and the asymmetry factor to be 0.786. The radiative transfer model has eight bands in the visible and ultraviolet spectral regions and three bands in the near infrared. It includes the absorption due to aerosols, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and oxygen, and the scattering due to aerosols and gases (Rayleigh scattering). The radiative forcing is computed over global oceans for four months (January, April, July, and October, 1998) to represent four seasons. It is found that the aerosol radiative forcing is large and changes significantly with seasons near the continents with large-scale forest fires and desert dust. Averaged over oceans and the four months, the aerosol radiative forcing is approximately 7 W/sq m at the top of the atmosphere. This large radiative forcing is expected to have a significant cooling effect on the Earth's climate as implied from simulations of a number of general circulation models.

Climate Impacts From a Removal of Anthropogenic Aerosol Emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samset, B. H.; Sand, M.; Smith, C. J.; Bauer, S. E.; Forster, P. M.; Fuglestvedt, J. S.; Osprey, S.; Schleussner, C.-F.

2018-01-01

Limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2.0°C requires strong mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Concurrently, emissions of anthropogenic aerosols will decline, due to coemission with GHG, and measures to improve air quality. However, the combined climate effect of GHG and aerosol emissions over the industrial era is poorly constrained. Here we show the climate impacts from removing present-day anthropogenic aerosol emissions and compare them to the impacts from moderate GHG-dominated global warming. Removing aerosols induces a global mean surface heating of 0.5-1.1°C, and precipitation increase of 2.0-4.6%. Extreme weather indices also increase. We find a higher sensitivity of extreme events to aerosol reductions, per degree of surface warming, in particular over the major aerosol emission regions. Under near-term warming, we find that regional climate change will depend strongly on the balance between aerosol and GHG forcing.

Historical anthropogenic radiative forcing of changes in biogenic secondary aerosol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acosta Navarro, Juan; D'Andrea, Stephen; Pierce, Jeffrey; Ekman, Annica; Struthers, Hamish; Zorita, Eduardo; Guenther, Alex; Arneth, Almut; Smolander, Sampo; Kaplan, Jed; Farina, Salvatore; Scott, Catherine; Rap, Alexandru; Farmer, Delphine; Spracklen, Domink; Riipinen, Ilona

2016-04-01

Human activities have lead to changes in the energy balance of the Earth and the global climate. Changes in atmospheric aerosols are the second largest contributor to climate change after greenhouse gases since 1750 A.D. Land-use practices and other environmental drivers have caused changes in the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) well before 1750 A.D, possibly causing climate effects through aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions. Two numerical emission models LPJ-GUESS and MEGAN were used to quantify the changes in aerosol forming BVOC emissions in the past millennium. A chemical transport model of the atmosphere (GEOS-Chem-TOMAS) was driven with those BVOC emissions to quantify the effects on radiation caused by millennial changes in SOA. We found that global isoprene emissions decreased after 1800 A.D. by about 12% - 15%. This decrease was dominated by losses of natural vegetation, whereas monoterpene and sesquiterpene emissions increased by about 2% - 10%, driven mostly by rising surface air temperatures. From 1000 A.D. to 1800 A.D, isoprene, monoterpene and sesquiterpene emissions decline by 3% - 8% driven by both, natural vegetation losses, and the moderate global cooling between the medieval climate anomaly and the little ice age. The millennial reduction in BVOC emissions lead to a 0.5% to 2% reduction in climatically relevant aerosol particles (> 80 nm) and cause a direct radiative forcing between +0.02 W/m² and +0.07 W/m², and an indirect radiative forcing between -0.02 W/m² and +0.02 W/m².

Spatially Refined Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing Efficiencies

EPA Science Inventory

Global aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF) is an important metric for assessing potential climate impacts of future emissions changes. However, the radiative consequences of emissions perturbations are not readily quantified nor well understood at the level of detail necessary...

Radiative Forcing Due to Major Aerosol Emitting Sectors in China and India

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streets, David G.; Shindell, Drew Todd; Lu, Zifeng; Faluvegi, Greg

2013-01-01

Understanding the radiative forcing caused by anthropogenic aerosol sources is essential for making effective emission control decisions to mitigate climate change. We examined the net direct plus indirect radiative forcing caused by carbonaceous aerosol and sulfur emissions in key sectors of China and India using the GISS-E2 chemistry-climate model. Diesel trucks and buses (67 mW/ sq. m) and residential biofuel combustion (52 mW/ sq. m) in India have the largest global mean, annual average forcings due mainly to the direct and indirect effects of BC. Emissions from these two sectors in China have near-zero net global forcings. Coal-fired power plants in both countries exert a negative forcing of about -30 mW/ sq. m from production of sulfate. Aerosol forcings are largest locally, with direct forcings due to residential biofuel combustion of 580 mW/ sq. m over India and 416 mW/ sq. m over China, but they extend as far as North America, Europe, and the Arctic

Aerosol Properties and Radiative Forcing over Kanpur during Severe Aerosol Loading Conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kaskaoutis, D. G.; Sinha, P. R.; Vinoj, V.

2013-11-01

Atmospheric aerosols over India exhibit large spatio-temporal fluctuation driven by the local monsoon system, emission rates and seasonally-changed air masses. The northern part of India is well-known for its high aerosol loading throughout the year due to anthropogenic emissions, dust influence and biomass burning. On certain circumstances and, under favorable weather conditions, the aerosol load can be severe, causing significant health concerns and climate implications. The present work analyzes the aerosol episode (AE) days and examines the modification in aerosol properties and radiative forcing during the period 2001-2010 based on Kanpur-AERONET sun photometer data. As AEs are considered the daysmore » having daily-mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) above the decadal mean + 1 STD (standard deviation); the threshold value is defined at 0.928. The results identify 277 out of 2095 days (13.2%) of AEs over Kanpur, which are most frequently observed during post-monsoon (78 cases, 18.6%) and monsoon (76, 14.7%) seasons due to biomass-burning episodes and dust influence, respectively. On the other hand, the AEs in winter and pre-monsoon are lower in both absolute and percentage values (65, 12.5% and 58, 9.1%, respectively). The modification in aerosol properties on the AE days is strongly related to season. Thus, in post-monsoon and winter the AEs are associated with enhanced presence of fine-mode aerosols and Black Carbon from anthropogenic pollution and any kind of burning, while in pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons they are mostly associated with transported dust. Aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) calculated using SBDART shows much more surface (~-69 to -97 Wm-2) and Top of Atmosphere cooling (-20 to -30 Wm-2) as well as atmospheric heating (~43 to 71 Wm-2) during the AE days compared to seasonal means. These forcing values are mainly controlled by the higher AODs and the modified aerosol characteristics (Angstrom α, SSA) during the AE days in each season and may

Testing For The Linearity of Responses To Multiple Anthropogenic Climate Forcings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forest, C. E.; Stone, P. H.; Sokolov, A. P.

To test whether climate forcings are additive, we compare climate model simulations in which anthropogenic forcings are applied individually and in combination. Tests are performed with different values for climate system properties (climate sensitivity and rate of heat uptake by the deep ocean) as well as for different strengths of the net aerosol forcing, thereby testing for the dependence of linearity on these properties. The MIT 2D Land-Ocean Climate Model used in this study consists of a zonally aver- aged statistical-dynamical atmospheric model coupled to a mixed-layer Q-flux ocean model, with heat anomalies diffused into the deep ocean. Following our previous stud- ies, the anthropogenic forcings are the changes in concentrations of greenhouse gases (1860-1995), sulfate aerosol (1860-1995), and stratospheric and tropospheric ozone (1979-1995). The sulfate aerosol forcing is applied as a surface albedo change. For an aerosol forcing of -1.0 W/m2 and an effective ocean diffusitivity of 2.5 cm2/s, the nonlinearity of the response of global-mean surface temperatures to the combined forcing shows a strong dependence on climate sensitivity. The fractional change in decadal averages ([(TG + TS + TO) - TGSO]/TGSO) for the 1986-1995 period compared to pre-industrial times are 0.43, 0.90, and 1.08 with climate sensitiv- ities of 3.0, 4.5, and 6.2 C, respectively. The values of TGSO for these three cases o are 0.52, 0.62, and 0.76 C. The dependence of linearity on climate system properties, o the role of climate system feedbacks, and the implications for the detection of climate system's response to individual forcings will be presented. Details of the model and forcings can be found at http://web.mit.edu/globalchange/www/.

Testing for the linearity of responses to multiple anthropogenic climate forcings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forest, C. E.; Stone, P. H.; Sokolov, A. P.

2001-12-01

To test whether climate forcings are additive, we compare climate model simulations in which anthropogenic forcings are applied individually and in combination. Tests are performed with different values for climate system properties (climate sensitivity and rate of heat uptake by the deep ocean) as well as for different strengths of the net aerosol forcing, thereby testing for the dependence of linearity on these properties. The MIT 2D Land-Ocean Climate Model used in this study consists of a zonally averaged statistical-dynamical atmospheric model coupled to a mixed-layer Q-flux ocean model, with heat anomalies diffused into the deep ocean. Following our previous studies, the anthropogenic forcings are the changes in concentrations of greenhouse gases (1860-1995), sulfate aerosol (1860-1995), and stratospheric and tropospheric ozone (1979-1995). The sulfate aerosol forcing is applied as a surface albedo change. For an aerosol forcing of -1.0 W/m2 and an effective ocean diffusitivity of 2.5 cm2/s, the nonlinearity of the response of global-mean surface temperatures to the combined forcing shows a strong dependence on climate sensitivity. The fractional change in decadal averages ([(Δ TG + Δ TS + Δ TO) - Δ TGSO ]/ Δ TGSO) for the 1986-1995 period compared to pre-industrial times are 0.43, 0.90, and 1.08 with climate sensitivities of 3.0, 4.5, and 6.2 oC, respectively. The values of Δ TGSO for these three cases are 0.52, 0.62, and 0.76 oC. The dependence of linearity on climate system properties, the role of climate system feedbacks, and the implications for the detection of climate system's response to individual forcings will be presented. Details of the model and forcings can be found at http://web.mit.edu/globalchange/www/.

On Effective Radiative Forcing of Partial Internally and Externally Mixed Aerosols and Their Effects on Global Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Chen; Zhang, Hua; Zhao, Shuyun; Li, Jiangnan

2018-01-01

The total effective radiative forcing (ERF) due to partial internally mixed (PIM) and externally mixed (EM) anthropogenic aerosols, as well as their climatic effects since the year of 1850, was evaluated and compared using the aerosol-climate online coupled model of BCC_AGCM2.0_CUACE/Aero. The influences of internal mixing (IM) on aerosol hygroscopicity parameter, optical properties, and concentration were considered. Generally, IM could markedly weaken the negative ERF and cooling effects of anthropogenic aerosols. The global annual mean ERF of EM anthropogenic aerosols from 1850 to 2010 was -1.87 W m-2, of which the aerosol-radiation interactive ERF (ERFari) and aerosol-cloud interactive ERF (ERFaci) were -0.49 and -1.38 W m-2, respectively. The global annual mean ERF due to PIM anthropogenic aerosols from 1850 to 2010 was -1.23 W m-2, with ERFari and ERFaci of -0.23 and -1.01 W m-2, respectively. The global annual mean surface temperature and water evaporation and precipitation were reduced by 1.74 K and 0.14 mm d-1 for EM scheme and 1.28 K and 0.11 mm d-1 for PIM scheme, respectively. However, the relative humidity near the surface was slightly increased for both mixing cases. The Intertropical Convergence Zone was southwardly shifted for both EM and PIM cases but was less southwardly shifted in PIM scheme due to the less reduction in atmospheric temperature in the midlatitude and low latitude of the Northern Hemisphere.

Climate impact of anthropogenic aerosols on cirrus clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penner, J.; Zhou, C.

2017-12-01

Cirrus clouds have a net warming effect on the atmosphere and cover about 30% of the Earth's area. Aerosol particles initiate ice formation in the upper troposphere through modes of action that include homogeneous freezing of solution droplets, heterogeneous nucleation on solid particles immersed in a solution, and deposition nucleation of vapor onto solid particles. However, the efficacy with which particles act to form cirrus particles in a model depends on the representation of updrafts. Here, we use a representation of updrafts based on observations of gravity waves, and follow ice formation/evaporation during both updrafts and downdrafts. We examine the possible change in ice number concentration from anthropogenic soot originating from surface sources of fossil fuel and biomass burning and from aircraft particles that have previously formed ice in contrails. Results show that fossil fuel and biomass burning soot aerosols with this version exert a radiative forcing of -0.15±0.02 Wm-2 while aircraft aerosols that have been pre-activated within contrails exert a forcing of -0.20±0.06 Wm-2, but it is possible to decrease these estimates of forcing if a larger fraction of dust particles act as heterogeneous ice nuclei. In addition aircraft aerosols may warm the climate if a large fraction of these particles act as ice nuclei. The magnitude of the forcing in cirrus clouds can be comparable to the forcing exerted by anthropogenic aerosols on warm clouds. This assessment could therefore support climate models with high sensitivity to greenhouse gas forcing, while still allowing the models to fit the overall historical temperature change.

New Directions: Emerging Satellite Observations of Above-cloud Aerosols and Direct Radiative Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Hongbin; Zhang, Zhibo

2013-01-01

Spaceborne lidar and passive sensors with multi-wavelength and polarization capabilities onboard the A-Train provide unprecedented opportunities of observing above-cloud aerosols and direct radiative forcing. Significant progress has been made in recent years in exploring these new aerosol remote sensing capabilities and generating unique datasets. The emerging observations will advance the understanding of aerosol climate forcing.

Overview of the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment/Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing on the Mediterranean Climate (ChArMEx/ADRIMED) summer 2013 campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallet, M.; Dulac, F.; Formenti, P.; Nabat, P.; Sciare, J.; Roberts, G.; Pelon, J.; Ancellet, G.; Tanré, D.; Parol, F.; di Sarra, A.; Alados, L.; Arndt, J.; Auriol, F.; Blarel, L.; Bourrianne, T.; Brogniez, G.; Chazette, P.; Chevaillier, S.; Claeys, M.; D'Anna, B.; Denjean, C.; Derimian, Y.; Desboeufs, K.; Di Iorio, T.; Doussin, J.-F.; Durand, P.; Féron, A.; Freney, E.; Gaimoz, C.; Goloub, P.; Gómez-Amo, J. L.; Granados-Muñoz, M. J.; Grand, N.; Hamonou, E.; Jankowiak, I.; Jeannot, M.; Léon, J.-F.; Maillé, M.; Mailler, S.; Meloni, D.; Menut, L.; Momboisse, G.; Nicolas, J.; Podvin, J.; Pont, V.; Rea, G.; Renard, J.-B.; Roblou, L.; Schepanski, K.; Schwarzenboeck, A.; Sellegri, K.; Sicard, M.; Solmon, F.; Somot, S.; Torres, B.; Totems, J.; Triquet, S.; Verdier, N.; Verwaerde, C.; Wenger, J.; Zapf, P.

2015-07-01

The Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment (ChArMEx; http://charmex.lsce.ipsl.fr) is a collaborative research program federating international activities to investigate Mediterranean regional chemistry-climate interactions. A special observing period (SOP-1a) including intensive airborne measurements was performed in the framework of the Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing on the Mediterranean Climate (ADRIMED) project during the Mediterranean dry season over the western and central Mediterranean basins, with a focus on aerosol-radiation measurements and their modeling. The SOP-1a took place from 11 June to 5 July 2013. Airborne measurements were made by both the ATR-42 and F-20 French research aircraft operated from Sardinia (Italy) and instrumented for in situ and remote-sensing measurements, respectively, and by sounding and drifting balloons, launched in Minorca. The experimental set-up also involved several ground-based measurement sites on islands including two ground-based reference stations in Corsica and Lampedusa and secondary monitoring sites in Minorca and Sicily. Additional measurements including lidar profiling were also performed on alert during aircraft operations at EARLINET/ACTRIS stations at Granada and Barcelona in Spain, and in southern Italy. Remote sensing aerosol products from satellites (MSG/SEVIRI, MODIS) and from the AERONET/PHOTONS network were also used. Dedicated meso-scale and regional modelling experiments were performed in relation to this observational effort. We provide here an overview of the different surface and aircraft observations deployed during the ChArMEx/ADRIMED period and of associated modeling studies together with an analysis of the synoptic conditions that determined the aerosol emission and transport. Meteorological conditions observed during this campaign (moderate temperatures and southern flows) were not favorable to produce high level of atmospheric pollutants nor

Perspective: Climate Forcings in the Industrial Era

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, James E.; Sato, Makiko; Lacis, Andrew; Ruedy, Reto; Tegen, Ina; Matthews, Elaine

1998-01-01

The forcings that drive long-term climate change are not known with an accuracy sufficient to define future climate change. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are well measured, cause a strong positive (warming) forcing. But other, poorly measured, anthropogenic forcings, especially changes of atmospheric aerosols, clouds, and land-use patterns, cause a negative forcing that tends to offset greenhouse warming. One consequence of this partial balance is that the natural forcing due to solar irradiance changes may play a larger role in long-term climate change than inferred from comparison with GHGs alone. Current trends in GHG climate forcings are smaller than in popular "business as usual" or 1% per year CO growth scenarios. The summary implication is a paradigm change for long-term climate projections: uncertainties in climate forcings have supplanted global climate sensitivity as the predominant issue.

What is the impact of natural variability and aerosol-cloud interaction on the effective radiative forcing of anthropogenic aerosol?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiedler, S.; Stevens, B.; Mauritsen, T.

2017-12-01

State-of-the-art climate models have persistently shown a spread in estimates of the effective radiative forcing (ERF) associated with anthropogenic aerosol. Different reasons for the spread are known, but their relative importance is poorly understood. In this presentation we investigate the role of natural atmospheric variability, global patterns of aerosol radiative effects, and magnitudes of aerosol-cloud interaction in controlling the ERF of anthropogenic aerosol (Fiedler et al., 2017). We use the Earth system model MPI-ESM1.2 for conducting ensembles of atmosphere-only simulations and calculate the shortwave ERF of anthropogenic aerosol at the top of the atmosphere. The radiative effects are induced with the new parameterisation MACv2-SP (Stevens et al., 2017) that prescribes observationally constrained anthropogenic aerosol optical properties and an associated Twomey effect. Firstly, we compare the ERF of global patterns of anthropogenic aerosol from the mid-1970s and today. Our results suggest that such a substantial pattern difference has a negligible impact on the global mean ERF, when the natural variability of the atmosphere is considered. The clouds herein efficiently mask the clear-sky contributions to the forcing and reduce the detectability of significant anthropogenic aerosol radiative effects in all-sky conditions. Secondly, we strengthen the forcing magnitude through increasing the effect of aerosol-cloud interaction by prescribing an enhanced Twomey effect. In that case, the different spatial pattern of aerosol radiative effects from the mid-1970s and today causes a moderate change (15%) in the ERF of anthropogenic aerosol in our model. This finding lets us speculate that models with strong aerosol-cloud interactions would show a stronger ERF change with anthropogenic aerosol patterns. Testing whether the anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing is model-dependent under prescribed aerosol conditions is currently ongoing work using MACv2-SP in

Experimental Characterization of Radiation Forcing due to Atmospheric Aerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreenivas, K. R.; Singh, D. K.; Ponnulakshmi, V. K.; Subramanian, G.

2011-11-01

Micro-meteorological processes in the nocturnal atmospheric boundary layer (NBL) including the formation of radiation-fog and the development of inversion layers are controlled by heat transfer and the vertical temperature distribution close to the ground. In a recent study, it has been shown that the temperature profile close to the ground in stably-stratified, NBL is controlled by the radiative forcing due to suspended aerosols. Estimating aerosol forcing is also important in geo-engineering applications to evaluate the use of aerosols to mitigate greenhouse effects. Modeling capability in the above scenarios is limited by our knowledge of this forcing. Here, the design of an experimental setup is presented which can be used for evaluating the IR-radiation forcing on aerosols under either Rayleigh-Benard condition or under conditions corresponding to the NBL. We present results indicating the effect of surface emissivities of the top and bottom boundaries and the aerosol concentration on the temperature profiles. In order to understand the observed enhancement of the convection-threshold, we have determined the conduction-radiation time constant of an aerosol laden air layer. Our results help to explain observed temperature profiles in the NBL, the apparent stability of such profiles and indicate the need to account for the effect of aerosols in climatic/weather models.

Aerosol climate change effects on land ecosystem services.

PubMed

Unger, N; Yue, X; Harper, K L

2017-08-24

A coupled global aerosol-carbon-climate model is applied to assess the impacts of aerosol physical climate change on the land ecosystem services gross primary productivity (GPP) and net primary productivity (NPP) in the 1996-2005 period. Aerosol impacts are quantified on an annual mean basis relative to the hypothetical aerosol-free world in 1996-2005, the global climate state in the absence of the historical rise in aerosol pollution. We examine the separate and combined roles of fast feedbacks associated with the land and slow feedbacks associated with the ocean. We consider all fossil fuel, biofuel and biomass burning aerosol emission sources as anthropogenic. The effective radiative forcing for aerosol-radiation interactions is -0.44 W m -2 and aerosol-cloud interactions is -1.64 W m -2 . Aerosols cool and dry the global climate system by -0.8 °C and -0.08 mm per day relative to the aerosol-free world. Without aerosol pollution, human-induced global warming since the preindustrial would have already exceeded the 1.5 °C aspirational limit set in the Paris Agreement by the 1996-2005 decade. Aerosol climate impacts on the global average land ecosystem services are small due to large opposite sign effects in the tropical and boreal biomes. Aerosol slow feedbacks associated with the ocean strongly dominate impacts in the Amazon and North American Boreal. Aerosol cooling of the Amazon by -1.2 °C drives NPP increases of 8% or +0.76 ± 0.61 PgC per year, a 5-10 times larger impact than estimates of diffuse radiation fertilization by biomass burning aerosol in this region. The North American Boreal suffers GPP and NPP decreases of 35% due to aerosol-induced cooling and drying (-1.6 °C, -0.14 mm per day). Aerosol-land feedbacks play a larger role in the eastern US and Central Africa. Our study identifies an eco-climate teleconnection in the polluted earth system: the rise of the northern hemisphere mid-latitude reflective aerosol pollution layer causes long range

Evidence for Limited Indirect Aerosol Forcing in Stratocumulus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ackerman, Andrew S.; Toon, O. B.; Stevens, D. E.

2003-01-01

Increases in cloud cover and condensed water contribute more than half of the indirect aerosol effect in an ensemble of general circulation model (GCM) simulations estimating the global radiative forcing of anthropogenic aerosols. We use detailed simulations of marine stratocumulus clouds and airborne observations of ship tracks to show that increases in cloud cover and condensed water in reality are far less than represented by the GCM ensemble. Our results offer an explanation for recent simplified inverse climate calculations indicating that indirect aerosol effects are greatly exaggerated in GCMs.

Aerosol and monsoon climate interactions over Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhanqing; Lau, W. K.-M.; Ramanathan, V.; Wu, G.; Ding, Y.; Manoj, M. G.; Liu, J.; Qian, Y.; Li, J.; Zhou, T.; Fan, J.; Rosenfeld, D.; Ming, Y.; Wang, Y.; Huang, J.; Wang, B.; Xu, X.; Lee, S.-S.; Cribb, M.; Zhang, F.; Yang, X.; Zhao, C.; Takemura, T.; Wang, K.; Xia, X.; Yin, Y.; Zhang, H.; Guo, J.; Zhai, P. M.; Sugimoto, N.; Babu, S. S.; Brasseur, G. P.

2016-12-01

biomass burning, and biogenic aerosols from vegetation are considered integral components of an intrinsic aerosol-monsoon climate system, subject to external forcing of global warming, anthropogenic aerosols, and land use and change. Future research on aerosol-monsoon interactions calls for an integrated approach and international collaborations based on long-term sustained observations, process measurements, and improved models, as well as using observations to constrain model simulations and projections.

Aerosol-Induced Changes of Convective Cloud Anvils Produce Strong Climate Warming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koren, I.; Remer, L. A.; Altaratz, O.; Martins, J. V.; Davidi, A.

2010-01-01

The effect of aerosol on clouds poses one of the largest uncertainties in estimating the anthropogenic contribution to climate change. Small human-induced perturbations to cloud characteristics via aerosol pathways can create a change in the top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing of hundreds of Wm(exp-2) . Here we focus on links between aerosol and deep convective clouds of the Atlantic and Pacific Intertropical Convergence Zones, noting that the aerosol environment in each region is entirely different. The tops of these vertically developed clouds consisting of mostly ice can reach high levels of the atmosphere, overshooting the lower stratosphere and reaching altitudes greater than 16 km. We show a link between aerosol, clouds and the free atmosphere wind profile that can change the magnitude and sign of the overall climate radiative forcing. We find that increased aerosol loading is associated with taller cloud towers and anvils. The taller clouds reach levels of enhanced wind speeds that act to spread and thin the anvi1 clouds, increasing areal coverage and decreasing cloud optical depth. The radiative effect of this transition is to create a positive radiative forcing (warming) at top-of-atmosphere. Furthermore we introduce the cloud optical depth (r), cloud height (Z) forcing space and show that underestimation of radiative forcing is likely to occur in cases of non homogenous clouds. Specifically, the mean radiative forcing of towers and anvils in the same scene can be several times greater than simply calculating the forcing from the mean cloud optical depth in the scene. Limitations of the method are discussed, alternative sources of aerosol loading are tested and meteorological variance is restricted, but the trend of taller clouds; increased and thinner anvils associated with increased aerosol loading remains robust through all the different tests and perturbations.

Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors.

PubMed

Unger, Nadine; Bond, Tami C; Wang, James S; Koch, Dorothy M; Menon, Surabi; Shindell, Drew T; Bauer, Susanne

2010-02-23

A much-cited bar chart provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change displays the climate impact, as expressed by radiative forcing in watts per meter squared, of individual chemical species. The organization of the chart reflects the history of atmospheric chemistry, in which investigators typically focused on a single species of interest. However, changes in pollutant emissions and concentrations are a symptom, not a cause, of the primary driver of anthropogenic climate change: human activity. In this paper, we suggest organizing the bar chart according to drivers of change-that is, by economic sector. Climate impacts of tropospheric ozone, fine aerosols, aerosol-cloud interactions, methane, and long-lived greenhouse gases are considered. We quantify the future evolution of the total radiative forcing due to perpetual constant year 2000 emissions by sector, most relevant for the development of climate policy now, and focus on two specific time points, near-term at 2020 and long-term at 2100. Because sector profiles differ greatly, this approach fosters the development of smart climate policy and is useful to identify effective opportunities for rapid mitigation of anthropogenic radiative forcing.

Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors

PubMed Central

Unger, Nadine; Bond, Tami C.; Wang, James S.; Koch, Dorothy M.; Menon, Surabi; Shindell, Drew T.; Bauer, Susanne

2010-01-01

A much-cited bar chart provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change displays the climate impact, as expressed by radiative forcing in watts per meter squared, of individual chemical species. The organization of the chart reflects the history of atmospheric chemistry, in which investigators typically focused on a single species of interest. However, changes in pollutant emissions and concentrations are a symptom, not a cause, of the primary driver of anthropogenic climate change: human activity. In this paper, we suggest organizing the bar chart according to drivers of change—that is, by economic sector. Climate impacts of tropospheric ozone, fine aerosols, aerosol-cloud interactions, methane, and long-lived greenhouse gases are considered. We quantify the future evolution of the total radiative forcing due to perpetual constant year 2000 emissions by sector, most relevant for the development of climate policy now, and focus on two specific time points, near-term at 2020 and long-term at 2100. Because sector profiles differ greatly, this approach fosters the development of smart climate policy and is useful to identify effective opportunities for rapid mitigation of anthropogenic radiative forcing. PMID:20133724

Forecasting the climate response to volcanic eruptions: prediction skill related to stratospheric aerosol forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ménégoz, M.; Bilbao, R.; Bellprat, O.; Guemas, V.; Doblas-Reyes, F. J.

2018-06-01

The last major volcanic eruptions, the Agung in 1963, El Chichon in 1982 and Pinatubo in 1991, were each associated with a cooling of the troposphere that has been observed over large continental areas and over the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Southern Atlantic. Simultaneously, Eastern tropical Pacific temperatures increased due to prevailing El Niño conditions. Here we show that the pattern of these near-surface temperature anomalies is partly reproduced with decadal simulations of the EC-Earth model initialised with climate observations and forced with an estimate of the observed volcanic aerosol optical thickness. Sensitivity experiments highlight a cooling induced by the volcanic forcing, whereas El Niño events following the eruptions would have occurred even without volcanic eruptions. Focusing on the period 1961–2001, the main source of skill of this decadal forecast system during the first 2 years is related to the initialisation of the model. The contribution of the initialisation to the skill becomes smaller than the contribution of the volcanic forcing after two years, the latter being substantial in the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Western Atlantic. Two simple protocols for real time forecasts are investigated: using the forcing of a past volcanic eruption to simulate the forcing of a new one, and applying a two-year exponential decay to the initial stratospheric aerosol load observed at the beginning of the forecast. This second protocol applied in retrospective forecasts allows a partial reproduction of the skill attained with observed forcing.

Interactive coupling of regional climate and sulfate aerosol models over eastern Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Yun; Giorgi, Filippo

1999-03-01

The NCAR regional climate model (RegCM) is interactively coupled to a simple radiatively active sulfate aerosol model over eastern Asia. Both direct and indirect aerosol effects are represented. The coupled model system is tested for two simulation periods, November 1994 and July 1995, with aerosol sources representative of present-day anthropogenic sulfur emissions. The model sensitivity to the intensity of the aerosol source is also studied. The main conclusions from our work are as follows: (1) The aerosol distribution and cycling processes show substantial regional spatial variability, and temporal variability varying on a range of scales, from the diurnal scale of boundary layer and cumulus cloud evolution to the 3-10 day scale of synoptic scale events and the interseasonal scale of general circulation features; (2) both direct and indirect aerosol forcings have regional effects on surface climate; (3) the regional climate response to the aerosol forcing is highly nonlinear, especially during the summer, due to the interactions with cloud and precipitation processes; (4) in our simulations the role of the aerosol indirect effects is dominant over that of direct effects; (5) aerosol-induced feedback processes can affect the aerosol burdens at the subregional scale. This work constitutes the first step in a long term research project aimed at coupling a hierarchy of chemistry/aerosol models to the RegCM over the eastern Asia region.

The climate impacts of absorbing aerosols on and within the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasch, P.; Wang, H.; Ma, P.; Fast, J. D.; Wang, M.; Easter, R. C.; Liu, X.; Qian, Y.; Flanner, M. G.; Ghan, S.; Singh, B.

2011-12-01

Absorbing aerosols are receiving increasing attention as forcing agents in the climate system. By scattering and absorbing light they can reduce planetary albedo, particularly over bright surfaces (clouds, snow and ice). They also act as cloud condensation and/or ice nuclei, influencing the brightness, lifetime and precipitation properties of clouds. Atmospheric stability and primary circulation features respond to the changing vertical and horizontal patterns of heating, cooling, and surface fluxes produced by the aerosols, clouds and surface properties. These changes in meteorology have further impacts on aerosols and clouds producing a complex interplay between transport, forcings, and feedbacks involving absorbing aerosols and climate. The complexity of the processes and the interactions between them make it very challenging to represent aerosols realistically in large scale (global and regional) climate models. Simulations of important features of aerosols still contain easily identifiable biases. I will describe our efforts to identify the processes responsible for some of those biases and the deficiencies in model formulations that impede progress in treating aerosols and understanding their role in polar climate. I plan to summarize some studies performed with the NCAR CESM (global) and WRF-Chem (regional) Community models that examine the simulation sensitivity to treatments of physics, chemistry, and meteorology. Some of these simulations were allowed to evolve freely; others were strongly constrained to agree with observed meteorological fields. We have also altered the formulation of a number of the processes in the model to improve fidelity in the aerosol distributions. The parameterizations used in our global model have also been transferred to the regional model, allowing comparisons to be made between the simpler formulations used in the global model with more elaborate and costly formulations available in the regional model. The regional model can

Effects of increasing aerosol on regional climate change in China: Observation and modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Y.; Leung, L.; Ghan, S. J.

2002-12-01

We present regional simulations of climate, aerosol properties, and direct radiative forcing and climatic effects of aerosol and analyze the pollutant emissions and observed climatic data during the latter decades of last century in China. The regional model generally captures the spatial distributions and seasonal pattern of temperature and precipitation. Aerosol extinction coefficient and aerosol optical depth are generally well simulated in both magnitude and spatial distribution, which provides a reliable foundation for estimating the radiative forcing and climatic effects of aerosol. The radiative forcing of aerosol is in the range of -1 to -14 W m-2 in autumn and summer and -1 to -9 W m-2 in spring and winter, with substantial spatial variability at the sub-regional scale. A strong maximum in negative radiative forcing corresponding to the maximum optical depth is found over the Sichuan Basin, where emission as well as relative humidity are high, and stagnant atmospheric conditions inhibit pollutants dispersion. Negative radiative forcing of aerosol induces a surface cooling, which is stronger in the range of -0.6 to -1.2oC in autumn and winter than in spring (-0.3 to -0.6oC) and summer (0.0 to -0.9oC) over the Sichuan Basin and East China due to more significant effects of cloud and precipitation in the summer and spring. Aerosol-induced cooling is mainly contributed by cooling in the daytime temperature. The cooling reaches a maximum and is statistically significant in the Sichuan Basin. The effect of aerosol on precipitation is not evident in our simulations. The temporal and spatial patterns of temperature trends observed in the second half of the twentieth century, including the asymmetric daily maximum and minimum temperature trends, are at least qualitatively consistent with the simulated aerosol-induced cooling over the Sichuan Basin and East China. It supports the hypothesis that the observed temperature trends during the latter decades of the

Aerosol-induced changes in summer rainfall and circulation in the Australasian region: a study using single-forcing climate simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rotstayn, L. D.; Jeffrey, S. J.; Collier, M. A.; Dravitzki, S. M.; Hirst, A. C.; Syktus, J. I.; Wong, K. K.

2012-02-01

We use a coupled atmosphere-ocean global climate model (CSIRO-Mk3.6) to investigate the roles of different forcing agents as drivers of summer rainfall trends in the Australasian region. Our results suggest that anthropogenic aerosols have contributed to the observed multi-decadal rainfall increase over north-western Australia. As part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), we performed multiple 10-member ensembles of historical climate change, which are analysed for the period 1951-2010. The historical runs include ensembles driven by "all forcings" (HIST), all forcings except anthropogenic aerosols (NO_AA) and forcing only from long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGAS). Anthropogenic aerosol-induced effects in a warming climate are calculated from the difference of HIST minus NO_AA. We also compare a 10-member 21st century ensemble driven by Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCP4.5). Simulated aerosol-induced rainfall trends over the Indo-Pacific region for austral summer and boreal summer show a distinct contrast. In boreal summer, there is a southward shift of equatorial rainfall, consistent with the idea that anthropogenic aerosols have suppressed Asian monsoonal rainfall, and caused a southward shift of the local Hadley circulation. In austral summer, the aerosol-induced response more closely resembles a westward shift and strengthening of the upward branch of the Walker circulation, rather than a coherent southward shift of regional tropical rainfall. Thus the mechanism by which anthropogenic aerosols may affect Australian summer rainfall is unclear. Focusing on summer rainfall trends over north-western Australia (NWA), we find that CSIRO-Mk3.6 simulates a strong rainfall decrease in RCP4.5, whereas simulated trends in HIST are weak and insignificant during 1951-2010. The weak rainfall trends in HIST are due to compensating effects of different forcing agents: there is a significant decrease in GHGAS, offset by an aerosol

Sulfate Aerosol Control of Tropical Atlantic Climate over the Twentieth Century

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, C.-Y.; Chiang, J. C. H.; Wehner, M. F.; Friedman, A. R.; Ruedy, R.

2011-01-01

The tropical Atlantic interhemispheric gradient in sea surface temperature significantly influences the rainfall climate of the tropical Atlantic sector, including droughts over West Africa and Northeast Brazil. This gradient exhibits a secular trend from the beginning of the twentieth century until the 1980s, with stronger warming in the south relative to the north. This trend behavior is on top of a multi-decadal variation associated with the Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation. A similar long-term forced trend is found in a multimodel ensemble of forced twentieth-century climate simulations. Through examining the distribution of the trend slopes in the multimodel twentieth-century and preindustrial models, the authors conclude that the observed trend in the gradient is unlikely to arise purely from natural variations; this study suggests that at least half the observed trend is a forced response to twentieth-century climate forcings. Further analysis using twentieth-century single-forcing runs indicates that sulfate aerosol forcing is the predominant cause of the multimodel trend. The authors conclude that anthropogenic sulfate aerosol emissions, originating predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere, may have significantly altered the tropical Atlantic rainfall climate over the twentieth century

Observationally constrained estimates of carbonaceous aerosol radiative forcing.

PubMed

Chung, Chul E; Ramanathan, V; Decremer, Damien

2012-07-17

Carbonaceous aerosols (CA) emitted by fossil and biomass fuels consist of black carbon (BC), a strong absorber of solar radiation, and organic matter (OM). OM scatters as well as absorbs solar radiation. The absorbing component of OM, which is ignored in most climate models, is referred to as brown carbon (BrC). Model estimates of the global CA radiative forcing range from 0 to 0.7 Wm(-2), to be compared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's estimate for the pre-Industrial to the present net radiative forcing of about 1.6 Wm(-2). This study provides a model-independent, observationally based estimate of the CA direct radiative forcing. Ground-based aerosol network data is integrated with field data and satellite-based aerosol observations to provide a decadal (2001 through 2009) global view of the CA optical properties and direct radiative forcing. The estimated global CA direct radiative effect is about 0.75 Wm(-2) (0.5 to 1.0). This study identifies the global importance of BrC, which is shown to contribute about 20% to 550-nm CA solar absorption globally. Because of the inclusion of BrC, the net effect of OM is close to zero and the CA forcing is nearly equal to that of BC. The CA direct radiative forcing is estimated to be about 0.65 (0.5 to about 0.8) Wm(-2), thus comparable to or exceeding that by methane. Caused in part by BrC absorption, CAs have a net warming effect even over open biomass-burning regions in Africa and the Amazon.

Observationally constrained estimates of carbonaceous aerosol radiative forcing

PubMed Central

Chung, Chul E.; Ramanathan, V.; Decremer, Damien

2012-01-01

Carbonaceous aerosols (CA) emitted by fossil and biomass fuels consist of black carbon (BC), a strong absorber of solar radiation, and organic matter (OM). OM scatters as well as absorbs solar radiation. The absorbing component of OM, which is ignored in most climate models, is referred to as brown carbon (BrC). Model estimates of the global CA radiative forcing range from 0 to 0.7 Wm-2, to be compared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s estimate for the pre-Industrial to the present net radiative forcing of about 1.6 Wm-2. This study provides a model-independent, observationally based estimate of the CA direct radiative forcing. Ground-based aerosol network data is integrated with field data and satellite-based aerosol observations to provide a decadal (2001 through 2009) global view of the CA optical properties and direct radiative forcing. The estimated global CA direct radiative effect is about 0.75 Wm-2 (0.5 to 1.0). This study identifies the global importance of BrC, which is shown to contribute about 20% to 550-nm CA solar absorption globally. Because of the inclusion of BrC, the net effect of OM is close to zero and the CA forcing is nearly equal to that of BC. The CA direct radiative forcing is estimated to be about 0.65 (0.5 to about 0.8) Wm-2, thus comparable to or exceeding that by methane. Caused in part by BrC absorption, CAs have a net warming effect even over open biomass-burning regions in Africa and the Amazon. PMID:22753522

The contribution of China's emissions to global climate forcing.

PubMed

Li, Bengang; Gasser, Thomas; Ciais, Philippe; Piao, Shilong; Tao, Shu; Balkanski, Yves; Hauglustaine, Didier; Boisier, Juan-Pablo; Chen, Zhuo; Huang, Mengtian; Li, Laurent Zhaoxin; Li, Yue; Liu, Hongyan; Liu, Junfeng; Peng, Shushi; Shen, Zehao; Sun, Zhenzhong; Wang, Rong; Wang, Tao; Yin, Guodong; Yin, Yi; Zeng, Hui; Zeng, Zhenzhong; Zhou, Feng

2016-03-17

Knowledge of the contribution that individual countries have made to global radiative forcing is important to the implementation of the agreement on "common but differentiated responsibilities" reached by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Over the past three decades, China has experienced rapid economic development, accompanied by increased emission of greenhouse gases, ozone precursors and aerosols, but the magnitude of the associated radiative forcing has remained unclear. Here we use a global coupled biogeochemistry-climate model and a chemistry and transport model to quantify China's present-day contribution to global radiative forcing due to well-mixed greenhouse gases, short-lived atmospheric climate forcers and land-use-induced regional surface albedo changes. We find that China contributes 10% ± 4% of the current global radiative forcing. China's relative contribution to the positive (warming) component of global radiative forcing, mainly induced by well-mixed greenhouse gases and black carbon aerosols, is 12% ± 2%. Its relative contribution to the negative (cooling) component is 15% ± 6%, dominated by the effect of sulfate and nitrate aerosols. China's strongest contributions are 0.16 ± 0.02 watts per square metre for CO2 from fossil fuel burning, 0.13 ± 0.05 watts per square metre for CH4, -0.11 ± 0.05 watts per square metre for sulfate aerosols, and 0.09 ± 0.06 watts per square metre for black carbon aerosols. China's eventual goal of improving air quality will result in changes in radiative forcing in the coming years: a reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions would drive a faster future warming, unless offset by larger reductions of radiative forcing from well-mixed greenhouse gases and black carbon.

Climatic and ecological impacts of tropospheric sulphate aerosols on the terrestrial carbon cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eliseev, Alexey V.

2015-04-01

Tropospheric sulphate aerosols (TSA) may oxidise the photosynthesising tissues if they are taken up by plants. A parametrisation of this impact of tropospheric sulphate aerosols (TSA) on the terrestrial gross primary production is suggested. This parametrisation is implemented into the global Earth system model developed at the A.M. Obukhov Institute of the Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS CM). With this coupled model, the simulations are performed which are forced by common anthropogenic and natural climate forcings based on historical reconstructions followed by the RCP 8.5 scenario. The model response to sulphate aerosol loading is subdivided into the climatic (related to the influence of TSA on the radiative transport in the atmosphere) and ecological (related to the toxic influence of sulphate aerosol on terrestrial plants) impacts. We found that the former basically dominates over the latter on the global scale and modifies the responses of the global vegetation and soil carbon stocks to external forcings by 10%. At regional scale, however, ecological impact may be as much important as the climatic one.

Aerosol nucleation and its role for clouds and Earth's radiative forcing in the aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazil, J.; Stier, P.; Zhang, K.; Quaas, J.; Kinne, S.; O'Donnell, D.; Rast, S.; Esch, M.; Ferrachat, S.; Lohmann, U.; Feichter, J.

2010-11-01

Nucleation from the gas phase is an important source of aerosol particles in the Earth's atmosphere, contributing to the number of cloud condensation nuclei, which form cloud droplets. We have implemented in the aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM a new scheme for neutral and charged nucleation of sulfuric acid and water based on laboratory data, and nucleation of an organic compound and sulfuric acid using a parametrization of cluster activation based on field measurements. We give details of the implementation, compare results with observations, and investigate the role of the individual aerosol nucleation mechanisms for clouds and the Earth's radiative forcing. The results of our simulations are most consistent with observations when neutral and charged nucleation of sulfuric acid proceed throughout the troposphere and nucleation due to cluster activation is limited to the forested boundary layer. The globally averaged annual mean contributions of the individual nucleation processes to total absorbed solar short-wave radiation via the direct, semi-direct, indirect cloud-albedo and cloud-lifetime effects in our simulations are -1.15 W/m2 for charged H2SO4/H2O nucleation, -0.235 W/m2 for cluster activation, and -0.05 W/m2 for neutral H2SO4/H2O nucleation. The overall effect of nucleation is -2.55 W/m2, which exceeds the sum of the individual terms due to feedbacks and interactions in the model. Aerosol nucleation contributes over the oceans with -2.18 W/m2 to total absorbed solar short-wave radiation, compared to -0.37 W/m2 over land. We explain the higher effect of aerosol nucleation on Earth's radiative forcing over the oceans with the larger area covered by ocean clouds, due to the larger contrast in albedo between clouds and the ocean surface compared to continents, and the larger susceptibility of pristine clouds owing to the saturation of effects. The large effect of charged nucleation in our simulations is not in contradiction with small effects seen in local

Aerosol Radiative Forcing over North India during Pre-Monsoon Season using WRF-Chem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misra, A.; Kumar, K.; Michael, M.; Tripathi, S. N.

2013-12-01

Study of aerosols is important for a fair understanding of the Earth climate system. This requires knowledge of the physical, chemical, optical, and morphological properties of aerosols. Aerosol radiative forcing provides information on the effect of aerosols on the Earth radiation budget. Radiative forcing estimates using model data provide an opportunity to examine the contribution of individual aerosol species to overall radiative forcing. We have used Weather Research and Forecast with Online Chemistry (WRF-Chem) derived aerosol concentration data to compute aerosol radiative forcing over north India during pre-monsoon season of 2008, 2009, and 2010. WRF-Chem derived mass concentrations are converted to number concentrations using standard procedure. Optical Properties of Aerosol and Cloud (OPAC) software package is used to compute extinction and scattering coefficients, and asymmetry parameter. Computations are performed at different altitudes and the obtained values are integrated to get the column optical properties. Santa Barbara Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model is used to calculate the radiative forcing at surface and top-of-atmosphere. Higher values of aerosol radiative forcing are observed over desert region in western Indian state of Rajasthan, and Punjab of Pakistan. Contribution of individual aerosol species to atmospheric radiative forcing is also assessed. Dust radiative forcing is high over western India. Radiative forcing due to BC and water-soluble (WASO) aerosols are higher over north-west Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, and the Indo-Gangetic Basin. A pool of high WASO optical depth and radiative forcing is observed over the Indo-Bangladesh border. The findings of aerosol optical depth and radiative forcing are consistent with the geography and prevailing aerosol climatology of various regions. Heating rate profiles due to total aerosols and only due to BC have been evaluated at selected stations in north India. They show

Intercomparison of Models Representing Direct Shortwave Radiative Forcing by Sulfate Aerosols

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boucher, O.; Schwartz, S. E.; Ackerman, T. P.; Anderson, T. L.; Bergstrom, B.; Bonnel, B.; Dahlback, A.; Fouquart, Y.; Chylek, P.; Fu, Q.;

Eocene Hyperthermal Climate Sensitivity to Greenhouse Gas and Aerosol Forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winguth, A. M. E.; Hughlett, T. M.; Brown, M.; Rothstein, M.; Shields, C. A.; Winguth, C.

2017-12-01

A series of DeepMIP climate sensitivity experiments have been carried out with the Community Earth System Model CESM1.2 to evaluate how changes in the radiative forcing could have contributed to explain Eocene hyperthermal events. A rise in Eocene greenhouse gas forcing could have been linked to an increase in volcanism and associated destabilization of marine carbon reservoirs by dissociation of clathrathes, reorganization of the marine microbial loop, or terrestrial sources from e.g. wetlands. Such environmental changes could potentially have led to additional biophysical feedbacks altering the cloud aerosol optical depth for example by alteration of marine plankton productivity and DMS emissions to the atmosphere. The analysis of our simulations suggests a substantial warming from 3x to 12x CO2 PAL, reaching moderate temperatures of up to 20 °C over Antarctica and in the Article realm in the most extreme scenario, consistent to proxy estimates in a high CO2 world. The lower equator-to-pole temperature gradient compared to present-day is due to the lack of an ice sheet, an increase in greenhouse gases, and a lower cloud optical depth. The climate simulations suggest an intensified hydrological cycle with higher precipitation in the tropics, particularly over the Indian Eocene continent, and in mid-latitudes, whereas mega-droughts are prominent in the subtropics, particularly in Africa and South America. The Eocene geography (the closure of the Drake Passage and the more southern location of Australia) and a lower-than-present meridional temperature gradient contribute to a much weaker surface ocean circulation near the Antarctic continent as compared to the current pronounced Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

Global observations of aerosol-cloud-precipitation-climate interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenfeld, Daniel; Andreae, Meinrat O.; Asmi, Ari; Chin, Mian; de Leeuw, Gerrit; Donovan, David P.; Kahn, Ralph; Kinne, Stefan; Kivekäs, Niku; Kulmala, Markku; Lau, William; Schmidt, K. Sebastian; Suni, Tanja; Wagner, Thomas; Wild, Martin; Quaas, Johannes

2014-12-01

Cloud drop condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN) particles determine to a large extent cloud microstructure and, consequently, cloud albedo and the dynamic response of clouds to aerosol-induced changes to precipitation. This can modify the reflected solar radiation and the thermal radiation emitted to space. Measurements of tropospheric CCN and IN over large areas have not been possible and can be only roughly approximated from satellite-sensor-based estimates of optical properties of aerosols. Our lack of ability to measure both CCN and cloud updrafts precludes disentangling the effects of meteorology from those of aerosols and represents the largest component in our uncertainty in anthropogenic climate forcing. Ways to improve the retrieval accuracy include multiangle and multipolarimetric passive measurements of the optical signal and multispectral lidar polarimetric measurements. Indirect methods include proxies of trace gases, as retrieved by hyperspectral sensors. Perhaps the most promising emerging direction is retrieving the CCN properties by simultaneously retrieving convective cloud drop number concentrations and updraft speeds, which amounts to using clouds as natural CCN chambers. These satellite observations have to be constrained by in situ observations of aerosol-cloud-precipitation-climate (ACPC) interactions, which in turn constrain a hierarchy of model simulations of ACPC. Since the essence of a general circulation model is an accurate quantification of the energy and mass fluxes in all forms between the surface, atmosphere and outer space, a route to progress is proposed here in the form of a series of box flux closure experiments in the various climate regimes. A roadmap is provided for quantifying the ACPC interactions and thereby reducing the uncertainty in anthropogenic climate forcing.

Aerosol-Water Cycle Interaction: A New Challenge in Monsoon Climate Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, William K. M.

2006-01-01

Long recognized as a major environmental hazard, aerosol is now known to have strong impacts on both regional and global climate. It has been estimated that aerosol may reduce by up to 10% of the seasonal mean solar radiation reaching the earth surface, producing a global cooling effect that opposes global warming (Climate Change 2001). This means that the potential perils that humans have committed to global warming may be far greater than what we can detect at the present. As a key component of the Earth climate system, the water cycle is profoundly affected by the presence of aerosols in the atmosphere. Through the so-called "direct effect", aerosol scatters and/or absorbs solar radiation, thus cooling the earth surface and changing the horizontal and vertical radiational heating contrast in the atmosphere. The heating contrast drives anomalous atmospheric circulation, resulting in changes in convection, clouds, and rainfall. Another way aerosol can affect the water cycle is through the so-called "indirect effects", whereby aerosol increases the number of cloud condensation nuclei, prolongs life time of clouds, and inhibits the growth of cloud drops to raindrops. This leads to more clouds, and increased reflection of solar radiation, and further cooling at the earth surface. In monsoon regions, the response of the water cycle to aerosol forcing is especially complex, not only because of presence of diverse mix of aerosol species with vastly different radiative properties, but also because the monsoon is strongly influenced by ocean and land surface processes, land use, land change, as well as regional and global greenhouse warming effects. Thus, sorting out the impacts of aerosol forcing, and interaction with the monsoon water cycle is a very challenging problem. In this talk, I will offer some insights into how aerosols may impact the Asian monsoon based on preliminary results from satellite observations and climate model experiments. Specifically, I will

Aerosol-Water Cycle Interaction: A New Challenge in Monsoon Climate Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, William K. M.

2006-01-01

Long recognized as a major environmental hazard, aerosol is now known to have strong impacts on both regional and global climate. It has been estimated that aerosol may reduce by up to 10% of the seasonal mean solar radiation reaching the earth surface, producing a global cooling effect that opposes global warming (Climate Change 2001). This means that the potential perils that humans have committed to global warming may be far greater than what we can detect at the present. As a key component of the Earth climate system, the water cycle is profoundly affected by the presence of aerosols in the atmosphere. Through the so-called direct effect , aerosol scatters and/or absorbs solar radiation, thus cooling the earth surface and changing the horizontal and vertical radiational heating contrast in the atmosphere. The heating contrast drives anomalous atmospheric circulation, resulting in changes in convection, clouds, and rainfall. Another way aerosol can affect the water cycle is through the so-called indirect effects, whereby aerosol increases the number of cloud condensation nuclei, prolongs life time of clouds, and inhibits the growth of cloud drops to raindrops. This leads to more clouds, and increased reflection of solar radiation, and further cooling at the earth surface. In monsoon regions, the response of the water cycle to aerosol forcing is especially complex, not only because of presence of diverse mix of aerosol species with vastly different radiative properties, but also because the monsoon is strongly influenced by ocean and land surface processes, land use, land change, as well as regional and global greenhouse warming effects. Thus, sorting out the impacts of aerosol forcing, and interaction with the monsoon water cycle is a very challenging problem. In this talk, I will offer some insights into how aerosols may impact the Asian monsoon based on preliminary results from satellite observations and climate model experiments. Specifically, I will discuss

Satellite-derived aerosol radiative forcing from the 2004 British Columbia wildfires

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guo, Song; Leighton, H.

2008-01-01

The British Columbia wildfires of 2004 was one of the largest wildfire events in the last ten years in Canada. Both the shortwave and longwave smoke aerosol radiative forcing at the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) are investigated using data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments. Relationships between the radiative forcing fluxes (??F) and wildfire aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 0.55 ??m (??0.55) are deduced for both noontime instantaneous forcing and diurnally averaged forcing. The noontime averaged instantaneous shortwave and longwave smoke aerosol radiative forcing at the TOA are 45.8??27.5 W m-2 and -12.6??6.9 W m-2, respectively for a selected study area between 62??N and 68??N in latitude and 125??W and 145??W in longitude over three mainly clear-sky days (23-25 June). The derived diurnally averaged smoke aerosol shortwave radiative forcing is 19.9??12.1 W m-2 for a mean ??0.55 of 1.88??0.71 over the same time period. The derived ??F-?? relationship can be implemented in the radiation scheme used in regional climate models to assess the effect of wildfire aerosols.

The impact of volcanic aerosol on the Northern Hemisphere stratospheric polar vortex: mechanisms and sensitivity to forcing structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toohey, M.; Krüger, K.; Bittner, M.; Timmreck, C.; Schmidt, H.

2014-12-01

Observations and simple theoretical arguments suggest that the Northern Hemisphere (NH) stratospheric polar vortex is stronger in winters following major volcanic eruptions. However, recent studies show that climate models forced by prescribed volcanic aerosol fields fail to reproduce this effect. We investigate the impact of volcanic aerosol forcing on stratospheric dynamics, including the strength of the NH polar vortex, in ensemble simulations with the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model. The model is forced by four different prescribed forcing sets representing the radiative properties of stratospheric aerosol following the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo: two forcing sets are based on observations, and are commonly used in climate model simulations, and two forcing sets are constructed based on coupled aerosol-climate model simulations. For all forcings, we find that simulated temperature and zonal wind anomalies in the NH high latitudes are not directly impacted by anomalous volcanic aerosol heating. Instead, high-latitude effects result from enhancements in stratospheric residual circulation, which in turn result, at least in part, from enhanced stratospheric wave activity. High-latitude effects are therefore much less robust than would be expected if they were the direct result of aerosol heating. Both observation-based forcing sets result in insignificant changes in vortex strength. For the model-based forcing sets, the vortex response is found to be sensitive to the structure of the forcing, with one forcing set leading to significant strengthening of the polar vortex in rough agreement with observation-based expectations. Differences in the dynamical response to the forcing sets imply that reproducing the polar vortex responses to past eruptions, or predicting the response to future eruptions, depends on accurate representation of the space-time structure of the volcanic aerosol forcing.

The contribution of China’s emissions to global climate forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bengang; Gasser, Thomas; Ciais, Philippe; Piao, Shilong; Tao, Shu; Balkanski, Yves; Hauglustaine, Didier; Boisier, Juan-Pablo; Chen, Zhuo; Huang, Mengtian; Li, Laurent Zhaoxin; Li, Yue; Liu, Hongyan; Liu, Junfeng; Peng, Shushi; Shen, Zehao; Sun, Zhenzhong; Wang, Rong; Wang, Tao; Yin, Guodong; Yin, Yi; Zeng, Hui; Zeng, Zhenzhong; Zhou, Feng

2016-03-01

Knowledge of the contribution that individual countries have made to global radiative forcing is important to the implementation of the agreement on “common but differentiated responsibilities” reached by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Over the past three decades, China has experienced rapid economic development, accompanied by increased emission of greenhouse gases, ozone precursors and aerosols, but the magnitude of the associated radiative forcing has remained unclear. Here we use a global coupled biogeochemistry-climate model and a chemistry and transport model to quantify China’s present-day contribution to global radiative forcing due to well-mixed greenhouse gases, short-lived atmospheric climate forcers and land-use-induced regional surface albedo changes. We find that China contributes 10% ± 4% of the current global radiative forcing. China’s relative contribution to the positive (warming) component of global radiative forcing, mainly induced by well-mixed greenhouse gases and black carbon aerosols, is 12% ± 2%. Its relative contribution to the negative (cooling) component is 15% ± 6%, dominated by the effect of sulfate and nitrate aerosols. China’s strongest contributions are 0.16 ± 0.02 watts per square metre for CO2 from fossil fuel burning, 0.13 ± 0.05 watts per square metre for CH4, -0.11 ± 0.05 watts per square metre for sulfate aerosols, and 0.09 ± 0.06 watts per square metre for black carbon aerosols. China’s eventual goal of improving air quality will result in changes in radiative forcing in the coming years: a reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions would drive a faster future warming, unless offset by larger reductions of radiative forcing from well-mixed greenhouse gases and black carbon.

Overview of the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment/Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing on the Mediterranean Climate (ChArMEx/ADRIMED) summer 2013 campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallet, M.; Dulac, F.; Formenti, P.; Nabat, P.; Sciare, J.; Roberts, G.; Pelon, J.; Ancellet, G.; Tanré, D.; Parol, F.; Denjean, C.; Brogniez, G.; di Sarra, A.; Alados-Arboledas, L.; Arndt, J.; Auriol, F.; Blarel, L.; Bourrianne, T.; Chazette, P.; Chevaillier, S.; Claeys, M.; D'Anna, B.; Derimian, Y.; Desboeufs, K.; Di Iorio, T.; Doussin, J.-F.; Durand, P.; Féron, A.; Freney, E.; Gaimoz, C.; Goloub, P.; Gómez-Amo, J. L.; Granados-Muñoz, M. J.; Grand, N.; Hamonou, E.; Jankowiak, I.; Jeannot, M.; Léon, J.-F.; Maillé, M.; Mailler, S.; Meloni, D.; Menut, L.; Momboisse, G.; Nicolas, J.; Podvin, T.; Pont, V.; Rea, G.; Renard, J.-B.; Roblou, L.; Schepanski, K.; Schwarzenboeck, A.; Sellegri, K.; Sicard, M.; Solmon, F.; Somot, S.; Torres, B.; Totems, J.; Triquet, S.; Verdier, N.; Verwaerde, C.; Waquet, F.; Wenger, J.; Zapf, P.

2016-01-01

MBL. In terms of shortwave (SW) direct forcing, in situ surface and aircraft observations have been merged and used as inputs in 1-D radiative transfer codes for calculating the aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF). Results show significant surface SW instantaneous forcing (up to -90 W m-2 at noon). Aircraft observations provide also original estimates of the vertical structure of SW and LW radiative heating revealing significant instantaneous values of about 5° K per day in the solar spectrum (for a solar angle of 30°) within the dust layer. Associated 3-D modeling studies from regional climate (RCM) and chemistry transport (CTM) models indicate a relatively good agreement for simulated AOD compared with observations from the AERONET/PHOTONS network and satellite data, especially for long-range dust transport. Calculations of the 3-D SW (clear-sky) surface DRF indicate an average of about -10 to -20 W m-2 (for the whole period) over the Mediterranean Sea together with maxima (-50 W m-2) over northern Africa. The top of the atmosphere (TOA) DRF is shown to be highly variable within the domain, due to moderate absorbing properties of dust and changes in the surface albedo. Indeed, 3-D simulations indicate negative forcing over the Mediterranean Sea and Europe and positive forcing over northern Africa. Finally, a multi-year simulation, performed for the 2003 to 2009 period and including an ocean-atmosphere (O-A) coupling, underlines the impact of the aerosol direct radiative forcing on the sea surface temperature, O-A fluxes and the hydrological cycle over the Mediterranean.

Radiative Forcing in the ACCMIP Historical and Future Climate Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shindell, Drew Todd; Lamarque, J.-F.; Schulz, M.; Flanner, M.; Jiao, C.; Chin, M.; Young, P. J.; Lee, Y. H.; Rotstayn, L.; Mahowald, N.;

Resolving the Aerosol Piece of the Global Climate Picture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahn, R. A.

2017-12-01

Factors affecting our ability to calculate climate forcing and estimate model predictive skill include direct radiative effects of aerosols and their indirect effects on clouds. Several decades of Earth-observing satellite observations have produced a global aerosol column-amount (AOD) record, but an aerosol microphysical property record required for climate and many air quality applications is lacking. Surface-based photometers offer qualitative aerosol-type classification, and several space-based instruments map aerosol air-mass types under favorable conditions. However, aerosol hygroscopicity, mass extinction efficiency (MEE), and quantitative light absorption, must be obtained from in situ measurements. Completing the aerosol piece of the climate picture requires three elements: (1) continuing global AOD and qualitative type mapping from space-based, multi-angle imagers and aerosol vertical distribution from near-source stereo imaging and downwind lidar, (2) systematic, quantitative in situ observations of particle properties unobtainable from space, and (3) continuing transport modeling to connect observations to sources, and extrapolate limited sampling in space and time. At present, the biggest challenges to producing the needed aerosol data record are: filling gaps in particle property observations, maintaining global observing capabilities, and putting the pieces together. Obtaining the PDFs of key particle properties, adequately sampled, is now the leading observational deficiency. One simplifying factor is that, for a given aerosol source and season, aerosol amounts often vary, but particle properties tend to be repeatable. SAM-CAAM (Systematic Aircraft Measurements to Characterize Aerosol Air Masses), a modest aircraft payload deployed frequently could fill this gap, adding value to the entire satellite data record, improving aerosol property assumptions in retrieval algorithms, and providing MEEs to translate between remote-sensing optical constraints

The Indian ocean experiment: aerosol forcing obtained from satellite data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajeev, K.; Ramanathan, V.

The tropical Indian Ocean provides an ideal and unique natural laboratory to observe and understand the role of anthropogenic aerosols in climate forcing. Since 1996, an international team of American, European and Indian scientists have been collecting aerosol, chemical and radiation data from ships and surface stations, which culminated in a multi-platform field experiment conducted during January to March of 1999. A persistent haze layer that spread over most of the northern Indian Ocean during wintertime was discovered. The layer, a complex mix of organics, black carbon, sulfates, nitrates and other species, subjects the lower atmosphere to a strong radiative heating and a larger reduction in the solar heating of the ocean. We present here the regional distribution of aerosols and the resulting clear sky aerosol radiative forcing at top-of-atmosphere (TOA) observed over the Indian Ocean during the winter months of 1997, 1998 and 1999 based on the aerosol optical depth (AOD) estimated using NOAA14-AVHRR and the TOA radiation budget data from CERES on board TRMM. Using the ratio of surface to TOA clear sky aerosol radiative forcing observed during the same period over the Indian Ocean island of Kaashidhoo (Satheesh and Ramanathan, 2000), the clear sky aerosol radiative forcing at the surface and the atmosphere are discussed. The regional maps of AVHRR derived AOD show abnormally large aerosol concentration during the winter of 1999 which is about 1.5 to 2 times larger than the AOD during the corresponding period of 1997 and 1998. A large latitudinal gradient in AOD is observed during all the three years of observation, with maximum AOD in the northern hemisphere. The diurnal mean clear sky aerosol forcing at TOA in the northern hemisphere Indian Ocean is in the range of -4 to -16 Wm -2 and had large spatio-temporal variations while in the southern hemisphere Indian Ocean it is in the range of 0 to -6Wm -2. The importance of integrating in-situ data with satellite

Spatially Refined Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing Efficiencies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henze, Daven K.; Shindell, Drew Todd; Akhtar, Farhan; Spurr, Robert J. D.; Pinder, Robert W.; Loughlin, Dan; Kopacz, Monika; Singh, Kumaresh; Shim, Changsub

2012-01-01

Global aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF) is an important metric for assessing potential climate impacts of future emissions changes. However, the radiative consequences of emissions perturbations are not readily quantified nor well understood at the level of detail necessary to assess realistic policy options. To address this challenge, here we show how adjoint model sensitivities can be used to provide highly spatially resolved estimates of the DRF from emissions of black carbon (BC), primary organic carbon (OC), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ammonia (NH3), using the example of emissions from each sector and country following multiple Representative Concentration Pathway (RCPs). The radiative forcing efficiencies of many individual emissions are found to differ considerably from regional or sectoral averages for NH3, SO2 from the power sector, and BC from domestic, industrial, transportation and biomass burning sources. Consequently, the amount of emissions controls required to attain a specific DRF varies at intracontinental scales by up to a factor of 4. These results thus demonstrate both a need and means for incorporating spatially refined aerosol DRF into analysis of future emissions scenario and design of air quality and climate change mitigation policies.

Direct Aerosol Forcing Uncertainty

DOE Data Explorer

Mccomiskey, Allison

2008-01-15

Understanding sources of uncertainty in aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF), the difference in a given radiative flux component with and without aerosol, is essential to quantifying changes in Earth's radiation budget. We examine the uncertainty in DRF due to measurement uncertainty in the quantities on which it depends: aerosol optical depth, single scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter, solar geometry, and surface albedo. Direct radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere and at the surface as well as sensitivities, the changes in DRF in response to unit changes in individual aerosol or surface properties, are calculated at three locations representing distinct aerosol types and radiative environments. The uncertainty in DRF associated with a given property is computed as the product of the sensitivity and typical measurement uncertainty in the respective aerosol or surface property. Sensitivity and uncertainty values permit estimation of total uncertainty in calculated DRF and identification of properties that most limit accuracy in estimating forcing. Total uncertainties in modeled local diurnally averaged forcing range from 0.2 to 1.3 W m-2 (42 to 20%) depending on location (from tropical to polar sites), solar zenith angle, surface reflectance, aerosol type, and aerosol optical depth. The largest contributor to total uncertainty in DRF is usually single scattering albedo; however decreasing measurement uncertainties for any property would increase accuracy in DRF. Comparison of two radiative transfer models suggests the contribution of modeling error is small compared to the total uncertainty although comparable to uncertainty arising from some individual properties.

Satellite Remote Sensing of Aerosol Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Remer, Lorraine; Kaufman, Yoram; Ramaprasad, Jaya; Procopio, Aline; Levin, Zev

1999-01-01

Aerosol and cloud impacts on the earth's climate become a recent hot topic in climate studies. Having near future earth observing satellites, EOS-AM1 (Earth Observing System-AM1), ENVISAT (Environmental Satellites) and ADEOS-2 (Advanced Earth Observation Satellite-2), it will be a good timing to discuss how to obtain and use the microphysical parameters of aerosols and clouds for studying their climate impacts. Center for Climate System Research (CCSR) of the University of Tokyo invites you to 'Symposium on synergy between satellite-remote sensing and climate modeling in aerosol and cloud issues.' Here, we like to discuss the current and future issues in the remote sensing of aerosol and cloud microphysical parameters and their climate modeling studies. This workshop is also one of workshop series on aerosol remote sensing held in 1996, Washington D. C., and Meribel, France in 1999. It should be reminded that NASDA/ADEOS-1 & -2 (National Space Development Agency of Japan/Advanced Earth Observation Satellite-1 & -2) Workshop will be held in the following week (Dec. 6-10, 1999), so that this opportunity will be a perfect period for you to attend two meetings for satellite remote sensing in Japan. A weekend in Kyoto, the old capital of Japan, will add a nice memory to your visiting Japan. *Issues in the symposium: 1) most recent topics in aerosol and cloud remot sensing, and 2) utility of satellite products on climate modeling of cloud-aerosol effects.

Variability of aerosol optical depth and aerosol radiative forcing over Northwest Himalayan region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saheb, Shaik Darga; Kant, Yogesh; Mitra, D.

2016-05-01

In recent years, the aerosol loading in India is increasing that has significant impact on the weather/climatic conditions. The present study discusses the analysis of temporal (monthly and seasonal) variation of aerosol optical depth(AOD) by the ground based observations from sun photometer and estimate the aerosol radiative forcing and heating rate over selected station Dehradun in North western Himalayas, India during 2015. The in-situ measurements data illustrate that the maximum seasonal average AOD observed during summer season AOD at 500nm ≍ 0.59+/-0.27 with an average angstrom exponent, α ≍0.86 while minimum during winter season AOD at 500nm ≍ 0.33+/-0.10 with angstrom exponent, α ≍1.18. The MODIS and MISR derived AOD was also compared with the ground measured values and are good to be in good agreement. Analysis of air mass back trajectories using HYSPLIT model reveal that the transportation of desert dust during summer months. The Optical Properties of Aerosols and clouds (OPAC) model was used to compute the aerosol optical properties like single scattering albedo (SSA), Angstrom coefficient (α) and Asymmetry(g) parameter for each day of measurement and they are incorporated in a Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer model, i.e Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SBDART) to estimate the direct short-wave (0.25 to 4 μm) Aerosol Radiative forcing at the Surface (SUR), the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and Atmosphere (ATM). The maximum Aerosol Radiative Forcing (ARF) was observed during summer months at SUR ≍ -56.42 w/m2, at TOA ≍-21.62 w/m2 whereas in ATM ≍+34.79 w/m2 with corresponding to heating rate 1.24°C/day with in lower atmosphere.

Inhomogeneous Forcing and Transient Climate Sensitivity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shindell, Drew T.

2014-01-01

Understanding climate sensitivity is critical to projecting climate change in response to a given forcing scenario. Recent analyses have suggested that transient climate sensitivity is at the low end of the present model range taking into account the reduced warming rates during the past 10-15 years during which forcing has increased markedly. In contrast, comparisons of modelled feedback processes with observations indicate that the most realistic models have higher sensitivities. Here I analyse results from recent climate modelling intercomparison projects to demonstrate that transient climate sensitivity to historical aerosols and ozone is substantially greater than the transient climate sensitivity to CO2. This enhanced sensitivity is primarily caused by more of the forcing being located at Northern Hemisphere middle to high latitudes where it triggers more rapid land responses and stronger feedbacks. I find that accounting for this enhancement largely reconciles the two sets of results, and I conclude that the lowest end of the range of transient climate response to CO2 in present models and assessments (less than 1.3 C) is very unlikely.

Stratospheric aerosols and climatic change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toon, O. B.; Pollack, J. B.

1978-01-01

Stratospht1ic sulfuric acid particles scatter and absorb sunlight and they scatter, absorb and emit terrestrial thermal radiation. These interactions play a role in the earth's radiation balance and therefore affect climate. The stratospheric aerosols are perturbed by volcanic injection of SO2 and ash, by aircraft injection of SO2, by rocket exhaust of Al2O3 and by tropospheric mixing of particles and pollutant SO2 and COS. In order to assess the effects of these perturbations on climate, the effects of the aerosols on the radiation balance must be understood and in order to understand the radiation effects the properties of the aerosols must be known. The discussion covers the aerosols' effect on the radiation balance. It is shown that the aerosol size distribution controls whether the aerosols will tend to warm or cool the earth's surface. Calculations of aerosol properties, including size distribution, for various perturbation sources are carried out on the basis of an aerosol model. Calculations are also presented of the climatic impact of perturbed aerosols due to volcanic eruptions and Space Shuttle flights.

Potential climate effect of mineral aerosols over West Africa. Part I: model validation and contemporary climate evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Zhenming; Wang, Guiling; Pal, Jeremy S.; Yu, Miao

2016-02-01

Mineral dusts present in the atmosphere can play an important role in climate over West Africa and surrounding regions. However, current understanding regarding how dust aerosols influence climate of West Africa is very limited. In this study, a regional climate model is used to investigate the potential climatic impacts of dust aerosols. Two sets of simulations driven by reanalysis and Earth System Model boundary conditions are performed with and without the representation of dust processes. The model, regardless of the boundary forcing, captures the spatial and temporal variability of the aerosol optical depth and surface concentration. The shortwave radiative forcing of dust is negative at the surface and positive in the atmosphere, with greater changes in the spring and summer. The presence of mineral dusts causes surface cooling and lower troposphere heating, resulting in a stabilization effect and reduction in precipitation in the northern portion of the monsoon close to the dust emissions region. This results in an enhancement of precipitation to the south. While dusts cause the lower troposphere to stabilize, upper tropospheric cooling makes the region more prone to intense deep convection as is evident by a simulated increase in extreme precipitation. In a companion paper, the impacts of dust emissions on future West African climate are investigated.

On the characteristics of aerosol indirect effect based on dynamic regimes in global climate models

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Shipeng; Wang, Minghuai; Ghan, Steven J.; ...

2016-03-04

Aerosol–cloud interactions continue to constitute a major source of uncertainty for the estimate of climate radiative forcing. The variation of aerosol indirect effects (AIE) in climate models is investigated across different dynamical regimes, determined by monthly mean 500 hPa vertical pressure velocity ( ω 500), lower-tropospheric stability (LTS) and large-scale surface precipitation rate derived from several global climate models (GCMs), with a focus on liquid water path (LWP) response to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. The LWP sensitivity to aerosol perturbation within dynamic regimes is found to exhibit a large spread among these GCMs. It is in regimes of strongmore » large-scale ascent ( ω 500  <  −25 hPa day −1) and low clouds (stratocumulus and trade wind cumulus) where the models differ most. Shortwave aerosol indirect forcing is also found to differ significantly among different regimes. Shortwave aerosol indirect forcing in ascending regimes is close to that in subsidence regimes, which indicates that regimes with strong large-scale ascent are as important as stratocumulus regimes in studying AIE. It is further shown that shortwave aerosol indirect forcing over regions with high monthly large-scale surface precipitation rate (> 0.1 mm day −1) contributes the most to the total aerosol indirect forcing (from 64 to nearly 100 %). Results show that the uncertainty in AIE is even larger within specific dynamical regimes compared to the uncertainty in its global mean values, pointing to the need to reduce the uncertainty in AIE in different dynamical regimes.« less

Aerosol- and greenhouse gas-induced changes in summer rainfall and circulation in the Australasian region: a study using single-forcing climate simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rotstayn, L. D.; Jeffrey, S. J.; Collier, M. A.; Dravitzki, S. M.; Hirst, A. C.; Syktus, J. I.; Wong, K. K.

2012-07-01

We use a coupled atmosphere-ocean global climate model (CSIRO-Mk3.6) to investigate the drivers of trends in summer rainfall and circulation in the vicinity of northern Australia. As part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), we perform a 10-member 21st century ensemble driven by Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCP4.5). To investigate the roles of different forcing agents, we also perform multiple 10-member ensembles of historical climate change, which are analysed for the period 1951-2010. The historical runs include ensembles driven by "all forcings" (HIST), all forcings except anthropogenic aerosols (NO_AA) and forcing only from long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGAS). Anthropogenic aerosol-induced effects in a warming climate are calculated from the difference of HIST minus NO_AA. CSIRO-Mk3.6 simulates a strong summer rainfall decrease over north-western Australia (NWA) in RCP4.5, whereas simulated trends in HIST are weakly positive (but insignificant) during 1951-2010. The weak rainfall trends in HIST are due to compensating effects of different forcing agents: there is a significant decrease in GHGAS, offset by an aerosol-induced increase. Observations show a significant increase of summer rainfall over NWA during the last few decades. The large magnitude of the observed NWA rainfall trend is not captured by 440 unforced 60-yr trends calculated from a 500-yr pre-industrial control run, even though the model's decadal variability appears to be realistic. This suggests that the observed trend includes a forced component, despite the fact that the model does not simulate the magnitude of the observed rainfall increase in response to "all forcings" (HIST). We investigate the mechanism of simulated and observed NWA rainfall changes by exploring changes in circulation over the Indo-Pacific region. The key circulation feature associated with the rainfall increase in reanalyses is a lower-tropospheric cyclonic circulation trend off the

A New Paradigm for Diagnosing Contributions to Model Aerosol Forcing Error

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, A. L.; Feldman, D. R.; Freidenreich, S.; Paynter, D.; Ramaswamy, V.; Collins, W. D.; Pincus, R.

2017-12-01

A new paradigm in benchmark absorption-scattering radiative transfer is presented that enables both the globally averaged and spatially resolved testing of climate model radiation parameterizations in order to uncover persistent sources of biases in the aerosol instantaneous radiative effect (IRE). A proof of concept is demonstrated with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory AM4 and Community Earth System Model 1.2.2 climate models. Instead of prescribing atmospheric conditions and aerosols, as in prior intercomparisons, native snapshots of the atmospheric state and aerosol optical properties from the participating models are used as inputs to an accurate radiation solver to uncover model-relevant biases. These diagnostic results show that the models' aerosol IRE bias is of the same magnitude as the persistent range cited ( 1 W/m2) and also varies spatially and with intrinsic aerosol optical properties. The findings underscore the significance of native model error analysis and its dispositive ability to diagnose global biases, confirming its fundamental value for the Radiative Forcing Model Intercomparison Project.

Volcano and ship tracks indicate excessive aerosol-induced cloud water increases in a climate model.

PubMed

Toll, Velle; Christensen, Matthew; Gassó, Santiago; Bellouin, Nicolas

2017-12-28

Aerosol-cloud interaction is the most uncertain mechanism of anthropogenic radiative forcing of Earth's climate, and aerosol-induced cloud water changes are particularly poorly constrained in climate models. By combining satellite retrievals of volcano and ship tracks in stratocumulus clouds, we compile a unique observational dataset and confirm that liquid water path (LWP) responses to aerosols are bidirectional, and on average the increases in LWP are closely compensated by the decreases. Moreover, the meteorological parameters controlling the LWP responses are strikingly similar between the volcano and ship tracks. In stark contrast to observations, there are substantial unidirectional increases in LWP in the Hadley Centre climate model, because the model accounts only for the decreased precipitation efficiency and not for the enhanced entrainment drying. If the LWP increases in the model were compensated by the decreases as the observations suggest, its indirect aerosol radiative forcing in stratocumulus regions would decrease by 45%.

The Model Intercomparison Project on the Climatic Response to Volcanic Forcing (VolMIP): Experimental Design and Forcing Input Data for CMIP6

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zanchettin, Davide; Khodri, Myriam; Timmreck, Claudia; Toohey, Matthew; Schmidt, Anja; Gerber, Edwin P.; Hegerl, Gabriele; Robock, Alan; Pausata, Francesco; Ball, William T.;

Impacts of East Asian Sulfate Aerosols on Local and Remote Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartlett, R. E.; Bollasina, M. A.

2017-12-01

Anthropogenic aerosols exert significant climate forcing, which increases with emissions following trends of growing population and industry. Globally, aerosols cause a net cooling, counteracting greenhouse gas warming; however, regional impacts vary since emissions are spatially and temporally heterogeneous. While European and North American emissions have decreased in recent decades, Asian, particularly East Asian, emissions continued to rise into the 21st century. In addition to links between Asian anthropogenic aerosols and significant local climate impacts - for example, changes to the Asian monsoon system - studies have also shown influences on remote climate. Sulfate aerosols are particularly important for East Asia, remaining at constant levels higher than column burdens of other aerosol species. If a concerted effort - as laid out by government policies aiming to improve air quality - is made, the effects of anthropogenic aerosols (due to their short atmospheric lifetime) could be quickly reversed. Thus, it is vital to understand the climate impact aerosols have had up to now to aid in determining what will happen in the future. We use transient climate modelling experiments with the Community Earth System Model to investigate the impacts of East Asian sulfate aerosols in the present day compared to 1950 (i.e. before rapid industrialisation in this region), focusing on dynamical mechanisms leading to the occurrence of such impacts, and how their influence can spread to remote regions. We find, in addition to significant monsoon impacts, noticeable shifts in large-scale circulation features such as the ITCZ and the Pacific Walker cell. Through diabatic heating responses, changes to upper-level atmospheric dynamics are evident, leading to downstream effects on surface climate - for example, surface cooling over Europe. Understanding of these impacts is vital when considering how the good intentions of air quality improvement might inadvertently have

Impact of Dust Radiative Forcing upon Climate. Chapter 13

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Ronald L.; Knippertz, Peter; Perez Garcia-Pando, Carlos; Perlwitz, Jan P.; Tegan, Ina

2014-01-01

Dust aerosols perturb the atmospheric radiative flux at both solar and thermal wavelengths, altering the energy and water cycles. The climate adjusts by redistributing energy and moisture, so that local temperature perturbations, for example, depend upon the forcing over the entire extent of the perturbed circulation. Within regions frequently mixed by deep convection, including the deep tropics, dust particles perturb the surface air temperature primarily through radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). Many models predict that dust reduces global precipitation. This reduction is typically attributed to the decrease of surface evaporation in response to dimming of the surface. A counterexample is presented, where greater shortwave absorption by dust increases evaporation and precipitation despite greater dimming of the surface. This is attributed to the dependence of surface evaporation upon TOA forcing through its influence upon surface temperature and humidity. Perturbations by dust to the surface wind speed and vegetation (through precipitation anomalies) feed back upon the dust aerosol concentration. The current uncertainty of radiative forcing attributed to dust and the resulting range of climate perturbations calculated by models remain a useful test of our understanding of the mechanisms relating dust radiative forcing to the climate response.

The Role of Air-sea Coupling in the Response of Climate Extremes to Aerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahajan, S.

2017-12-01

Air-sea interactions dominate the climate of surrounding regions and thus also modulate the climate response to local and remote aerosol forcings. To clearly isolate the role of air-sea coupling in the climate response to aerosols, we conduct experiments with a full complexity atmosphere model that is coupled to a series of ocean models progressively increasing in complexity. The ocean models range from a data ocean model with prescribed SSTs, to a slab ocean model that only allows thermodynamic interactions, to a full dynamic ocean model. In a preliminary study, we have conducted single forcing experiments with black carbon aerosols in an atmosphere GCM coupled to a data ocean model and a slab ocean model. We find that while black carbon aerosols can intensify mean and extreme summer monsoonal precipitation over the Indian sub-continent, air-sea coupling can dramatically modulate this response. Black carbon aerosols in the vicinity of the Arabian Sea result in an increase of sea surface temperatures there in the slab ocean model, which intensify the low-level Somali Jet. The associated increase in moisture transport into Western India enhances the mean as well as extreme precipitation. In prescribed SST experiments, where SSTs are not allowed to respond BC aerosols, the response is muted. We will present results from a hierarchy of GCM simulations that investigate the role of air-sea coupling in the climate response to aerosols in more detail.

Trends of Measured Climate Forcing Agents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, James E.; Sato, Makiko; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The growth rate of climate forcing by measured greenhouse gases peaked near 1980 at almost 5 W/sq m per century. This growth rate has since declined to approximately equal to 3 W/sq m per century, largely because of cooperative international actions. We argue that trends can be reduced to the level needed for the moderate "alternative" climate scenario (approximately equal to 2 W/M2 per century for the next 50 years) by means of concerted actions that have other benefits, but the forcing reductions are not automatic "co-benefits" of actions that slow CO2 emissions. Current trends of climate forcings by aerosols remain very uncertain. Nevertheless, practical constraints on changes in emission levels suggest that global warming at a rate + 0.15 +/- 0.05 C per decade will occur over the next several decades.

Carbonaceous aerosol tracers in ice-cores record multi-decadal climate oscillations

PubMed Central

Seki, Osamu; Kawamura, Kimitaka; Bendle, James A. P.; Izawa, Yusuke; Suzuki, Ikuko; Shiraiwa, Takayuki; Fujii, Yoshiyuki

2015-01-01

Carbonaceous aerosols influence the climate via direct and indirect effects on radiative balance. However, the factors controlling the emissions, transport and role of carbonaceous aerosols in the climate system are highly uncertain. Here we investigate organic tracers in ice cores from Greenland and Kamchatka and find that, throughout the period covered by the records (1550 to 2000 CE), the concentrations and composition of biomass burning-, soil bacterial- and plant wax- tracers correspond to Arctic and regional temperatures as well as the warm season Arctic Oscillation (AO) over multi-decadal time-scales. Specifically, order of magnitude decreases (increases) in abundances of ice-core organic tracers, likely representing significant decreases (increases) in the atmospheric loading of carbonaceous aerosols, occur during colder (warmer) phases in the high latitudinal Northern Hemisphere. This raises questions about causality and possible carbonaceous aerosol feedback mechanisms. Our work opens new avenues for ice core research. Translating concentrations of organic tracers (μg/kg-ice or TOC) from ice-cores, into estimates of the atmospheric loading of carbonaceous aerosols (μg/m3) combined with new model constraints on the strength and sign of climate forcing by carbonaceous aerosols should be a priority for future research. PMID:26411576

Volcano and Ship Tracks Indicate Excessive Aerosol-Induced Cloud Water Increases in a Climate Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toll, Velle; Christensen, Matthew; Gassó, Santiago; Bellouin, Nicolas

2017-12-01

Aerosol-cloud interaction is the most uncertain mechanism of anthropogenic radiative forcing of Earth's climate, and aerosol-induced cloud water changes are particularly poorly constrained in climate models. By combining satellite retrievals of volcano and ship tracks in stratocumulus clouds, we compile a unique observational data set and confirm that liquid water path (LWP) responses to aerosols are bidirectional, and on average the increases in LWP are closely compensated by the decreases. Moreover, the meteorological parameters controlling the LWP responses are strikingly similar between the volcano and ship tracks. In stark contrast to observations, there are substantial unidirectional increases in LWP in the Hadley Centre climate model, because the model accounts only for the decreased precipitation efficiency and not for the enhanced entrainment drying. If the LWP increases in the model were compensated by the decreases as the observations suggest, its indirect aerosol radiative forcing in stratocumulus regions would decrease by 45%.

Unveiling aerosol-cloud interactions - Part 1: Cloud contamination in satellite products enhances the aerosol indirect forcing estimate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christensen, Matthew W.; Neubauer, David; Poulsen, Caroline A.; Thomas, Gareth E.; McGarragh, Gregory R.; Povey, Adam C.; Proud, Simon R.; Grainger, Roy G.

2017-11-01

Increased concentrations of aerosol can enhance the albedo of warm low-level cloud. Accurately quantifying this relationship from space is challenging due in part to contamination of aerosol statistics near clouds. Aerosol retrievals near clouds can be influenced by stray cloud particles in areas assumed to be cloud-free, particle swelling by humidification, shadows and enhanced scattering into the aerosol field from (3-D radiative transfer) clouds. To screen for this contamination we have developed a new cloud-aerosol pairing algorithm (CAPA) to link cloud observations to the nearest aerosol retrieval within the satellite image. The distance between each aerosol retrieval and nearest cloud is also computed in CAPA. Results from two independent satellite imagers, the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), show a marked reduction in the strength of the intrinsic aerosol indirect radiative forcing when selecting aerosol pairs that are located farther away from the clouds (-0.28±0.26 W m-2) compared to those including pairs that are within 15 km of the nearest cloud (-0.49±0.18 W m-2). The larger aerosol optical depths in closer proximity to cloud artificially enhance the relationship between aerosol-loading, cloud albedo, and cloud fraction. These results suggest that previous satellite-based radiative forcing estimates represented in key climate reports may be exaggerated due to the inclusion of retrieval artefacts in the aerosol located near clouds.

Aerosol Radiative Forcing in Asian Continental Outflow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pueschel, R.; Kinne, S.; Redemann, J.; Gore, Warren J. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Aerosols in elevated layers were sampled with FSSP-probes and wire impactors over the Pacific ocean aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft. Analyses of particle size and morphology identifies two distinctly different aerosol types for cases when the mid-visible extinctions exceed 0.2/km. Smaller sizes (effective radii of 0.2 um) and moderate absorption (mid-visible single scattering albedo of.935) are typical for urban-industrial pollution. Larger sizes (effective radii of 0.7 um) and weak absorption (mid-visible single scattering albedo of 0.985) identify dust. This aerosol classification is in agreement with its origin as determined by airmass back trajectory analysis. Based on lidar vertical profiling, aerosol dominated by dust and urban-industrial pollution above 3km were assigned mid-visible optical depths of 0.50 and 0.27, respectively. Radiative transfer simulations, considering a 50% cloud-cover below the aerosol layers, suggest (on a daily tP C)C> basis) small reductions (-4W/m2) to the energy budget at the top of the atmosphere for both aerosol types. For c' 0 dust, more backscattering of sunlight (weaker solar absorption) is compensated by a stronger greenhouse effect due to larger sizes. Forced reductions to the energy budget at the surface are 12W/m2 for both aerosol types. In contrast, impacts on heating rates within the aerosol layers are quite different: While urban-industrial aerosol warms the layer (at +0.6K/day as solar heating dominates), dust cools (at -0.5K/day as infrared cooling dominates). Sensitivity tests show the dependence of the aerosol climatic impact on the optical depth, particle size, absorptivity, and altitude of the layers, as well as clouds and surface properties. Climatic cooling can be eliminated (1) for the urban-industrial aerosol if absorption is increased to yield a mid-visible single scattering albedo of 0.89, or if the ocean is replaced by a land surface; (2) for the dust aerosol if the effective radius is increased from 0.7 to 1

Multidecadal trends in aerosol radiative forcing over the Arctic: Contribution of changes in anthropogenic aerosol to Arctic warming since 1980

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Breider, Thomas J.; Mickley, Loretta J.; Jacob, Daniel J.; Ge, Cui; Wang, Jun; Payer Sulprizio, Melissa; Croft, Betty; Ridley, David A.; McConnell, Joseph R.; Sharma, Sangeeta; Husain, Liaquat; Dutkiewicz, Vincent A.; Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos; Skov, Henrik; Hopke, Phillip K.

2017-03-01

Arctic observations show large decreases in the concentrations of sulfate and black carbon (BC) aerosols since the early 1980s. These near-term climate-forcing pollutants perturb the radiative balance of the atmosphere and may have played an important role in recent Arctic warming. We use the GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model to construct a 3-D representation of Arctic aerosols that is generally consistent with observations and their trends from 1980 to 2010. Observations at Arctic surface sites show significant decreases in sulfate and BC mass concentrations of 2-3% per year. We find that anthropogenic aerosols yield a negative forcing over the Arctic, with an average 2005-2010 Arctic shortwave radiative forcing (RF) of -0.19 ± 0.05 W m-2 at the top of atmosphere (TOA). Anthropogenic sulfate in our study yields more strongly negative forcings over the Arctic troposphere in spring (-1.17 ± 0.10 W m-2) than previously reported. From 1980 to 2010, TOA negative RF by Arctic aerosol declined, from -0.67 ± 0.06 W m-2 to -0.19 ± 0.05 W m-2, yielding a net TOA RF of +0.48 ± 0.06 W m-2. The net positive RF is due almost entirely to decreases in anthropogenic sulfate loading over the Arctic. We estimate that 1980-2010 trends in aerosol-radiation interactions over the Arctic and Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes have contributed a net warming at the Arctic surface of +0.27 ± 0.04 K, roughly one quarter of the observed warming. Our study does not consider BC emissions from gas flaring nor the regional climate response to aerosol-cloud interactions or BC deposition on snow.

Aerosol contribution to the rapid warming of near-term climate under RCP 2.6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chalmers, N.; Highwood, E. J.; Hawkins, E.; Sutton, R.; Wilcox, L. J.

2012-09-01

The importance of aerosol emissions for near term climate projections is investigated by analysing simulations with the HadGEM2-ES model under two different emissions scenarios: RCP2.6 and RCP4.5. It is shown that the near term warming projected under RCP2.6 is greater than under RCP4.5, even though the greenhouse gas forcing is lower. Rapid and substantial reductions in sulphate aerosol emissions due to a reduction of coal burning in RCP2.6 lead to a reduction in the negative shortwave forcing due to aerosol direct and indirect effects. Indirect effects play an important role over the northern hemisphere oceans, especially the subtropical northeastern Pacific where an anomaly of 5-10 Wm-2 develops. The pattern of surface temperature change is consistent with the expected response to this surface radiation anomaly, whilst also exhibiting features that reflect redistribution of energy, and feedbacks, within the climate system. These results demonstrate the importance of aerosol emissions as a key source of uncertainty in near term projections of global and regional climate.

Host Model Uncertainty in Aerosol Radiative Forcing Estimates - The AeroCom Prescribed Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stier, P.; Kinne, S.; Bellouin, N.; Myhre, G.; Takemura, T.; Yu, H.; Randles, C.; Chung, C. E.

2012-04-01

Anthropogenic and natural aerosol radiative effects are recognized to affect global and regional climate. However, even for the case of identical aerosol emissions, the simulated direct aerosol radiative forcings show significant diversity among the AeroCom models (Schulz et al., 2006). Our analysis of aerosol absorption in the AeroCom models indicates a larger diversity in the translation from given aerosol radiative properties (absorption optical depth) to actual atmospheric absorption than in the translation of a given atmospheric burden of black carbon to the radiative properties (absorption optical depth). The large diversity is caused by differences in the simulated cloud fields, radiative transfer, the relative vertical distribution of aerosols and clouds, and the effective surface albedo. This indicates that differences in host model (GCM or CTM hosting the aerosol module) parameterizations contribute significantly to the simulated diversity of aerosol radiative forcing. The magnitude of these host model effects in global aerosol model and satellites retrieved aerosol radiative forcing estimates cannot be estimated from the diagnostics of the "standard" AeroCom forcing experiments. To quantify the contribution of differences in the host models to the simulated aerosol radiative forcing and absorption we conduct the AeroCom Prescribed experiment, a simple aerosol model and satellite retrieval intercomparison with prescribed highly idealised aerosol fields. Quality checks, such as diagnostic output of the 3D aerosol fields as implemented in each model, ensure the comparability of the aerosol implementation in the participating models. The simulated forcing variability among the models and retrievals is a direct measure of the contribution of host model assumptions to the uncertainty in the assessment of the aerosol radiative effects. We will present the results from the AeroCom prescribed experiment with focus on the attribution to the simulated variability

Indirect effect of changing aerosol concentrations on methane and ozone radiative forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowlinson, Matthew; Rap, Alexandru; Arnold, Steve; Forster, Piers; Chipperfield, Martyn

2017-04-01

Atmospheric aerosols interact with climate in number of complex ways and quantifying the overall effect remains the dominant uncertainty in estimating anthropogenic climate forcing (IPCC, 2013). The radiative forcing (RF) caused by the direct effect of aerosol interacting with radiation is estimated at -0.35 (-0.85 to +0.15) Wm-2, while cloud-aerosol interactions are estimated at -0.45 (-1.2 to 0.0) Wm-2 (IPCC, 2013). The net impact is a cooling with an effective radiative forcing (ERF) of 0.9 (-1.9 to -0.1) Wm-2 (IPCC, 2013). One effect of aerosols which has not been well evaluated is their effect on atmospheric chemistry. Atmospheric aerosols provide a surface for homogeneous reactions to occur, altering reactions rates and the availability of oxidants, thereby influencing the removal/production of radiatively important species such as methane (CH4) and tropospheric ozone (O3). Oxidants such as the hydroxyl radical (OH) determine the atmospheric lifetime and hence burden of CH4, therefore changes to atmospheric aerosols which impact oxidation chemistry will also influence RF due to CH4. This effect could enhance or offset the negative RF of aerosols, depending on how the individual aerosol changes availability of oxidants. Quantifying the importance of this mechanism for RF is necessary to provide accurate estimates of the effect of aerosols, and assess relative effectiveness of measures to decrease aerosol emissions and precursors. Using a sophisticated aerosol micro-physics model (GLOMAP) coupled to the TOMCAT three-dimensional chemical transport model, we separately simulate changes in atmospheric composition resulting from a 50% decline in anthropogenic emissions of black carbon aerosol (BC), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and anthropogenic precursors of sulphate and nitrate. The impact of changes to each aerosol on lifetime of CH4 is then calculated to establish the resulting impact on CH4 burden and RF. Cutting global anthropogenic SO2 emissions by 50

Aerosol Radiative Forcing Derived From SeaWIFS - Retrieved Aerosol Optical Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chou, Mong-Dah; Chan, Pui-King; Wang, Menghua; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

To understand climatic implications of aerosols over global oceans, the aerosol optical properties retrieved from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) are analyzed, and the effects of the aerosols on the Earth's radiation budgets (aerosol radiative forcing, ARF) are computed using a radiative transfer model. It is found that the distribution of the SeaWiFS-retrieved aerosol optical thickness is distinctively zonal. The maximum in the equatorial region coincides with the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and the maximum in the Southern Hemispheric high latitudes coincides with the region of prevailing westerlies. The minimum aerosol optical thickness is found in the subtropical high pressure regions, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. These zonal patterns clearly demonstrate the influence of atmospheric circulation on the oceanic aerosol distribution. Over global oceans, aerosols reduce the annual mean net downward solar flux by 5.4 W m-2 at the top of the atmosphere and by 6.1 W m-2 at the surface. The largest ARF is found in the tropical Atlantic, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, the coastal regions of Southeast and East Asia, and the Southern Hemispheric high latitudes. During the period of the Indonesian big fires (September-December 1997), the cooling due to aerosols is greater than 15 W m-2 at the top of the atmosphere and greater than 30 W m(exp -1) at the surface in the vicinity of the maritime continents. The atmosphere receives extra solar radiation by greater than 15 W m(exp -1) over a large area. These large changes in radiative fluxes are expected to have enhanced the atmospheric stability, weakened the atmospheric circulation, and augmented the drought condition during that period. It would be very instructive to simulate the regional climatic. The model-calculated clear sky solar flux at the top of the atmosphere is compared with that derived from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES). The net downward solar flux of

Landscape fires dominate terrestrial natural aerosol - climate feedbacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, C.; Arnold, S.; Monks, S. A.; Asmi, A.; Paasonen, P.; Spracklen, D. V.

2017-12-01

The terrestrial biosphere is an important source of natural aerosol including landscape fire emissions and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed from biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). Atmospheric aerosol alters the Earth's climate by absorbing and scattering radiation (direct radiative effect; DRE) and by perturbing the properties of clouds (aerosol indirect effect; AIE). Natural aerosol sources are strongly controlled by, and can influence, climate; giving rise to potential natural aerosol-climate feedbacks. Earth System Models (ESMs) include a description of some of these natural aerosol-climate feedbacks, predicting substantial changes in natural aerosol over the coming century with associated radiative perturbations. Despite this, the sensitivity of natural aerosols simulated by ESMs to changes in climate or emissions has not been robustly tested against observations. Here we combine long-term observations of aerosol number and a global aerosol microphysics model to assess terrestrial natural aerosol-climate feedbacks. We find a strong positive relationship between the summertime anomaly in observed concentration of particles greater than 100 nm diameter and the anomaly in local air temperature. This relationship is reproduced by the model and driven by variability in dynamics and meteorology, as well as natural sources of aerosol. We use an offline radiative transfer model to determine radiative effects due to changes in two natural aerosol sources: landscape fire and biogenic SOA. We find that interannual variability in the simulated global natural aerosol radiative effect (RE) is negatively related to the global temperature anomaly. The magnitude of global aerosol-climate feedback (sum of DRE and AIE) is estimated to be -0.15 Wm-2 K-1 for landscape fire aerosol and -0.06 Wm-2 K-1 for biogenic SOA. These feedbacks are comparable in magnitude, but opposite in sign to the snow albedo feedback, highlighting the need for natural aerosol feedbacks to

An Investigation of the Radiative Effects and Climate Feedbacks of Sea Ice Sources of Sea Salt Aerosol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horowitz, H. M.; Alexander, B.; Bitz, C. M.; Jaegle, L.; Burrows, S. M.

2017-12-01

In polar regions, sea ice is a major source of sea salt aerosol through lofting of saline frost flowers or blowing saline snow from the sea ice surface. Under continued climate warming, an ice-free Arctic in summer with only first-year, more saline sea ice in winter is likely. Previous work has focused on climate impacts in summer from increasing open ocean sea salt aerosol emissions following complete sea ice loss in the Arctic, with conflicting results suggesting no net radiative effect or a negative climate feedback resulting from a strong first aerosol indirect effect. However, the radiative forcing from changes to the sea ice sources of sea salt aerosol in a future, warmer climate has not previously been explored. Understanding how sea ice loss affects the Arctic climate system requires investigating both open-ocean and sea ice sources of sea-salt aerosol and their potential interactions. Here, we implement a blowing snow source of sea salt aerosol into the Community Earth System Model (CESM) dynamically coupled to the latest version of the Los Alamos sea ice model (CICE5). Snow salinity is a key parameter affecting blowing snow sea salt emissions and previous work has assumed constant regional snow salinity over sea ice. We develop a parameterization for dynamic snow salinity in the sea ice model and examine how its spatial and temporal variability impacts the production of sea salt from blowing snow. We evaluate and constrain the snow salinity parameterization using available observations. Present-day coupled CESM-CICE5 simulations of sea salt aerosol concentrations including sea ice sources are evaluated against in situ and satellite (CALIOP) observations in polar regions. We then quantify the present-day radiative forcing from the addition of blowing snow sea salt aerosol with respect to aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions. The relative contributions of sea ice vs. open ocean sources of sea salt aerosol to radiative forcing in polar regions is

Improved attribution of climate forcing to emissions by pollutant and sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shindell, D. T.

2009-12-01

Evaluating multi-component climate change mitigation strategies requires knowledge of the diverse direct and indirect effects of emissions. Methane, ozone and aerosols are linked through atmospheric chemistry so that emissions of a single pollutant can affect several species. I will show new calculations of atmospheric composition changes, radiative forcing, and the global warming potential (GWP) for increased emissions of tropospheric ozone and aerosol precursors in a coupled composition-climate model. The results demonstrate that gas-aerosol interactions substantially alter the relative importance of the various emissions, suggesting revisions to the GWPs used in international carbon trading. Additionally, I will present results showing how the net climate impact of particular activities depends strongly upon non-CO2 forcing agents for some sectors. These results will be highlighted by discussing the interplay between air quality emissions controls and climate for the case of emissions from coal-fired power plants. The changing balance between CO2 and air quality pollutants from coal plants may have contributed to the 20th century spatial and temporal patterns of climate change, and is likely to continue to do so as more and more plants are constructed in Asia.

Vertical microphysical profiles of convective clouds as a tool for obtaining aerosol cloud-mediated climate forcings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rosenfeld, Daniel

Quantifying the aerosol/cloud-mediated radiative effect at a global scale requires simultaneous satellite retrievals of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and cloud base updraft velocities (Wb). Hitherto, the inability to do so has been a major cause of high uncertainty regarding anthropogenic aerosol/cloud-mediated radiative forcing. This can be addressed by the emerging capability of estimating CCN and Wb of boundary layer convective clouds from an operational polar orbiting weather satellite. Our methodology uses such clouds as an effective analog for CCN chambers. The cloud base supersaturation (S) is determined by Wb and the satellite-retrieved cloud base drop concentrations (Ndb), which ismore » the same as CCN(S). Developing and validating this methodology was possible thanks to the ASR/ARM measurements of CCN and vertical updraft profiles. Validation against ground-based CCN instruments at the ARM sites in Oklahoma, Manaus, and onboard a ship in the northeast Pacific showed a retrieval accuracy of ±25% to ±30% for individual satellite overpasses. The methodology is presently limited to boundary layer not raining convective clouds of at least 1 km depth that are not obscured by upper layer clouds, including semitransparent cirrus. The limitation for small solar backscattering angles of <25º restricts the satellite coverage to ~25% of the world area in a single day. This methodology will likely allow overcoming the challenge of quantifying the aerosol indirect effect and facilitate a substantial reduction of the uncertainty in anthropogenic climate forcing.« less

Aerosol as a player in the Arctic Amplification - an aerosol-climate model evaluation study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schacht, Jacob; Heinold, Bernd; Tegen, Ina

2017-04-01

Climate warming is much more pronounced in the Arctic than in any other region on Earth - a phenomenon referred to as the "Arctic Amplification". This is closely related to a variety of specific feedback mechanisms, which relative importance, however, is not yet sufficiently understood. The local changes in the Arctic climate are far-reaching and affect for example the general atmospheric circulation and global energy transport. Aerosol particles from long-range transport and local sources play an important role in the Arctic system by modulating the energy balance (directly by interaction with solar and thermal infrared radiation and indirectly by changing cloud properties and atmospheric dynamics). The main source regions of anthropogenic aerosol are Europe and East Asia, but also local shipping and oil/gas extraction may contribute significantly. In addition, important sources are widespread, mainly natural boreal forest fires. Most of the European aerosol is transported through the lower atmospheric layers in wintertime. The Asian aerosol is transported through higher altitudes. Because of the usually pristine conditions in the Arctic even small absolute changes in aerosol concentration can have large impacts on the Arctic climate. Using global and Arctic-focused model simulations, we aim at investigating the sources and transport pathways of natural and anthropogenic aerosol to the Arctic region, as well as their impact on radiation and clouds. Here, we present first results from an aerosol-climate model evaluation study. Simulations were performed with the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM6-HAM2, using three different state-of-the-art emission inventories (ACCMIP, ACCMIP + GFAS emissions for wildfires and ECLIPSE). The runs were performed in nudged mode at T63 horizontal resolution (approximately 1.8°) with 47 vertical levels for the 10-year period 2006-2015. Black carbon (BC) and sulphate (SO4) are of particular interest. BC is highly absorbing in the

Towards a Global Aerosol Climatology: Preliminary Trends in Tropospheric Aerosol Amounts and Corresponding Impact on Radiative Forcing between 1950 and 1990

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tegen, Ina; Koch, Dorothy; Lacis, Andrew A.; Sato, Makiko

1999-01-01

A global aerosol climatology is needed in the study of decadal temperature change due to natural and anthropogenic forcing of global climate change. A preliminary aerosol climatology has been developed from global transport models for a mixture of sulfate and carbonaceous aerosols from fossil fuel burning, including also contributions from other major aerosol types such as soil dust and sea salt. The aerosol distributions change for the period of 1950 to 1990 due to changes in emissions of SO2 and carbon particles from fossil fuel burning. The optical thickness of fossil fuel derived aerosols increased by nearly a factor of 3 during this period, with particularly strong increase in eastern Asia over the whole time period. In countries where environmental laws came into effect since the early 1980s (e.g. US and western Europe), emissions and consequently aerosol optical thicknesses did not increase considerably after 1980, resulting in a shift in the global distribution pattern over this period. In addition to the optical thickness, aerosol single scattering albedos may have changed during this period due to different trends in absorbing black carbon and reflecting sulfate aerosols. However, due to the uncertainties in the emission trends, this change cannot be determined with any confidence. Radiative forcing of this aerosol distribution is calculated for several scenarios, resulting in a wide range of uncertainties for top-of-atmosphere (TOA) forcings. Uncertainties in the contribution of the strongly absorbing black carbon aerosol leads to a range in TOA forcings of ca. -0.5 to + 0.1 Wm (exp. -2), while the change in aerosol distributions between 1950 to 1990 leads to a change of -0.1 to -0.3 Wm (exp. -2), for fossil fuel derived aerosol with a "moderate" contribution of black carbon aerosol.

Aerosol Climate Effects: Local Radiative Forcing and Column Closure Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, P. B.; Bergstrom, Robert W.; Kinne, S. A.

2000-01-01

In an effort to reduce uncertainties in climate change predictions, experiments are being planned and conducted to measure anthropogenic aerosol properties and effects, including effects on radiative fields. The global average, direct anthropogenic aerosol effect on upwelling shortwave fluxes is estimated to be about +1/2 W/sq m, whereas errors in flux changes measured with airborne and spaceborne radiometers are 2 to 8 W/sq m or larger. This poses the question of whether flux changes expected in field experiments will be large enough to measure accurately. This paper obtains a new expression for the aerosol-induced change in upwelling flux, compares it to two-stream and adding-doubling (AD) results, and uses all three methods to estimate expected flux changes. The new expression accounts for the solar zenith angle dependences of aerosol transmission and reflection, as well as of surface albedo, all of which can have a strong effect in determining flux changes measured in field experiments. Despite its relative simplicity, the new expression gives results similar to previous two-stream results. Relative to AD results, it agrees within a few watts per square meter for the intermediate solar elevation angles where the flux changes peak (roughly 10 to 30 degrees), but it has negative errors for higher Sun and positive errors for lower Sun. All three techniques yield aerosol-induced changes in upwelling flux of +8 to +50 W/sq m for aerosol midvisible optical depths of 0.1 to 0.5. Because such aerosol optical depths occur frequently off the U.S. and European Atlantic coasts in summer, the flux changes they induce should be measurable by airborne, and possibly by spaceborne, radiometers, provided sufficient care is taken in experiment design (including measurements to separate aerosol radiative effects from those of absorbing gases). The expected flux changes are about 15 to 100 times larger than the global average flux change expected for the global average

Global Radiative Forcing of Coupled Tropospheric Ozone and Aerosols in a Unified General Circulation Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liao, Hong; Seinfeld, John H.; Adams, Peter J.; Mickley, Loretta J.

2008-01-01

Global simulations of sea salt and mineral dust aerosols are integrated into a previously developed unified general circulation model (GCM), the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) GCM II', that simulates coupled tropospheric ozone-NOx-hydrocarbon chemistry and sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, black carbon, primary organic carbon, and secondary organic carbon aerosols. The fully coupled gas-aerosol unified GCM allows one to evaluate the extent to which global burdens, radiative forcing, and eventually climate feedbacks of ozone and aerosols are influenced by gas-aerosol chemical interactions. Estimated present-day global burdens of sea salt and mineral dust are 6.93 and 18.1 Tg with lifetimes of 0.4 and 3.9 days, respectively. The GCM is applied to estimate current top of atmosphere (TOA) and surface radiative forcing by tropospheric ozone and all natural and anthropogenic aerosol components. The global annual mean value of the radiative forcing by tropospheric ozone is estimated to be +0.53 W m(sup -2) at TOA and +0.07 W m(sup -2) at the Earth's surface. Global, annual average TOA and surface radiative forcing by all aerosols are estimated as -0.72 and -4.04 W m(sup -2), respectively. While the predicted highest aerosol cooling and heating at TOA are -10 and +12 W m(sup -2) respectively, surface forcing can reach values as high as -30 W m(sup -2), mainly caused by the absorption by black carbon, mineral dust, and OC. We also estimate the effects of chemistry-aerosol coupling on forcing estimates based on currently available understanding of heterogeneous reactions on aerosols. Through altering the burdens of sulfate, nitrate, and ozone, heterogeneous reactions are predicted to change the global mean TOA forcing of aerosols by 17% and influence global mean TOA forcing of tropospheric ozone by 15%.

The Impact of Desert Dust Aerosol Radiative Forcing on Global and West African Precipitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, A.; Zaitchik, B. F.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Dezfuli, A. K.

2015-12-01

Desert dust aerosols exert a radiative forcing on the atmosphere, influencing atmospheric temperature structure and modifying radiative fluxes at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and surface. As dust aerosols perturb radiative fluxes, the atmosphere responds by altering both energy and moisture dynamics, with potentially significant impacts on regional and global precipitation. Global Climate Model (GCM) experiments designed to characterize these processes have yielded a wide range of results, owing to both the complex nature of the system and diverse differences across models. Most model results show a general decrease in global precipitation, but regional results vary. Here, we compare simulations from GFDL's CM2Mc GCM with multiple other model experiments from the literature in order to investigate mechanisms of radiative impact and reasons for GCM differences on a global and regional scale. We focus on West Africa, a region of high interannual rainfall variability that is a source of dust and that neighbors major Sahara Desert dust sources. As such, changes in West African climate due to radiative forcing of desert dust aerosol have serious implications for desertification feedbacks. Our CM2Mc results show net cooling of the planet at TOA and surface, net warming of the atmosphere, and significant increases in precipitation over West Africa during the summer rainy season. These results differ from some previous GCM studies, prompting comparative analysis of desert dust parameters across models. This presentation will offer quantitative analysis of differences in dust aerosol parameters, aerosol optical properties, and overall particle burden across GCMs, and will characterize the contribution of model differences to the uncertainty of forcing and climate response affecting West Africa.

Complex Coupling of Air Quality and Climate-Relevant Aerosols in a Chemistry-Aerosol Microphysics Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshioka, M.; Carslaw, K. S.; Reddington, C.; Mann, G.

2013-12-01

Controlling emissions of aerosols and their precursors to improve air quality will impact the climate through direct and indirect radiative forcing. We have investigated the impacts of changes in a range of aerosol and gas-phase emission fluxes and changes in temperature on air quality and climate change metrics using a global aerosol microphysics and chemistry model, GLOMAP. We investigate how the responses of PM2.5 and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are coupled, and how attempts to improve air quality could have inadvertent effects on CCN, clouds and climate. The parameter perturbations considered are a 5°C increase in global temperature, increased or decreased precursor emissions of anthropogenic SO2, NH3, and NOx, and biogenic monoterpenes, and increased or decreased primary emissions of organic and black carbon aerosols from wildfire, fossil fuel, and biofuel. To quantify the interactions, we define a new sensitivity metric in terms of the response of CCN divided by the response of PM in different regions. .Our results show that the coupled chemistry and aerosol processes cause complex responses that will make any co-benefit policy decision problematic. In particular, we show that reducing SO2 emissions effectively reduces surface-level PM2.5 over continental regions in summer when background PM2.5 is high, with a relatively small reduction in marine CCN (and hence indirect radiative cooling over ocean), which is beneficial for near-term climate. Reducing NOx emissions does not improve summertime air quality very effectively but leads to a relatively high reduction of marine CCN. Reducing NH3 emissions has moderate effects on both PM2.5 and CCN. These three species are strongly coupled chemically and microphysically and the effects of changing emissions of one species on mass and size distributions of aerosols are very complex and spatially and temporally variable. For example, reducing SO2 emissions leads to reductions in sulphate and ammonium mass

Aerosols implicated as a prime driver of twentieth-century North Atlantic climate variability.

PubMed

Booth, Ben B B; Dunstone, Nick J; Halloran, Paul R; Andrews, Timothy; Bellouin, Nicolas

2012-04-04

Systematic climate shifts have been linked to multidecadal variability in observed sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean. These links are extensive, influencing a range of climate processes such as hurricane activity and African Sahel and Amazonian droughts. The variability is distinct from historical global-mean temperature changes and is commonly attributed to natural ocean oscillations. A number of studies have provided evidence that aerosols can influence long-term changes in sea surface temperatures, but climate models have so far failed to reproduce these interactions and the role of aerosols in decadal variability remains unclear. Here we use a state-of-the-art Earth system climate model to show that aerosol emissions and periods of volcanic activity explain 76 per cent of the simulated multidecadal variance in detrended 1860-2005 North Atlantic sea surface temperatures. After 1950, simulated variability is within observational estimates; our estimates for 1910-1940 capture twice the warming of previous generation models but do not explain the entire observed trend. Other processes, such as ocean circulation, may also have contributed to variability in the early twentieth century. Mechanistically, we find that inclusion of aerosol-cloud microphysical effects, which were included in few previous multimodel ensembles, dominates the magnitude (80 per cent) and the spatial pattern of the total surface aerosol forcing in the North Atlantic. Our findings suggest that anthropogenic aerosol emissions influenced a range of societally important historical climate events such as peaks in hurricane activity and Sahel drought. Decadal-scale model predictions of regional Atlantic climate will probably be improved by incorporating aerosol-cloud microphysical interactions and estimates of future concentrations of aerosols, emissions of which are directly addressable by policy actions.

MODIS Observation of Aerosols over Southern Africa During SAFARI 2000: Data, Validation, and Estimation of Aerosol Radiative Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ichoku, Charles; Kaufman, Yoram; Remer, Lorraine; Chu, D. Allen; Mattoo, Shana; Tanre, Didier; Levy, Robert; Li, Rong-Rong; Kleidman, Richard; Lau, William K. M. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Aerosol properties, including optical thickness and size parameters, are retrieved operationally from the MODIS sensor onboard the Terra satellite launched on 18 December 1999. The predominant aerosol type over the Southern African region is smoke, which is generated from biomass burning on land and transported over the southern Atlantic Ocean. The SAFARI-2000 period experienced smoke aerosol emissions from the regular biomass burning activities as well as from the prescribed burns administered on the auspices of the experiment. The MODIS Aerosol Science Team (MAST) formulates and implements strategies for the retrieval of aerosol products from MODIS, as well as for validating and analyzing them in order to estimate aerosol effects in the radiative forcing of climate as accurately as possible. These activities are carried out not only from a global perspective, but also with a focus on specific regions identified as having interesting characteristics, such as the biomass burning phenomenon in southern Africa and the associated smoke aerosol, particulate, and trace gas emissions. Indeed, the SAFARI-2000 aerosol measurements from the ground and from aircraft, along with MODIS, provide excellent data sources for a more intensive validation and a closer study of the aerosol characteristics over Southern Africa. The SAFARI-2000 ground-based measurements of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from both the automatic Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and handheld Sun photometers have been used to validate MODIS retrievals, based on a sophisticated spatio-temporal technique. The average global monthly distribution of aerosol from MODIS has been combined with other data to calculate the southern African aerosol daily averaged (24 hr) radiative forcing over the ocean for September 2000. It is estimated that on the average, for cloud free conditions over an area of 9 million square kin, this predominantly smoke aerosol exerts a forcing of -30 W/square m C lose to the terrestrial

Aerosol radiative forcing from GEO satellite data over land surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa, Maria J.; Silva, Ana M.

2005-10-01

Aerosols direct and indirect effects on the Earth's climate are widely recognized but have yet to be adequately quantified. Difficulties arise due to the very high spatial and temporal variability of aerosols, which is a major cause of uncertainties in radiative forcing studies. The effective monitoring of the global aerosol distribution is only made possible by satellite monitoring and this is the reason why the interest in aerosol observations from satellite passive radiometers is steadily increasing. From the point of view of the study of land surfaces, the atmosphere with its constituents represents an obscurant whose effects should be as much as possible eliminated, being this process sometimes referred to as atmospheric correction. In absence of clouds and using spectral intervals where gas absorption can be avoided to a great extent, only the aerosol effect remains to be corrected. The monitoring of the aerosol particles present in the atmosphere is then crucial to succeed in doing an accurate atmospheric correction, otherwise the surface properties may be inadequately characterised. However, the atmospheric correction over land surfaces turns out to be a difficult task since surface reflection competes with the atmospheric component of the signal. On the other hand, a single mean pre-established aerosol characterisation would not be sufficient for this purpose due to very high spatial and temporal variability of aerosols and their unpredictability, especially what concerns particulary intense "events" such as biomass burning and forest fires, desert dust episodes and volcanic eruptions. In this context, an operational methodology has been developed at the University of Evora - Evora Geophysics Centre (CGE), in the framework of the Satellite Application Facility for Land Surface Analysis - Land SAF, to derive an Aerosol Product from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) data, flying on the Geostationary (GEO) satellite system Meteosat-8

Interannual to decadal climate variability of sea salt aerosols in the coupled climate model CESM1.0: Climate variability of sea salt aerosols

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Li; Pierce, David W.; Russell, Lynn M.

This study examines multi-year climate variability associated with sea salt aerosols and their contribution to the variability of shortwave cloud forcing (SWCF) using a 150-year simulation for pre-industrial conditions of the Community Earth System Model version 1.0 (CESM1). The results suggest that changes in sea salt and related cloud and radiative properties on interannual timescales are dominated by the ENSO cycle. Sea salt variability on longer (interdecadal) timescales is associated with low-frequency Pacific ocean variability similar to the interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), but does not show a statistically significant spectral peak. A multivariate regression suggests that sea salt aerosol variabilitymore » may contribute to SWCF variability in the tropical Pacific, explaining up to 25-35% of the variance in that region. Elsewhere, there is only a small aerosol influence on SWCF through modifying cloud droplet number and liquid water path that contributes to the change of cloud effective radius and cloud optical depth (and hence cloud albedo), producing a multi-year aerosol-cloud-wind interaction.« less

Volcanic forcing for climate modeling: a new microphysics-based dataset covering years 1600-present

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arfeuille, F.; Weisenstein, D.; Mack, H.; Rozanov, E.; Peter, T.; Brönnimann, S.

2013-02-01

As the understanding and representation of the impacts of volcanic eruptions on climate have improved in the last decades, uncertainties in the stratospheric aerosol forcing from large eruptions are now not only linked to visible optical depth estimates on a global scale but also to details on the size, latitude and altitude distributions of the stratospheric aerosols. Based on our understanding of these uncertainties, we propose a new model-based approach to generating a volcanic forcing for General-Circulation-Model (GCM) and Chemistry-Climate-Model (CCM) simulations. This new volcanic forcing, covering the 1600-present period, uses an aerosol microphysical model to provide a realistic, physically consistent treatment of the stratospheric sulfate aerosols. Twenty-six eruptions were modeled individually using the latest available ice cores aerosol mass estimates and historical data on the latitude and date of eruptions. The evolution of aerosol spatial and size distribution after the sulfur dioxide discharge are hence characterized for each volcanic eruption. Large variations are seen in hemispheric partitioning and size distributions in relation to location/date of eruptions and injected SO2 masses. Results for recent eruptions are in good agreement with observations. By providing accurate amplitude and spatial distributions of shortwave and longwave radiative perturbations by volcanic sulfate aerosols, we argue that this volcanic forcing may help refine the climate model responses to the large volcanic eruptions since 1600. The final dataset consists of 3-D values (with constant longitude) of spectrally resolved extinction coefficients, single scattering albedos and asymmetry factors calculated for different wavelength bands upon request. Surface area densities for heterogeneous chemistry are also provided.

Efficient Formation of Stratospheric Aerosol for Climate Engineering by Emission of Condensible Vapor from Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pierce, Jeffrey R.; Weisenstein, Debra K.; Heckendorn, Patricia; Peter. Thomas; Keith, David W.

2010-01-01

Recent analysis suggests that the effectiveness of stratospheric aerosol climate engineering through emission of non-condensable vapors such as SO2 is limited because the slow conversion to H2SO4 tends to produce aerosol particles that are too large; SO2 injection may be so inefficient that it is difficult to counteract the radiative forcing due to a CO2 doubling. Here we describe an alternate method in which aerosol is formed rapidly in the plume following injection of H2SO4, a condensable vapor, from an aircraft. This method gives better control of particle size and can produce larger radiative forcing with lower sulfur loadings than SO2 injection. Relative to SO2 injection, it may reduce some of the adverse effects of geoengineering such as radiative heating of the lower stratosphere. This method does not, however, alter the fact that such a geoengineered radiative forcing can, at best, only partially compensate for the climate changes produced by CO2.

Atmospheric Teleconnection over Eurasia Induced by Aerosol Radiative Forcing during Boreal Spring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Maeng-Ki; Lau, William K. M.; Chin, Mian; Kim, Kyu-Myong; Sud, Y. C.; Walker, Greg K.

2006-01-01

The direct effects of aerosols on global and regional climate during boreal spring are investigated based on numerical simulations with the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office finite-volume general circulation model (fvGCM) with Microphyics of Clouds with the Relaxed Arakawa Schubert Scheme (McRAS), using aerosol forcing functions derived from the Goddard Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport model (GOCART). The authors find that anomalous atmospheric heat sources induced by absorbing aerosols (dust and black carbon) excite a planetary-scale teleconnection pattern in sea level pressure, temperature, and geopotential height spanning North Africa through Eurasia to the North Pacific. Surface cooling due to direct effects of aerosols is found in the vicinity and downstream of the aerosol source regions, that is, South Asia, East Asia, and northern and western Africa. Significant atmospheric heating is found in regions with large loading of dust (over northern Africa and the Middle East) and black carbon (over Southeast Asia). Paradoxically, the most pronounced feature in aerosol-induced surface temperature is an east west dipole anomaly with strong cooling over the Caspian Sea and warming over central and northeastern Asia, where aerosol concentrations are low. Analyses of circulation anomalies show that the dipole anomaly is a part of an atmospheric teleconnection pattern driven by atmospheric heating anomalies induced by absorbing aerosols in the source regions, but the influence was conveyed globally through barotropic energy dispersion and sustained by feedback processes associated with the regional circulations. The surface temperature signature associated with the aerosol-induced teleconnection bears striking resemblance to the spatial pattern of observed long-term trend in surface temperature over Eurasia. Additionally, the boreal spring wave train pattern is similar to that reported by Fukutomi et al. associated with the boreal summer

Reducing the Uncertainties in Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kahn, Ralph A.

2011-01-01

Airborne particles, which include desert and soil dust, wildfire smoke, sea salt, volcanic ash, black carbon, natural and anthropogenic sulfate, nitrate, and organic aerosol, affect Earth's climate, in part by reflecting and absorbing sunlight. This paper reviews current status, and evaluates future prospects for reducing the uncertainty aerosols contribute to the energy budget of Earth, which at present represents a leading factor limiting the quality of climate predictions. Information from satellites is critical for this work, because they provide frequent, global coverage of the diverse and variable atmospheric aerosol load. Both aerosol amount and type must be determined. Satellites are very close to measuring aerosol amount at the level-of-accuracy needed, but aerosol type, especially how bright the airborne particles are, cannot be constrained adequately by current techniques. However, satellite instruments can map out aerosol air mass type, which is a qualitative classification rather than a quantitative measurement, and targeted suborbital measurements can provide the required particle property detail. So combining satellite and suborbital measurements, and then using this combination to constrain climate models, will produce a major advance in climate prediction.

Total Volcanic Stratospheric Aerosol Optical Depths and Implications for Global Climate Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ridley, D. A.; Solomon, S.; Barnes, J. E.; Burlakov, V. D.; Deshler, T.; Dolgii, S. I.; Herber, A. B.; Nagai, T.; Neely, R. R., III; Nevzorov, A. V.;

Substantial large-scale feedbacks between natural aerosols and climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, C. E.; Arnold, S. R.; Monks, S. A.; Asmi, A.; Paasonen, P.; Spracklen, D. V.

2018-01-01

The terrestrial biosphere is an important source of natural aerosol. Natural aerosol sources alter climate, but are also strongly controlled by climate, leading to the potential for natural aerosol-climate feedbacks. Here we use a global aerosol model to make an assessment of terrestrial natural aerosol-climate feedbacks, constrained by observations of aerosol number. We find that warmer-than-average temperatures are associated with higher-than-average number concentrations of large (>100 nm diameter) particles, particularly during the summer. This relationship is well reproduced by the model and is driven by both meteorological variability and variability in natural aerosol from biogenic and landscape fire sources. We find that the calculated extratropical annual mean aerosol radiative effect (both direct and indirect) is negatively related to the observed global temperature anomaly, and is driven by a positive relationship between temperature and the emission of natural aerosol. The extratropical aerosol-climate feedback is estimated to be -0.14 W m-2 K-1 for landscape fire aerosol, greater than the -0.03 W m-2 K-1 estimated for biogenic secondary organic aerosol. These feedbacks are comparable in magnitude to other biogeochemical feedbacks, highlighting the need for natural aerosol feedbacks to be included in climate simulations.

A Study of Direct and Cloud-Mediated Radiative Forcing of Climate Due to Aerosols

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Shao-Cai

1999-01-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that in the southeastern US and eastern China, the general greenhouse warming due to anthropogenic gaseous emissions is dominated by the cooling effect of anthropogenic aerosols. To verify this model prediction in eastern China and southeastern US, we analyzed regional patterns of climate changes at 72 stations in eastern China during 1951- 94 (44 years), and at 52 stations in the southeastern US during 1949-94 (46 years) to detect the fingerprint of aerosol radiative forcing. It was found that the mean rates of change of annual mean daily, maximum, minimum temperatures and diurnal temperature range (DTR) in eastern China were 0.8, -0.2, 1.8, and -2.0 C/100 years respectively, while the mean rates of change of annual mean daily, maximum, minimum temperatures and DTR in the southeastern US were -0.2, -0.6, 0.2, and -0.8 C/100 years, respectively. This indicates that the high rate of increase in annual mean minimum temperature in eastern China results in a slightly warming trend of daily temperature, while the high rate of decrease in annual mean maximum temperature and low rate of increase in annual mean minimum temperature lead to the cooling trend of daily temperature in the southeastern US. We found that the warming from the longwave forcing due to both greenhouse gases and aerosols was completely counteracted by the shortwave aerosol forcing in the southeastern US in the past 46 years. A slightly overall warming trend in eastern China is evident; winters have become milder. This finding is explained by hypothesizing that increasing energy usage during the past 44 years has resulted in more coal and biomass burning, thus increasing the emission of absorbing soot and organic aerosols in eastern China. Such emissions, in addition to well-known Asia dust and greenhouse gases, may be responsible for the winter warming trend in eastern China that we have reported here. The sensitivity of aerosol

First Evaluation of the CCAM Aerosol Simulation over Africa: Implications for Regional Climate Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horowitz, H.; Garland, R. M.; Thatcher, M. J.; Naidoo, M.; van der Merwe, J.; Landman, W.; Engelbrecht, F.

2015-12-01

An accurate representation of African aerosols in climate models is needed to understand the regional and global radiative forcing and climate impacts of aerosols, at present and under future climate change. However, aerosol simulations in regional climate models for Africa have not been well-tested. Africa contains the largest single source of biomass-burning smoke aerosols and dust globally. Although aerosols are short-lived relative to greenhouse gases, black carbon in particular is estimated to be second only to carbon dioxide in contributing to warming on a global scale. Moreover, Saharan dust is exported great distances over the Atlantic Ocean, affecting nutrient transport to regions like the Amazon rainforest, which can further impact climate. Biomass burning aerosols are also exported from Africa, westward from Angola over the Atlantic Ocean and off the southeastern coast of South Africa to the Indian Ocean. Here, we perform the first extensive quantitative evaluation of the Conformal-Cubic Atmospheric Model (CCAM) aerosol simulation against monitored data, focusing on aerosol optical depth (AOD) observations over Africa. We analyze historical regional simulations for 1999 - 2012 from CCAM consistent with the experimental design of CORDEX at 50 km global horizontal resolution, through the dynamical downscaling of ERA-Interim data reanalysis data, with the CMIP5 emissions inventory (RCP8.5 scenario). CCAM has a prognostic aerosol scheme for organic carbon, black carbon, sulfate, and dust, and non-prognostic sea salt. The CCAM AOD at 550nm was compared to AOD (observed at 440nm, adjusted to 550nm with the Ångström exponent) from long-term AERONET stations across Africa. Sites strongly impacted by dust and biomass burning and with long continuous records were prioritized. In general, the model captures the monthly trends of the AERONET data. This presentation provides a basis for understanding how well aerosol particles are represented over Africa in

Easy Volcanic Aerosol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toohey, Matthew; Stevens, Bjorn; Schmidt, Hauke; Timmreck, Claudia

2016-04-01

Radiative forcing by stratospheric sulfate aerosol of volcanic origin is one of the strongest drivers of natural climate variability. Transient model simulations attempting to match observed climate variability, such as the CMIP historical simulations, rely on volcanic forcing reconstructions based on observations of a small sample of recent eruptions and coarse proxy data for eruptions before the satellite era. Volcanic forcing data sets used in CMIP5 were provided either in terms of optical properties, or in terms of sulfate aerosol mass, leading to significant inter-model spread in the actual volcanic radiative forcing produced by models and in their resulting climate responses. It remains therefore unclear to what degree inter-model spread in response to volcanic forcing represents model differences or variations in the forcing. In order to isolate model differences, Easy Volcanic Aerosol (EVA) provides an analytic representation of volcanic stratospheric aerosol forcing, based on available observations and aerosol model results, prescribing the aerosol's radiative properties and primary modes of spatial and temporal variability. In contrast to regriddings of observational data, EVA allows for the production of physically consistent forcing for historic and hypothetical eruptions of varying magnitude, source latitude, and season. Within CMIP6, EVA will be used to reconstruct volcanic forcing over the past 2000 years for use in the Paleo-Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP), and will provide forcing sets for VolMIP experiments aiming to quantify model uncertainty in the response to volcanic forcing. Here, the functional form of EVA will be introduced, along with illustrative examples including the EVA-based reconstruction of volcanic forcing over the historical period, and that of the 1815 Tambora eruption.

A 10-year climatology of pollen aerosol for the continental United States: implications for aerosol-climate interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wozniak, M. C.

2016-12-01

Our current understanding of biological particles and their role in the climate system is uncertain. Pollen, a primary biological aerosol particle, has been understudied in the context of climate and atmospheric science because of its coarse size (10-100 µm). Local coarse grain pollen concentrations can reach up to 10,000 grains m-3, and when ruptured by wet or turbulent atmospheric conditions, can produce fine particles (sub-pollen particles, 10-1000 nm) that may increase pollen's lifetime in the atmosphere. Therefore, pollen contributes to both coarse and fine particle loads in the atmosphere that may have climatic impacts. During peak pollen emissions season, what impacts does pollen have on aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere and their indirect forcing? Here we use a model of accurately timed and scaled pollen and sub-pollen particle emissions with climate-dependent phenological dates for four plant functional types (deciduous broadleaf, evergreen needleleaf, grass and ragweed) that dominate emissions across the continental United States. Terrestrial pollen emissions are coupled with the land component of a regional climate model (RegCM4-CLM), and are transported as atmospheric tracers that are allowed interact with radiation and clouds, accounting for the direct and indirect effects of pollen. A ten-year climatology of pollen emissions and climate interactions is calculated for both pollen grains and sub-pollen particles. Its implications for the local and overall radiation budget, aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions and regional climate are discussed.

Assessing the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on Pacific storm track using a multiscale global climate model.

PubMed

Wang, Yuan; Wang, Minghuai; Zhang, Renyi; Ghan, Steven J; Lin, Yun; Hu, Jiaxi; Pan, Bowen; Levy, Misti; Jiang, Jonathan H; Molina, Mario J

2014-05-13

Atmospheric aerosols affect weather and global general circulation by modifying cloud and precipitation processes, but the magnitude of cloud adjustment by aerosols remains poorly quantified and represents the largest uncertainty in estimated forcing of climate change. Here we assess the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on the Pacific storm track, using a multiscale global aerosol-climate model (GCM). Simulations of two aerosol scenarios corresponding to the present day and preindustrial conditions reveal long-range transport of anthropogenic aerosols across the north Pacific and large resulting changes in the aerosol optical depth, cloud droplet number concentration, and cloud and ice water paths. Shortwave and longwave cloud radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere are changed by -2.5 and +1.3 W m(-2), respectively, by emission changes from preindustrial to present day, and an increased cloud top height indicates invigorated midlatitude cyclones. The overall increased precipitation and poleward heat transport reflect intensification of the Pacific storm track by anthropogenic aerosols. Hence, this work provides, for the first time to the authors' knowledge, a global perspective of the effects of Asian pollution outflows from GCMs. Furthermore, our results suggest that the multiscale modeling framework is essential in producing the aerosol invigoration effect of deep convective clouds on a global scale.

Carbonaceous aerosols and Impacts on regional climate over South Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pathak, B.; Parottil, A.

2017-12-01

A comprehensive assessment on the effects of carbonaceous aerosols over regional climate of South Asia CORDEX Domain is carried out using the ICTP developed Regional climate model version 4 (RegCM 4.4). Five different simulations considering (a) Carbonaceous aerosols with feedback to meteorological field (EXP1), (b) Carbonaceous aerosols without feedback to meteorological field (c) only Black Carbon with feed back to meteorological field (EXP3) and (d) only Black Carbon without feed back to meteorological field (EXP4) and only meteorology simulation (CNTL) are performed. All the five experiments are integrated from 01 January 2008 to 01 January 2012 continuously with a horizontal resolution of 50 km with first one year as spin up time. The simulated meteorology for all the simulations is validated by comparing with observations. The influence of carbonaceous aerosols on Direct Radiative Forcing (DRF) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and within the atmosphere (ATM) over the South Asian region with focus on Indian subcontinent is carried out. The contribution of black carbon to the total DRF and its significance is analyzed. Modulation in precipitation and temperature with the aerosol-climate feedback is studied by comparing the meteorological parameters in CNTL with CARB/BC with and without feedback simulations. In general, black carbon is found to reduce the precipitation, wind over the region more strongly than total carbonaceous aerosols. Role of black carbon in warming the surface is investigated by comparing the RegCM simulation considering both biomass burning and anthropogenic emissions with simulations considering only anthropogenic simulations.

Radiative forcing by light-absorbing aerosols of pyrogenetic iron oxides.

PubMed

Ito, Akinori; Lin, Guangxing; Penner, Joyce E

2018-05-09

Iron (Fe) oxides in aerosols are known to absorb sun light and heat the atmosphere. However, the radiative forcing (RF) of light-absorbing aerosols of pyrogenetic Fe oxides is ignored in climate models. For the first time, we use a global chemical transport model and a radiative transfer model to estimate the RF by light-absorbing aerosols of pyrogenetic Fe oxides. The model results suggest that strongly absorbing Fe oxides (magnetite) contribute a RF that is about 10% of the RF due to black carbon (BC) over East Asia. The seasonal average of the RF due to dark Fe-rich mineral particles over East Asia (0.4-1.0 W m -2 ) is comparable to that over major biomass burning regions. This additional warming effect is amplified over polluted regions where the iron and steel industries have been recently developed. These findings may have important implications for the projection of the climate change, due to the rapid growth in energy consumption of the heavy industry in newly developing countries.

Boreal forests, aerosols and the impacts on clouds and climate.

PubMed

Spracklen, Dominick V; Bonn, Boris; Carslaw, Kenneth S

2008-12-28

Previous studies have concluded that boreal forests warm the climate because the cooling from storage of carbon in vegetation and soils is cancelled out by the warming due to the absorption of the Sun's heat by the dark forest canopy. However, these studies ignored the impacts of forests on atmospheric aerosol. We use a global atmospheric model to show that, through emission of organic vapours and the resulting condensational growth of newly formed particles, boreal forests double regional cloud condensation nuclei concentrations (from approx. 100 to approx. 200 cm(-3)). Using a simple radiative model, we estimate that the resulting change in cloud albedo causes a radiative forcing of between -1.8 and -6.7 W m(-2) of forest. This forcing may be sufficiently large to result in boreal forests having an overall cooling impact on climate. We propose that the combination of climate forcings related to boreal forests may result in an important global homeostasis. In cold climatic conditions, the snow-vegetation albedo effect dominates and boreal forests warm the climate, whereas in warmer climates they may emit sufficiently large amounts of organic vapour modifying cloud albedo and acting to cool climate.

Coupled Aerosol-Chemistry-Climate Twentieth-Century Transient Model Investigation: Trends in Short-Lived Species and Climate Responses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koch, Dorothy; Bauer, Susanne E.; Del Genio, Anthony; Faluvegi, Greg; McConnell, Joseph R.; Menon, Surabi; Miller, Ronald L.; Rind, David; Ruedy, Reto; Schmidt, Gavin A.;

Improving our fundamental understanding of the role of aerosol-cloud interactions in the climate system.

PubMed

Seinfeld, John H; Bretherton, Christopher; Carslaw, Kenneth S; Coe, Hugh; DeMott, Paul J; Dunlea, Edward J; Feingold, Graham; Ghan, Steven; Guenther, Alex B; Kahn, Ralph; Kraucunas, Ian; Kreidenweis, Sonia M; Molina, Mario J; Nenes, Athanasios; Penner, Joyce E; Prather, Kimberly A; Ramanathan, V; Ramaswamy, Venkatachalam; Rasch, Philip J; Ravishankara, A R; Rosenfeld, Daniel; Stephens, Graeme; Wood, Robert

2016-05-24

The effect of an increase in atmospheric aerosol concentrations on the distribution and radiative properties of Earth's clouds is the most uncertain component of the overall global radiative forcing from preindustrial time. General circulation models (GCMs) are the tool for predicting future climate, but the treatment of aerosols, clouds, and aerosol-cloud radiative effects carries large uncertainties that directly affect GCM predictions, such as climate sensitivity. Predictions are hampered by the large range of scales of interaction between various components that need to be captured. Observation systems (remote sensing, in situ) are increasingly being used to constrain predictions, but significant challenges exist, to some extent because of the large range of scales and the fact that the various measuring systems tend to address different scales. Fine-scale models represent clouds, aerosols, and aerosol-cloud interactions with high fidelity but do not include interactions with the larger scale and are therefore limited from a climatic point of view. We suggest strategies for improving estimates of aerosol-cloud relationships in climate models, for new remote sensing and in situ measurements, and for quantifying and reducing model uncertainty.

Improving Our Fundamental Understanding of the Role of Aerosol Cloud Interactions in the Climate System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seinfeld, John H.; Bretherton, Christopher; Carslaw, Kenneth S.; Coe, Hugh; DeMott, Paul J.; Dunlea, Edward J.; Feingold, Graham; Ghan, Steven; Guenther, Alex B.; Kahn, Ralph;

Improving our fundamental understanding of the role of aerosol-cloud interactions in the climate system

DOE PAGES

Seinfeld, John H.; Bretherton, Christopher; Carslaw, Kenneth S.; ...

2016-05-24

The effect of an increase in atmospheric aerosol concentrations on the distribution and radiative properties of Earth’s clouds is the most uncertain component of the overall global radiative forcing from pre-industrial time. General Circulation Models (GCMs) are the tool for predicting future climate, but the treatment of aerosols, clouds, and aerosol-cloud radiative effects carries large uncertainties that directly affect GCM predictions, such as climate sensitivity. Predictions are hampered by the large range of scales of interaction between various components that need to be captured. Observation systems (remote sensing, in situ) are increasingly being used to constrain predictions but significant challengesmore » exist, to some extent because of the large range of scales and the fact that the various measuring systems tend to address different scales. Fine-scale models represent clouds, aerosols, and aerosol-cloud interactions with high fidelity but do not include interactions with the larger scale and are therefore limited from a climatic point of view. Lastly, we suggest strategies for improving estimates of aerosol-cloud relationships in climate models, for new remote sensing and in situ measurements, and for quantifying and reducing model uncertainty.« less

The Climate Response to Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Can Be Tailored Using Multiple Injection Locations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacMartin, Douglas G.; Kravitz, Ben; Tilmes, Simone; Richter, Jadwiga H.; Mills, Michael J.; Lamarque, Jean-Francois; Tribbia, Joseph J.; Vitt, Francis

2017-12-01

By injecting different amounts of SO2 at multiple different latitudes, the spatial pattern of aerosol optical depth (AOD) can be partially controlled. This leads to the ability to influence the climate response to geoengineering with stratospheric aerosols, providing the potential for design. We use simulations from the fully coupled whole-atmosphere chemistry climate model CESM1(WACCM) to demonstrate that by appropriately combining injection at just four different locations, 30°S, 15°S, 15°N, and 30°N, then three spatial degrees of freedom of AOD can be achieved: an approximately spatially uniform AOD distribution, the relative difference in AOD between Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and the relative AOD in high versus low latitudes. For forcing levels that yield 1-2°C cooling, the AOD and surface temperature response are sufficiently linear in this model so that the response to different combinations of injection at different latitudes can be estimated from single-latitude injection simulations; nonlinearities associated with both aerosol growth and changes to stratospheric circulation will be increasingly important at higher forcing levels. Optimized injection at multiple locations is predicted to improve compensation of CO2-forced climate change relative to a case using only equatorial aerosol injection (which overcools the tropics relative to high latitudes). The additional degrees of freedom can be used, for example, to balance the interhemispheric temperature gradient and the equator to pole temperature gradient in addition to the global mean temperature. Further research is needed to better quantify the impacts of these strategies on changes to long-term temperature, precipitation, and other climate parameters.

The economics and ethics of aerosol geoengineering strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goes, Marlos; Keller, Klaus; Tuana, Nancy

2010-05-01

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are changing the Earth's climate and impose substantial risks for current and future generations. What are scientifically sound, economically viable, and ethically defendable strategies to manage these climate risks? Ratified international agreements call for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Recent proposals, however, call for a different approach: geoengineering climate by injecting aerosol precursors into the stratosphere. Published economic studies typically neglect the risks of aerosol geoengineering due to (i) a potential failure to sustain the aerosol forcing and (ii) due to potential negative impacts associated with aerosol forcings. Here we use a simple integrated assessment model of climate change to analyze potential economic impacts of aerosol geoengineering strategies over a wide range of uncertain parameters such as climate sensitivity, the economic damages due to climate change, and the economic damages due to aerosol geoengineering forcings. The simplicity of the model provides the advantages of parsimony and transparency, but it also imposes considerable caveats. For example, the analysis is based on a globally aggregated model and is hence silent on intragenerational distribution of costs and benefits. In addition, the analysis neglects the effects of future learning and is based on a simple representation of climate change impacts. We use this integrated assessment model to show three main points. First, substituting aerosol geoengineering for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can fail the test of economic efficiency. One key to this finding is that a failure to sustain the aerosol forcing can lead to sizeable and abrupt climatic changes. The monetary damages due to such a discontinuous aerosol geoengineering can dominate the cost-benefit analysis because the monetary damages of climate change are expected to increase with

Volcanic forcing for climate modeling: a new microphysics-based data set covering years 1600-present

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arfeuille, F.; Weisenstein, D.; Mack, H.; Rozanov, E.; Peter, T.; Brönnimann, S.

2014-02-01

As the understanding and representation of the impacts of volcanic eruptions on climate have improved in the last decades, uncertainties in the stratospheric aerosol forcing from large eruptions are now linked not only to visible optical depth estimates on a global scale but also to details on the size, latitude and altitude distributions of the stratospheric aerosols. Based on our understanding of these uncertainties, we propose a new model-based approach to generating a volcanic forcing for general circulation model (GCM) and chemistry-climate model (CCM) simulations. This new volcanic forcing, covering the 1600-present period, uses an aerosol microphysical model to provide a realistic, physically consistent treatment of the stratospheric sulfate aerosols. Twenty-six eruptions were modeled individually using the latest available ice cores aerosol mass estimates and historical data on the latitude and date of eruptions. The evolution of aerosol spatial and size distribution after the sulfur dioxide discharge are hence characterized for each volcanic eruption. Large variations are seen in hemispheric partitioning and size distributions in relation to location/date of eruptions and injected SO2 masses. Results for recent eruptions show reasonable agreement with observations. By providing these new estimates of spatial distributions of shortwave and long-wave radiative perturbations, this volcanic forcing may help to better constrain the climate model responses to volcanic eruptions in the 1600-present period. The final data set consists of 3-D values (with constant longitude) of spectrally resolved extinction coefficients, single scattering albedos and asymmetry factors calculated for different wavelength bands upon request. Surface area densities for heterogeneous chemistry are also provided.

Carbonaceous Aerosol Removal During Precipitation Events: Climate Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaffney, J. S.; Marley, N. A.; Bridges, G. L.; Marchany-Rivera, A.; Begum, M.

2009-12-01

Atmospheric aerosols and their links to clouds are one of the main focus areas of the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Systems Research, due to the fact that aerosols and clouds constitute the major uncertainties in radiative forcing that need to be reduced for more accurate modeling of climate, particularly regional climate. The impact of absorbing aerosols on radiative balance of the atmosphere will depend on their atmospheric lifetimes as well as their UV-visible absorption profiles. Aerosol lifetimes depend on the aerosols ability to take up water and grow to sufficient size to be either removed by gravitational settling or to act as cloud condensation nuclei and be removed by precipitation scavenging. The investigation of uv-visible absorbing aerosols is underway using a seven-channel aethalometer to evaluate the change in aerosol optical absorption during precipitation events. Angstrom absorption exponents (AAEs) are determined before, during, and after rain events to examine the impact on the aerosol absorption profiles anticipated by removal of the water soluble short-wave absorbing species (i.e. HULIS) that can be produced by photochemical oxidation of biogenic emissions (isoprene, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes). Aerosol absorption data are presented from observations made at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and other sites, which clearly show that a significant amount of absorbing carbon is not removed during rain events, and that the organic matter removed is likely secondary organics produced from biogenic precursors. The dissolved organic carbon measured in precipitation samples along with determinations of natural radionuclide tracers are also used to help examine the extent of carbonaceous aerosol removal by precipitation. The data are discussed in terms of the potential impacts of anthropogenic enhancement of aerosol absorption by secondary organic aerosols adding to atmospheric heating and changes in atmospheric dynamics. The potential

Arctic climate response to geoengineering with stratospheric sulfate aerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCusker, K. E.; Battisti, D. S.; Bitz, C. M.

2010-12-01

Recent warming and record summer sea-ice area minimums have spurred expressions of concern for arctic ecosystems, permafrost, and polar bear populations, among other things. Geoengineering by stratospheric sulfate aerosol injections to deliberately cancel the anthropogenic temperature rise has been put forth as a possible solution to restoring Arctic (and global) climate to modern conditions. However, climate is particularly sensitive in the northern high latitudes, responding easily to radiative forcing changes. To that end, we explore the extent to which tropical injections of stratospheric sulfate aerosol can accomplish regional cancellation in the Arctic. We use the Community Climate System Model version 3 global climate model to execute simulations with combinations of doubled CO2 and imposed stratospheric sulfate burdens to investigate the effects on high latitude climate. We further explore the sensitivity of the polar climate to ocean dynamics by running a suite of simulations with and without ocean dynamics, transiently and to equilibrium respectively. We find that, although annual, global mean temperature cancellation is accomplished, there is over-cooling on land in Arctic summer, but residual warming in Arctic winter, which is largely due to atmospheric circulation changes. Furthermore, the spatial extent of these features and their concurrent impacts on sea-ice properties are modified by the inclusion of ocean dynamical feedbacks.

Assessing the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on Pacific storm track using a multiscale global climate model

PubMed Central

Wang, Yuan; Wang, Minghuai; Zhang, Renyi; Ghan, Steven J.; Lin, Yun; Hu, Jiaxi; Pan, Bowen; Levy, Misti; Jiang, Jonathan H.; Molina, Mario J.

2014-01-01

Atmospheric aerosols affect weather and global general circulation by modifying cloud and precipitation processes, but the magnitude of cloud adjustment by aerosols remains poorly quantified and represents the largest uncertainty in estimated forcing of climate change. Here we assess the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on the Pacific storm track, using a multiscale global aerosol–climate model (GCM). Simulations of two aerosol scenarios corresponding to the present day and preindustrial conditions reveal long-range transport of anthropogenic aerosols across the north Pacific and large resulting changes in the aerosol optical depth, cloud droplet number concentration, and cloud and ice water paths. Shortwave and longwave cloud radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere are changed by −2.5 and +1.3 W m−2, respectively, by emission changes from preindustrial to present day, and an increased cloud top height indicates invigorated midlatitude cyclones. The overall increased precipitation and poleward heat transport reflect intensification of the Pacific storm track by anthropogenic aerosols. Hence, this work provides, for the first time to the authors’ knowledge, a global perspective of the effects of Asian pollution outflows from GCMs. Furthermore, our results suggest that the multiscale modeling framework is essential in producing the aerosol invigoration effect of deep convective clouds on a global scale. PMID:24733923

The Climate Response to Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Can Be Tailored Using Multiple Injection Locations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MacMartin, Douglas G.; Kravitz, Ben; Tilmes, Simone

The climate response to geoengineering with stratospheric aerosols has the potential to be designed to achieve some chosen objectives. By injecting different amounts of SO2 at multiple different latitudes, the spatial pattern of aerosol optical depth (AOD) can be partially controlled. We use simulations from the fully-coupled whole-atmosphere chemistry-climate model CESM1(WACCM), to demonstrate that three spatial degrees of freedom of AOD can be achieved by appropriately combining injection at different locations: an approximately spatially-uniform AOD distribution, the relative difference in AOD between Northern and Southern hemispheres, and the relative AOD in high versus low latitudes. For forcing levels that yieldmore » 1–2°C cooling, the AOD and surface temperature response are sufficiently linear in this model so that many climate effects can be predicted from single-latitude injection simulations. Optimized injection at multiple locations is predicted to improve compensation of CO2-forced climate change, relative to a case using only equatorial aerosol injection. The additional degrees of freedom can be used, for example, to balance interhemispheric temperature differences and the equator to pole temperature difference in addition to the global mean temperature; this is projected in this model to reduce the mean-square error in temperature compensation by 30%.« less

Radiative forcing of the desert aerosol at Ouarzazate (Morocco)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tahiri, Abdelouahid; Diouri, Mohamed

2018-05-01

The atmospheric aerosol contributes to the definition of the climate with direct effect, the diffusion and absorption of solar and terrestrial radiations, and indirect, the cloud formation process where aerosols behave as condensation nuclei and alter the optical properties. Satellites and ground-based networks (solar photometers) allow the terrestrial aerosol observation and the determination of impact. Desert aerosol considered among the main types of tropospheric aerosols whose optical property uncertainties are still quite important. The analysis concerns the optical parameters recorded in 2015 at Ouarzazate solar photometric station (AERONET/PHOTONS network, http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/) close to Saharan zone. The daily average aerosol optical depthτaer at 0.5μm, are relatively high in summer and less degree in spring (from 0.01 to 1.82). Daily average of the Angstrom coefficients α vary between 0.01 and 1.55. The daily average of aerosol radiative forcing at the surface range between -150W/m2 and -10 W/m2 with peaks recorded in summer, characterized locally by large loads of desert aerosol in agreement with the advections of the Southeast of Morocco. Those recorded at the Top of the atmosphere show a variation from -74 W/m2 to +24 W/m2

Aerosol Indirect Effects on Cirrus Clouds in Global Aerosol-Climate Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, X.; Zhang, K.; Wang, Y.; Neubauer, D.; Lohmann, U.; Ferrachat, S.; Zhou, C.; Penner, J.; Barahona, D.; Shi, X.

2015-12-01

Cirrus clouds play an important role in regulating the Earth's radiative budget and water vapor distribution in the upper troposphere. Aerosols can act as solution droplets or ice nuclei that promote ice nucleation in cirrus clouds. Anthropogenic emissions from fossil fuel and biomass burning activities have substantially perturbed and enhanced concentrations of aerosol particles in the atmosphere. Global aerosol-climate models (GCMs) have now been used to quantify the radiative forcing and effects of aerosols on cirrus clouds (IPCC AR5). However, the estimate uncertainty is very large due to the different representation of ice cloud formation and evolution processes in GCMs. In addition, large discrepancies have been found between model simulations in terms of the spatial distribution of ice-nucleating aerosols, relative humidity, and temperature fluctuations, which contribute to different estimates of the aerosol indirect effect through cirrus clouds. In this presentation, four GCMs with the start-of-the art representations of cloud microphysics and aerosol-cloud interactions are used to estimate the aerosol indirect effects on cirrus clouds and to identify the causes of the discrepancies. The estimated global and annual mean anthropogenic aerosol indirect effect through cirrus clouds ranges from 0.1 W m-2 to 0.3 W m-2 in terms of the top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) net radiation flux, and 0.5-0.6 W m-2 for the TOA longwave flux. Despite the good agreement on global mean, large discrepancies are found at the regional scale. The physics behind the aerosol indirect effect is dramatically different. Our analysis suggests that burden of ice-nucleating aerosols in the upper troposphere, ice nucleation frequency, and relative role of ice formation processes (i.e., homogeneous versus heterogeneous nucleation) play key roles in determining the characteristics of the simulated aerosol indirect effects. In addition to the indirect effect estimate, we also use field campaign

Circulation responses to regional aerosol climate forcing in summer over East Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Guoxing; Wang, Wei-Chyung; Chen, Jen-Ping

2018-05-01

For East Asia, circulation responses to anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing dominate aerosol-precipitation interactions. To gain insights, this study analyzed CESM simulated circulation changes related to the `north drought and south flood' pattern caused by aerosol increases between two cases. One case was driven by the year-1850 global emission inventory, whereas the other used identical emissions for all regions except East Asia where anthropogenic emissions of aerosols and precursors of the year-2000 were imposed. Results show that the cooling caused by increased aerosols, which peaks at the middle latitudes, induces two intervened anomalous circulations in the troposphere. Near the surface, the increased land pressure weakens the southerlies and reduces the moisture transport for the entire eastern China. Meanwhile, in the free troposphere, the anomalous circulation exhibits remarkable meridional variations. While convergence occurs over 25°-45°N which partially compensates the decrease of moisture transport from lower levels, divergence develops over regions to the north which enhances the moisture deficiency. In addition, the southward shift of the jet stream stimulates anomalous rising and sinking motions over the south and north of 32°N. The combination of these changes leads to precipitation increase in the Yangtze River Valley but decrease over North China.

CLouds, and Aerosols Radiative Impacts and Forcing: Year 2016 (CLARIFY-2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haywood, J. M.; Bellouin, N.; Carslaw, K. S.; Coe, H.; Field, P.; Highwood, E. J.; Redemann, J.; Stier, P.; Wood, R.; Zuidema, P.

2013-12-01

Strongly absorbing biomass burning aerosols (BBAs) exist above highly reflectant stratocumulus clouds in the SE Atlantic with implications on the direct (e.g. Haywood et al., 2003), semi-direct (e.g. Johnson et al., 2006), and indirect effect of aerosols, implications on the remote sensing of cloud optical properties, development of clouds and feedback processes. Here, we present an analysis of modelled estimates of the direct effect using twelve models from the AEROCOM project (Myhre et al., 2013) to show that estimates of the direct effect in SE Atlantic range from strongly negative to strongly positive. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of the HadGEM2 model and show it cannot replicate the extreme values of positive forcing inferred from high spectral resolution satellite retrievals. By examining patterns of deposition, we infer that the indirect effect from biomass burning aerosols is very limited in the model, but without detailed measurements we are unsure of the validity of this inference. We conclude that the SE Atlantic is therefore of key importance in determining the radiative forcing of biomass burning aerosols and provides a very stringent test for global climate models as they need to accurately represent the geographic distribution of the aerosol optical depth, the wavelength dependent aerosol single scattering albedo, the vertical profile of the aerosol, the geographic distribution of the cloud, the cloud fraction, the cloud liquid water content, the cloud droplet effective radii, and the vertical profile of the cloud. These results are used as scientific rationale to justify a new measurement campaign: CLouds and Aerosol Radiative Impacts and Forcing: Year-2016 (CLARIFY-2016). Haywood, J.M., Osborne, S.R. Francis, P.N., Keil, A., Formenti, P., Andreae, M.O., and Kaye, P.H., The mean physical and optical properties of regional haze dominated by biomass burning aerosol measured from the C-130 aircraft during SAFARI 2000, J. Geophys. Res., 108

Irrigation as an Historical Climate Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, Benjamin I.; Shukla, Sonali P.; Puma, Michael J.; Nazarenko, Larissa S.

2014-01-01

Irrigation is the single largest anthropogenic water use, a modification of the land surface that significantly affects surface energy budgets, the water cycle, and climate. Irrigation, however, is typically not included in standard historical general circulation model (GCM) simulations along with other anthropogenic and natural forcings. To investigate the importance of irrigation as an anthropogenic climate forcing, we conduct two 5-member ensemble GCM experiments. Both are setup identical to the historical forced (anthropogenic plus natural) scenario used in version 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, but in one experiment we also add water to the land surface using a dataset of historically estimated irrigation rates. Irrigation has a negligible effect on the global average radiative balance at the top of the atmosphere, but causes significant cooling of global average surface air temperatures over land and dampens regional warming trends. This cooling is regionally focused and is especially strong in Western North America, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Asia. Irrigation enhances cloud cover and precipitation in these same regions, except for summer in parts of Monsoon Asia, where irrigation causes a reduction in monsoon season precipitation. Irrigation cools the surface, reducing upward fluxes of longwave radiation (increasing net longwave), and increases cloud cover, enhancing shortwave reflection (reducing net shortwave). The relative magnitude of these two processes causes regional increases (northern India) or decreases (Central Asia, China) in energy availability at the surface and top of the atmosphere. Despite these changes in net radiation, however, climate responses are due primarily to larger magnitude shifts in the Bowen ratio from sensible to latent heating. Irrigation impacts on temperature, precipitation, and other climate variables are regionally significant, even while other anthropogenic forcings (anthropogenic aerosols

Tropospheric Aerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buseck, P. R.; Schwartz, S. E.

2003-12-01

�m, PM10=1.1 μg m-3; estimated coefficient of light scattering by particulate matter, σep, at 570 nm=12 Mm-1). (b) High aerosol concentration (PM2.5=43.9 μg m-3; PM10=83.4 μg m-3; estimated σep at 570 nm=245 Mm-1) (reproduced by permission of National Park Service, 2002). Although comprising only a small fraction of the mass of Earth's atmosphere, aerosol particles are highly important constituents of the atmosphere. Special interest has focused on aerosols in the troposphere, the lowest part of the atmosphere, extending from the land or ocean surface typically to ˜8 km at high latitudes, ˜12 km in mid-latitudes, and ˜16 km at low latitudes. That interest arises in large part because of the importance of aerosol particles in geophysical processes, human health impairment through inhalation, environmental effects through deposition, visibility degradation, and influences on atmospheric radiation and climate.Anthropogenic aerosols are thought to exert a substantial influence on Earth's climate, and the need to quantify this influence has sparked much of the current interest in and research on tropospheric aerosols. The principal mechanisms by which aerosols influence the Earth radiation budget are scattering and absorbing solar radiation (the so-called "direct effects") and modifying clouds and precipitation, thereby affecting both radiation and hydrology (the so-called "indirect effects"). Light scattering by aerosols increases the brightness of the planet, producing a cooling influence. Light-absorbing aerosols such as black carbon exert a warming influence. Aerosols increase the reflectivity of clouds, another cooling influence. These radiative influences are quantified as forcings, where a forcing is a perturbation to the energy balance of the atmosphere-Earth system, expressed in units of watts per square meter, W m-2. A warming influence is denoted a positive forcing, and a cooling influence, negative. The radiative direct and indirect forcings by

Aerosol Retrievals Using Channel 1 and 2 AVHRR Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mishchenko, Michael I.; Geogdzhayev, Igor V.; Cairns, Brian; Rossow, William B.

1999-01-01

The effect of tropospheric aerosols on global climate via the direct and indirect radiative forcings is one of the largest remaining uncertainties in climate change studies. Current assessments of the direct aerosol radiative effect mainly focus on sulfate aerosols. It has become clear, however, that other aerosol types like soil dust and smoke from biomass burning are also likely to be important climate forcing factors. The magnitude and even the sign of the climate forcing caused by these aerosol types is still unknown. General circulation models (GCMs) can be used to estimate the climatic effect of the direct radiative forcing by tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols. Aerosol optical properties are already parameterized in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies GCM. Once the global distribution of aerosol properties (optical thickness, size distribution, and chemical composition) is available, the calculation of the direct aerosol forcing is rather straighfforward. However, estimates of the indirect aerosol effect require additional knowledge of the physics and chemistry of aerosol-cloud interactions which are still poorly understood. One of the main objectives of the Global Aerosol Climatology Project, established in 1998 as a joint initiative of NASA's Radiation Science Program and GEWEX, is to infer the global distribution of aerosols, their properties, and their seasonal and interannual variations for the full period of available satellite data. This will be accomplished primarily through a systematic application of multichannel aerosol retrieval algorithms to existing satellite data and advanced 3-dimensional aerosol chemistry/transport models. In this paper we outline the methodology of analyzing channel 1 and 2 AVHRR radiance data over the oceans and describe preliminary retrieval results.

Technical Note: On the use of nudging for aerosol-climate model intercomparison studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, K.; Wan, H.; Liu, X.; Ghan, S. J.; Kooperman, G. J.; Ma, P.-L.; Rasch, P. J.; Neubauer, D.; Lohmann, U.

2014-08-01

Nudging as an assimilation technique has seen increased use in recent years in the development and evaluation of climate models. Constraining the simulated wind and temperature fields using global weather reanalysis facilitates more straightforward comparison between simulation and observation, and reduces uncertainties associated with natural variabilities of the large-scale circulation. On the other hand, the forcing introduced by nudging can be strong enough to change the basic characteristics of the model climate. In the paper we show that for the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5), due to the systematic temperature bias in the standard model and the sensitivity of simulated ice formation to anthropogenic aerosol concentration, nudging towards reanalysis results in substantial reductions in the ice cloud amount and the impact of anthropogenic aerosols on long-wave cloud forcing. In order to reduce discrepancies between the nudged and unconstrained simulations, and meanwhile take the advantages of nudging, two alternative experimentation methods are evaluated. The first one constrains only the horizontal winds. The second method nudges both winds and temperature, but replaces the long-term climatology of the reanalysis by that of the model. Results show that both methods lead to substantially improved agreement with the free-running model in terms of the top-of-atmosphere radiation budget and cloud ice amount. The wind-only nudging is more convenient to apply, and provides higher correlations of the wind fields, geopotential height and specific humidity between simulation and reanalysis. Results from both CAM5 and a second aerosol-climate model ECHAM6-HAM2 also indicate that compared to the wind-and-temperature nudging, constraining only winds leads to better agreement with the free-running model in terms of the estimated shortwave cloud forcing and the simulated convective activities. This suggests nudging the horizontal winds but not temperature is a

Influence of aerosols on surface reaching spectral irradiance and introduction to a new technique for estimating aerosol radiative forcing from spectral flux measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, R. R.

2015-12-01

Aerosol radiative forcing estimates with high certainty are required in climate change studies. The approach in estimating the aerosol radiative forcing by using the chemical composition of aerosols is not effective as the chemical composition data with radiative properties are not widely available. In this study we look into the approach where ground based spectral radiation flux measurements along with an RT model is used to estimate radiative forcing. Measurements of spectral flux were made using an ASD spectroradiometer with 350 - 1050 nm wavelength range and 3nm resolution for around 54 clear-sky days during which AOD range was around 0.1 to 0.7. Simultaneous measurements of black carbon were also made using Aethalometer (Magee Scientific) which ranged from around 1.5 ug/m3 to 8 ug/m3. All the measurements were made in the campus of Indian Institute of Science which is in the heart of Bangalore city. The primary study involved in understanding the sensitivity of spectral flux to change in the mass concentration of individual aerosol species (Optical properties of Aerosols and Clouds -OPAC classified aerosol species) using the SBDART RT model. This made us clearly distinguish the region of influence of different aerosol species on the spectral flux. Following this, a new technique has been introduced to estimate an optically equivalent mixture of aerosol species for the given location. The new method involves an iterative process where the mixture of aerosol species are changed in OPAC model and RT model is run as long as the mixture which mimics the measured spectral flux within 2-3% deviation from measured spectral flux is obtained. Using the optically equivalent aerosol mixture and RT model aerosol radiative forcing is estimated. The new method is limited to clear sky scenes and its accuracy to derive an optically equivalent aerosol mixture reduces when diffuse component of flux increases. Our analysis also showed that direct component of spectral flux is

Radiative flux and forcing parameterization error in aerosol-free clear skies

DOE PAGES

Pincus, Robert; Mlawer, Eli J.; Oreopoulos, Lazaros; ...

2015-07-03

This article reports on the accuracy in aerosol- and cloud-free conditions of the radiation parameterizations used in climate models. Accuracy is assessed relative to observationally validated reference models for fluxes under present-day conditions and forcing (flux changes) from quadrupled concentrations of carbon dioxide. Agreement among reference models is typically within 1 W/m 2, while parameterized calculations are roughly half as accurate in the longwave and even less accurate, and more variable, in the shortwave. Absorption of shortwave radiation is underestimated by most parameterizations in the present day and has relatively large errors in forcing. Error in present-day conditions is essentiallymore » unrelated to error in forcing calculations. Recent revisions to parameterizations have reduced error in most cases. As a result, a dependence on atmospheric conditions, including integrated water vapor, means that global estimates of parameterization error relevant for the radiative forcing of climate change will require much more ambitious calculations.« less

Evaluation of climate model aerosol seasonal and spatial variability over Africa using AERONET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horowitz, Hannah M.; Garland, Rebecca M.; Thatcher, Marcus; Landman, Willem A.; Dedekind, Zane; van der Merwe, Jacobus; Engelbrecht, Francois A.

2017-11-01

The sensitivity of climate models to the characterization of African aerosol particles is poorly understood. Africa is a major source of dust and biomass burning aerosols and this represents an important research gap in understanding the impact of aerosols on radiative forcing of the climate system. Here we evaluate the current representation of aerosol particles in the Conformal Cubic Atmospheric Model (CCAM) with ground-based remote retrievals across Africa, and additionally provide an analysis of observed aerosol optical depth at 550 nm (AOD550 nm) and Ångström exponent data from 34 Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites. Analysis of the 34 long-term AERONET sites confirms the importance of dust and biomass burning emissions to the seasonal cycle and magnitude of AOD550 nm across the continent and the transport of these emissions to regions outside of the continent. In general, CCAM captures the seasonality of the AERONET data across the continent. The magnitude of modeled and observed multiyear monthly average AOD550 nm overlap within ±1 standard deviation of each other for at least 7 months at all sites except the Réunion St Denis Island site (Réunion St. Denis). The timing of modeled peak AOD550 nm in southern Africa occurs 1 month prior to the observed peak, which does not align with the timing of maximum fire counts in the region. For the western and northern African sites, it is evident that CCAM currently overestimates dust in some regions while others (e.g., the Arabian Peninsula) are better characterized. This may be due to overestimated dust lifetime, or that the characterization of the soil for these areas needs to be updated with local information. The CCAM simulated AOD550 nm for the global domain is within the spread of previously published results from CMIP5 and AeroCom experiments for black carbon, organic carbon, and sulfate aerosols. The model's performance provides confidence for using the model to estimate large-scale regional impacts

Chapter 3: Evaluating the impacts of carbonaceous aerosols on clouds and climate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Menon, Surabi; Del Genio, Anthony D.

Any attempt to reconcile observed surface temperature changes within the last 150 years to changes simulated by climate models that include various atmospheric forcings is sensitive to the changes attributed to aerosols and aerosol-cloud-climate interactions, which are the main contributors that may well balance the positive forcings associated with greenhouse gases, absorbing aerosols, ozone related changes, etc. These aerosol effects on climate, from various modeling studies discussed in Menon (2004), range from +0.8 to -2.4 W m{sup -2}, with an implied value of -1.0 W m{sup -2} (range from -0.5 to -4.5 W m{sup -2}) for the aerosol indirect effects.more » Quantifying the contribution of aerosols and aerosol-cloud interactions remain complicated for several reasons some of which are related to aerosol distributions and some to the processes used to represent their effects on clouds. Aerosol effects on low lying marine stratocumulus clouds that cover much of the Earth's surface (about 70%) have been the focus of most of prior aerosol-cloud interaction effect simulations. Since cumulus clouds (shallow and deep convective) are short lived and cover about 15 to 20% of the Earth's surface, they are not usually considered as radiatively important. However, the large amount of latent heat released from convective towers, and corresponding changes in precipitation, especially in biomass regions due to convective heating effects (Graf et al. 2004), suggest that these cloud systems and aerosol effects on them, must be examined more closely. The radiative heating effects for mature deep convective systems can account for 10-30% of maximum latent heating effects and thus cannot be ignored (Jensen and Del Genio 2003). The first study that isolated the sensitivity of cumulus clouds to aerosols was from Nober et al. (2003) who found a reduction in precipitation in biomass burning regions and shifts in circulation patterns. Aerosol effects on convection have been included in

A satellite view of aerosols in the climate system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufman, Yoram J.; Tanre, Didier; Boucher, Olivier

2002-01-01

Anthropogenic aerosols are intricately linked to the climate system and to the hydrologic cycle. The net effect of aerosols is to cool the climate system by reflecting sunlight. Depending on their composition, aerosols can also absorb sunlight in the atmosphere, further cooling the surface but warming the atmosphere in the process. These effects of aerosols on the temperature profile, along with the role of aerosols as cloud condensation nuclei, impact the hydrologic cycle, through changes in cloud cover, cloud properties and precipitation. Unravelling these feedbacks is particularly difficult because aerosols take a multitude of shapes and forms, ranging from desert dust to urban pollution, and because aerosol concentrations vary strongly over time and space. To accurately study aerosol distribution and composition therefore requires continuous observations from satellites, networks of ground-based instruments and dedicated field experiments. Increases in aerosol concentration and changes in their composition, driven by industrialization and an expanding population, may adversely affect the Earth's climate and water supply.

Impact of preindustrial to present-day changes in short-lived pollutant emissions on atmospheric composition and climate forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naik, Vaishali; Horowitz, Larry W.; Fiore, Arlene M.; Ginoux, Paul; Mao, Jingqiu; Aghedo, Adetutu M.; Levy, Hiram

2013-07-01

We describe and evaluate atmospheric chemistry in the newly developed Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory chemistry-climate model (GFDL AM3) and apply it to investigate the net impact of preindustrial (PI) to present (PD) changes in short-lived pollutant emissions (ozone precursors, sulfur dioxide, and carbonaceous aerosols) and methane concentration on atmospheric composition and climate forcing. The inclusion of online troposphere-stratosphere interactions, gas-aerosol chemistry, and aerosol-cloud interactions (including direct and indirect aerosol radiative effects) in AM3 enables a more complete representation of interactions among short-lived species, and thus their net climate impact, than was considered in previous climate assessments. The base AM3 simulation, driven with observed sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice cover (SIC) over the period 1981-2007, generally reproduces the observed mean magnitude, spatial distribution, and seasonal cycle of tropospheric ozone and carbon monoxide. The global mean aerosol optical depth in our base simulation is within 5% of satellite measurements over the 1982-2006 time period. We conduct a pair of simulations in which only the short-lived pollutant emissions and methane concentrations are changed from PI (1860) to PD (2000) levels (i.e., SST, SIC, greenhouse gases, and ozone-depleting substances are held at PD levels). From the PI to PD, we find that changes in short-lived pollutant emissions and methane have caused the tropospheric ozone burden to increase by 39% and the global burdens of sulfate, black carbon, and organic carbon to increase by factors of 3, 2.4, and 1.4, respectively. Tropospheric hydroxyl concentration decreases by 7%, showing that increases in OH sinks (methane, carbon monoxide, nonmethane volatile organic compounds, and sulfur dioxide) dominate over sources (ozone and nitrogen oxides) in the model. Combined changes in tropospheric ozone and aerosols cause a net negative top

Testing for the Possible Influence of Unknown Climate Forcings upon Global Temperature Increases from 1950-2000

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, Bruce T.; Knight, Jeff R.; Ringer, Mark A.

2012-10-15

Global-scale variations in the climate system over the last half of the twentieth century, including long-term increases in global-mean near-surface temperatures, are consistent with concurrent human-induced emissions of radiatively active gases and aerosols. However, such consistency does not preclude the possible influence of other forcing agents, including internal modes of climate variability or unaccounted for aerosol effects. To test whether other unknown forcing agents may have contributed to multidecadal increases in global-mean near-surface temperatures from 1950 to 2000, data pertaining to observed changes in global-scale sea surface temperatures and observed changes in radiatively active atmospheric constituents are incorporated into numericalmore » global climate models. Results indicate that the radiative forcing needed to produce the observed long-term trends in sea surface temperatures—and global-mean near-surface temperatures—is provided predominantly by known changes in greenhouse gases and aerosols. Further, results indicate that less than 10% of the long-term historical increase in global-mean near-surface temperatures over the last half of the twentieth century could have been the result of internal climate variability. In addition, they indicate that less than 25%of the total radiative forcing needed to produce the observed long-term trend in global-mean near-surface temperatures could have been provided by changes in net radiative forcing from unknown sources (either positive or negative). These results, which are derived from simple energy balance requirements, emphasize the important role humans have played in modifying the global climate over the last half of the twentieth century.« less

aerosol radiative effects and forcing: spatial and temporal distributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinne, Stefan

2014-05-01

A monthly climatology for aerosol optical properties based on a synthesis from global modeling and observational data has been applied to illustrate spatial distributions and global averages of aerosol radiative impacts. With the help of a pre-industrial reference for aerosol optical properties from global modeling, also the aerosol direct forcing (ca -0.35W/m2 globally and annual averaged) and their spatial and seasonal distributions and contributions by individual aerosol components are estimated. Finally, CCN and IN concentrations associated with this climatology are applied to estimate aerosol indirect effects and forcing.

Climate Forcing by Particles from Specific Sources, With Implications for No-regrets Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bond, T. C.; Roden, C. A.; Subramanian, R.; Rasch, P. J.

2006-12-01

Mitigation-- the act of reducing human effects on climate and atmosphere by changing practices-- occurs one source at a time, one country at a time. Examining climate forcing produced by individual sources could be instructive. Two sectors contribute the largest fraction of black carbon aerosols from energy-related combustion: diesel engines and residential biofuel. We examine direct climate forcing by aerosols from these sources in four locations. Because source characterization is lacking, global emission inventories that include chemical composition of particles have often relied on expert judgment. We are gaining information on emission rates and climate- relevant properties through partnerships with projects related to air quality and health in Thailand and Honduras. Despite the presence of organic carbon, black carbon's constant companion, particles from both diesel and biofuel exert net climate warming. In particular, solid-fuel combustion produces material with weak light absorption and strong absorption spectral dependence. We discuss the expected emissions and properties of this material. Revised emission rates and properties are implemented in the Community Atmosphere Model, housed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and we tag particles emitted from individual sources. Which sources feed high-forcing regions, such as the area above the low-cloud deck in the North Pacific? Which particles might have been scavenged, and how does uncertainty in removal rates affect single-source forcing? Using model experiments, we estimate central values and uncertainties of direct radiative forcing from each source. Finally, we discuss the potential for reducing climate forcing by mitigating these individual sources. What is the range of benefits expected by addressing these sources, and what are the costs and obstacles? Only by representing uncertainty can we determine the likelihood that reducing these emissions represents a "no- regret" scenario for

Distribution and radiative forcing of Asian dust and anthropogenic aerosols from East Asia simulated by SPRINTARS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takemura, T.; Nakajima, T.; Uno, I.

2002-12-01

A three-dimensional aerosol transport-radiation model, SPRINTARS (Spectral Radiation-Transport Model for Aerosol Species), has been developed based on an atmospheric general circulation model of the Center for Climate System Research, University of Tokyo/National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan to research the effects of aerosols on the climate system and atmospheric environment. SPRINTARS successfully simulates the long-range transport of the large-scale Asian dust storms from East Asia to North America by crossing the North Pacific Ocean in springtime 2001 and 2002. It is found from the calculated dust optical thickness that 10 to 20% of Asian dust around Japan reached North America. The simulation also reveals the importance of anthropogenic aerosols, which are carbonaceous and sulfate aerosols emitted from the industrialized areas in the East Asian continent, to air turbidity during the large-scale Asian dust storms. The simulated results are compared with a volume of observation data regarding the aerosol characteristics over East Asia in the spring of 2001 acquired by the intensive observation campaigns of ACE-Asia (Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment) and APEX (Asian Atmospheric Particulate Environmental Change Studies). The comparisons are carried out not only for aerosol concentrations but also for aerosol optical properties, such as optical thickness, Angstrom exponent which is a size index calculated by the log-slope exponent of the optical thickness between two wavelengths, and single scattering albedo. The consistence of Angstrom exponent between the simulation and observations means the reasonable simulation of the ratio of anthropogenic aerosols to Asian dust, which supports the suggestion by the simulation on the importance of anthropogenic aerosols to air turbidity during the large-scale Asian dust storms. SPRINTARS simultaneously calculates the aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcings. The direct radiative

AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE CLIMATE IMPACT OF SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOLS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Donnell, D.; Feichter, J.

2009-12-01

Atmospheric aerosols influence the Earth’s climate by absorbing and scattering solar radiation (the direct effect) and by altering the properties of clouds (indirect effects). Measurements have shown that a substantial fraction of the tropospheric aerosol burden consists of organic compounds. Hundreds of different organic species have been identified. While progress has been made in the understanding of the role of certain aerosol types in the climate system, that of organic aerosols remains poorly understood and the climate influences resulting from their presence poorly constrained. Organic aerosols are emitted directly from the surface (primary organic aerosols, POA) and are also formed in the atmosphere from gaseous precursors by oxidation reactions (secondary organic aerosols, SOA). Both biogenic and anthropogenic precursors have been identified. Biogenic emissions of aerosol precursors are known to be climate-dependent. Thus, a bi-directional dependency exists between the biosphere and the atmosphere, whereby aerosols of biogenic origin influence the climate system, which in turn affects biogenic aerosol precursor production. This study builds upon the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5/HAM and adds techniques to model SOA as well as the necessary global emission inventories. Emission of biogenic precursors is calculated online. Formation of SOA is modeled by the well-known two-product model of SOA formation. SOA is subject to the same aerosol microphysics and sink processes as other modeled species (sulphate, black carbon, primary organic carbon, sea salt and dust). The aerosol radiative effects are calculated on a size resolved basis, and the aerosol scheme is coupled to the model cloud microphysics, permitting estimation of both direct and indirect aerosol effects. The following results will be discussed: (i) Estimation of the direct and indirect effects of biogenic and anthropogenic SOA, (ii) Estimation of the sign and magnitude of the biospheric

Direct and semi-direct effects of aerosol climatologies on long-term climate simulations over Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultze, Markus; Rockel, Burkhardt

2017-08-01

This study compares the direct and semi-direct aerosol effects of different annual cycles of tropospheric aerosol loads for Europe from 1950 to 2009 using the regional climate model COSMO-CLM, which is laterally forced by reanalysis data and run using prescribed, climatological aerosol optical properties. These properties differ with respect to the analysis strategy and the time window, and are then used for the same multi-decadal period. Five simulations with different aerosol loads and one control simulation without any tropospheric aerosols are integrated and compared. Two common limitations of our simulation strategy, to fully assess direct and semi-direct aerosol effects, are the applied observed sea surface temperatures and sea ice conditions, and the lack of short-term variations in the aerosol load. Nevertheless, the impact of different aerosol climatologies on common regional climate model simulations can be assessed. The results of all aerosol-including simulations show a distinct reduction in solar irradiance at the surface compared with that in the control simulation. This reduction is strongest in the summer season and is balanced primarily by a weakening of turbulent heat fluxes and to a lesser extent by a decrease in longwave emissions. Consequently, the seasonal mean surface cooling is modest. The temperature profile responses are characterized by a shallow near-surface cooling and a dominant warming up to the mid-troposphere caused by aerosol absorption. The resulting stabilization of stratification leads to reduced cloud cover and less precipitation. A decrease in cloud water and ice content over Central Europe in summer possibly reinforce aerosol absorption and thus strengthen the vertical warming. The resulting radiative forcings are positive. The robustness of the results was demonstrated by performing a simulation with very strong aerosol forcing, which lead to qualitatively similar results. A distinct added value over the default aerosol

Regional Climate Effects of Aerosols Over South Asia: a Synthesis of Hybrid-Synergistic Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subba, T.; Gogoi, M. M.; Pathak, B.; Bhuyan, P. K.

2017-12-01

The south-Asian region faces formidable challenges in the accurate estimation of the aerosol-climate forcing due to the increasing demographic pressure and the rapid socio-economic growth which intensify the anthropogenic emissions causing degradation of regional air quality and climate. In this context, the present study employs a hybrid-method synergizing the aerosol data from ground-based measurements, satellite retrievals and radiative transfer simulations over the south-Asian region. The ground based aerosol and solar radiation data (2010-2015) are considered for nine selected locations of India as well as the adjoining Bay of Bengal representing distinct aerosol environment. The land use land cover (LULC) data from Indian remote sensing satellite (IRS-P6) is used to understand the association of aerosol environment with the change in the land surface pattern.The results indicate that the northern part, pre-dominantly the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) experiences the highest aerosol optical depth throughout the year. While the presence of dust plays a significant role in modifying the radiation balance over the west Asian region, extending to IGP; the highest Fire Radiative Power is observed over Eastern India ( 30 MW), the hotspot of biomass burning sources, followed by Central, South/West and Northern India. Considering the distinct source processes, incoming ground reaching fluxes are simulated using radiative transfer model, which showed a good correlation with the measured values (R2 0.97) with the mean bias errors between -40 to +7 Wm-2 (an overestimation of 2-4%). Estimated aerosol direct radiative forcing efficiency (DRFE) is highest over the eastern IGP due to heavy loading of long range transported aerosols from the arid region in the west, followed by the Himalayan foothills and west-Asian regions which are mostly dominated by agro-industrial and dust activities. However, a pristine high altitude location in the Western Ghats showed lower DRFE compared

Impact of anthropogenic aerosols on regional climate change in Beijing, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, B.; Liou, K. N.; He, C.; Lee, W. L.; Gu, Y.; Li, Q.; Leung, L. R.

2015-12-01

Anthropogenic aerosols affect regional climate significantly through radiative (direct and semi-direct) and indirect effects, but the magnitude of these effects over megacities are subject to large uncertainty. In this study, we evaluated the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on regional climate change in Beijing, China using the online-coupled Weather Research and Forecasting/Chemistry Model (WRF/Chem) with the Fu-Liou-Gu radiation scheme and a spatial resolution of 4km. We further updated this radiation scheme with a geometric-optics surface-wave (GOS) approach for the computation of light absorption and scattering by black carbon (BC) particles in which aggregation shape and internal mixing properties are accounted for. In addition, we incorporated in WRF/Chem a 3D radiative transfer parameterization in conjunction with high-resolution digital data for city buildings and landscape to improve the simulation of boundary-layer, surface solar fluxes and associated sensible/latent heat fluxes. Preliminary simulated meteorological parameters, fine particles (PM2.5) and their chemical components agree well with observational data in terms of both magnitude and spatio-temporal variations. The effects of anthropogenic aerosols, including BC, on radiative forcing, surface temperature, wind speed, humidity, cloud water path, and precipitation are quantified on the basis of simulation results. With several preliminary sensitivity runs, we found that meteorological parameters and aerosol radiative effects simulated with the incorporation of improved BC absorption and 3-D radiation parameterizations deviate substantially from simulation results using the conventional homogeneous/core-shell configuration for BC and the plane-parallel model for radiative transfer. Understanding of the aerosol effects on regional climate change over megacities must consider the complex shape and mixing state of aerosol aggregates and 3D radiative transfer effects over city landscape.

Spatial variations in immediate greenhouse gases and aerosol emissions and resulting radiative forcing from wildfires in interior Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Huang, Shengli; Liu, Heping; Dahal, Devendra; Jin, Suming; Li, Shuang; Liu, Shu-Guang

2016-01-01

Boreal fires can cool the climate; however, this conclusion came from individual fires and may not represent the whole story. We hypothesize that the climatic impact of boreal fires depends on local landscape heterogeneity such as burn severity, prefire vegetation type, and soil properties. To test this hypothesis, spatially explicit emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and aerosols and their resulting radiative forcing are required as an important and necessary component towards a full assessment. In this study, we integrated remote sensing (Landsat and MODIS) and models (carbon consumption model, emission factors model, and radiative forcing model) to calculate the carbon consumption, GHGs and aerosol emissions, and their radiative forcing of 2001–2010 fires at 30 m resolution in the Yukon River Basin of Alaska. Total carbon consumption showed significant spatial variation, with a mean of 2,615 g C m−2 and a standard deviation of 2,589 g C m−2. The carbon consumption led to different amounts of GHGs and aerosol emissions, ranging from 593.26 Tg (CO2) to 0.16 Tg (N2O). When converted to equivalent CO2 based on global warming potential metric, the maximum 20 years equivalent CO2 was black carbon (713.77 Tg), and the lowest 20 years equivalent CO2 was organic carbon (−583.13 Tg). The resulting radiative forcing also showed significant spatial variation: CO2, CH4, and N2O can cause a 20-year mean radiative forcing of 7.41 W m−2 with a standard deviation of 2.87 W m−2. This emission forcing heterogeneity indicates that different boreal fires have different climatic impacts. When considering the spatial variation of other forcings, such as surface shortwave forcing, we may conclude that some boreal fires, especially boreal deciduous fires, can warm the climate.

Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing from Combined A-Train Observations - Preliminary Comparisons with AeroCom Models and Pathways to Observationally Based All-sky Estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redemann, J.; Livingston, J. M.; Shinozuka, Y.; Kacenelenbogen, M. S.; Russell, P. B.; LeBlanc, S. E.; Vaughan, M.; Ferrare, R. A.; Hostetler, C. A.; Rogers, R. R.; Burton, S. P.; Torres, O.; Remer, L. A.; Stier, P.; Schutgens, N.

2014-12-01

We describe a technique for combining CALIOP aerosol backscatter, MODIS spectral AOD (aerosol optical depth), and OMI AAOD (absorption aerosol optical depth) retrievals for the purpose of estimating full spectral sets of aerosol radiative properties, and ultimately for calculating the 3-D distribution of direct aerosol radiative forcing. We present results using one year of data collected in 2007 and show comparisons of the aerosol radiative property estimates to collocated AERONET retrievals. Use of the recently released MODIS Collection 6 data for aerosol optical depths derived with the dark target and deep blue algorithms has extended the coverage of the multi-sensor estimates towards higher latitudes. Initial calculations of seasonal clear-sky aerosol radiative forcing based on our multi-sensor aerosol retrievals compare well with over-ocean and top of the atmosphere IPCC-2007 model-based results, and with more recent assessments in the "Climate Change Science Program Report: Atmospheric Aerosol Properties and Climate Impacts" (2009). For the first time, we present comparisons of our multi-sensor aerosol direct radiative forcing estimates to values derived from a subset of models that participated in the latest AeroCom initiative. We discuss the major challenges that exist in extending our clear-sky results to all-sky conditions. On the basis of comparisons to suborbital measurements, we present some of the limitations of the MODIS and CALIOP retrievals in the presence of adjacent or underlying clouds. Strategies for meeting these challenges are discussed.

Timing and climate forcing of volcanic eruptions for the past 2,500 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigl, M.; Winstrup, M.; McConnell, J. R.; Welten, K. C.; Plunkett, G.; Ludlow, F.; Büntgen, U.; Caffee, M.; Chellman, N.; Dahl-Jensen, D.; Fischer, H.; Kipfstuhl, S.; Kostick, C.; Maselli, O. J.; Mekhaldi, F.; Mulvaney, R.; Muscheler, R.; Pasteris, D. R.; Pilcher, J. R.; Salzer, M.; Schüpbach, S.; Steffensen, J. P.; Vinther, B. M.; Woodruff, T. E.

2015-07-01

Volcanic eruptions contribute to climate variability, but quantifying these contributions has been limited by inconsistencies in the timing of atmospheric volcanic aerosol loading determined from ice cores and subsequent cooling from climate proxies such as tree rings. Here we resolve these inconsistencies and show that large eruptions in the tropics and high latitudes were primary drivers of interannual-to-decadal temperature variability in the Northern Hemisphere during the past 2,500 years. Our results are based on new records of atmospheric aerosol loading developed from high-resolution, multi-parameter measurements from an array of Greenland and Antarctic ice cores as well as distinctive age markers to constrain chronologies. Overall, cooling was proportional to the magnitude of volcanic forcing and persisted for up to ten years after some of the largest eruptive episodes. Our revised timescale more firmly implicates volcanic eruptions as catalysts in the major sixth-century pandemics, famines, and socioeconomic disruptions in Eurasia and Mesoamerica while allowing multi-millennium quantification of climate response to volcanic forcing.

Timing and climate forcing of volcanic eruptions for the past 2,500 years.

PubMed

Sigl, M; Winstrup, M; McConnell, J R; Welten, K C; Plunkett, G; Ludlow, F; Büntgen, U; Caffee, M; Chellman, N; Dahl-Jensen, D; Fischer, H; Kipfstuhl, S; Kostick, C; Maselli, O J; Mekhaldi, F; Mulvaney, R; Muscheler, R; Pasteris, D R; Pilcher, J R; Salzer, M; Schüpbach, S; Steffensen, J P; Vinther, B M; Woodruff, T E

2015-07-30

Volcanic eruptions contribute to climate variability, but quantifying these contributions has been limited by inconsistencies in the timing of atmospheric volcanic aerosol loading determined from ice cores and subsequent cooling from climate proxies such as tree rings. Here we resolve these inconsistencies and show that large eruptions in the tropics and high latitudes were primary drivers of interannual-to-decadal temperature variability in the Northern Hemisphere during the past 2,500 years. Our results are based on new records of atmospheric aerosol loading developed from high-resolution, multi-parameter measurements from an array of Greenland and Antarctic ice cores as well as distinctive age markers to constrain chronologies. Overall, cooling was proportional to the magnitude of volcanic forcing and persisted for up to ten years after some of the largest eruptive episodes. Our revised timescale more firmly implicates volcanic eruptions as catalysts in the major sixth-century pandemics, famines, and socioeconomic disruptions in Eurasia and Mesoamerica while allowing multi-millennium quantification of climate response to volcanic forcing.

Impacts of Anthropogenic Aerosols on Regional Climate: Extreme Events, Stagnation, and the United States Warming Hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mascioli, Nora R.

Extreme temperatures, heat waves, heavy rainfall events, drought, and extreme air pollution events have adverse effects on human health, infrastructure, agriculture and economies. The frequency, magnitude and duration of these events are expected to change in the future in response to increasing greenhouse gases and decreasing aerosols, but future climate projections are uncertain. A significant portion of this uncertainty arises from uncertainty in the effects of aerosol forcing: to what extent were the effects from greenhouse gases masked by aerosol forcing over the historical observational period, and how much will decreases in aerosol forcing influence regional and global climate over the remainder of the 21st century? The observed frequency and intensity of extreme heat and precipitation events have increased in the U.S. over the latter half of the 20th century. Using aerosol only (AER) and greenhouse gas only (GHG) simulations from 1860 to 2005 in the GFDL CM3 chemistry-climate model, I parse apart the competing influences of aerosols and greenhouse gases on these extreme events. I find that small changes in extremes in the "all forcing" simulations reflect cancellations between the effects of increasing anthropogenic aerosols and greenhouse gases. In AER, extreme high temperatures and the number of days with temperatures above the 90th percentile decline over most of the U.S., while in GHG high temperature extremes increase over most of the U.S. The spatial response patterns in AER and GHG are significantly anti-correlated, suggesting a preferred regional mode of response that is largely independent of the type of forcing. Extreme precipitation over the eastern U.S. decreases in AER, particularly in winter, and increases over the eastern and central U.S. in GHG, particularly in spring. Over the 21 st century under the RCP8.5 emissions scenario, the patterns of extreme temperature and precipitation change associated with greenhouse gas forcing dominate. The

Stratospheric sulfur and its implications for radiative forcing simulated by the chemistry climate model EMAC

PubMed Central

Brühl, C; Lelieveld, J; Tost, H; Höpfner, M; Glatthor, N

2015-01-01

Multiyear simulations with the atmospheric chemistry general circulation model EMAC with a microphysical modal aerosol module at high vertical resolution demonstrate that the sulfur gases COS and SO2, the latter from low-latitude and midlatitude volcanic eruptions, predominantly control the formation of stratospheric aerosol. Marine dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and other SO2 sources, including strong anthropogenic emissions in China, are found to play a minor role except in the lowermost stratosphere. Estimates of volcanic SO2 emissions are based on satellite observations using Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer and Ozone Monitoring Instrument for total injected mass and Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on Envisat or Stratospheric Aerosol and Gases Experiment for the spatial distribution. The 10 year SO2 and COS data set of MIPAS is also used for model evaluation. The calculated radiative forcing of stratospheric background aerosol including sulfate from COS and small contributions by DMS oxidation, and organic aerosol from biomass burning, is about 0.07W/m2. For stratospheric sulfate aerosol from medium and small volcanic eruptions between 2005 and 2011 a global radiative forcing up to 0.2W/m2 is calculated, moderating climate warming, while for the major Pinatubo eruption the simulated forcing reaches 5W/m2, leading to temporary climate cooling. The Pinatubo simulation demonstrates the importance of radiative feedback on dynamics, e.g., enhanced tropical upwelling, for large volcanic eruptions. PMID:25932352

Forced and Internal Multi-Decadal Variability in the North Atlantic and their Climate Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ting, M.

2017-12-01

Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV), a basin-wide North Atlantic sea surface temperature warming or cooling pattern varying on decadal and longer time scales, is one of the most important climate variations in the Atlantic basin. The AMV has shown to be associated with significant climate impacts regionally and globally, from Atlantic hurricane activities, frequency and severity of droughts across North America, as well as rainfall anomalies across the African Sahel and northeast Brazil. Despite the important impacts of the AMV, its mechanisms are not completely understood. In particular, it is not clear how much of the historical Atlantic SST fluctuations were forced by anthropogenic sources such as greenhouse warming and aerosol cooling, versus driven internally by changes in the coupled ocean-atmosphere processes in the Atlantic. Using climate models such as the NCAR large ensemble simulations, we were able to successfully separate the forced and internally generated North Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies through a signal-to-noise maximizing Empirical Orthogonal Function (S/N EOF) analysis method. Two forced modes were identified with one representing a hemispherical symmetric mode and one asymmetric mode. The symmetric mode largely represents the greenhouse forced component while the asymmetric mode resembles the anthropogenic aerosol forcing. When statistically removing both of the forced modes, the residual multidecadal Atlantic SST variability shows a very similar structure as the AMV in the preindustrial simulation. The distinct climate impacts of each of these modes are also identified and the implications and challenges for decadal climate prediction will be discussed.

Stratospheric Aerosol--Observations, Processes, and Impact on Climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kresmer, Stefanie; Thomason, Larry W.; von Hobe, Marc; Hermann, Markus; Deshler, Terry; Timmreck, Claudia; Toohey, Matthew; Stenke, Andrea; Schwarz, Joshua P.; Weigel, Ralf;

Aerosol Absorption by Black Carbon and Dust: Implications of Climate Change and Air Quality in Asia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chin, Mian

2010-01-01

Atmospheric aerosol distributions from 2000 to 2007 are simulated with the global model GOCART to attribute light absorption by aerosol to its composition and sources. We show the seasonal and interannual variations of absorbing aerosols in the atmosphere over Asia, mainly black carbon and dust. and their linkage to the changes of anthropogenic and dust emissions in the region. We compare our results with observations from satellite and ground-based networks, and estimate the importance of black carbon and dust on regional climate forcing and air quality.

Estimation of aerosol direct radiative forcing in Lecce during the 2013 ADRIMED campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barragan, Ruben; Romano, Salvatore; Sicard, Michaël.; Burlizzi, Pasquale; Perrone, Maria-Rita; Comeron, Adolfo

2015-10-01

In the framework of the ChArMEx (Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment, http://charmex.lsce.ipsl.fr/) initiative, a field campaign took place in the western Mediterranean Basin between 10 June and 5 July 2013 within the ADRIMED (Aerosol Direct Radiative Impact on the regional climate in the MEDiterranean region) project. The scientific objectives of ADRIMED are the characterization of the typical "Mediterranean aerosol" and its direct radiative forcing (column closure and regional scale). This work is focused on the multi-intrusion Saharan dust transport period of moderate intensity that occurred over the western and central Mediterranean Basin during the period 14 - 27 June. The dust plumes were detected by the EARLINET/ACTRIS (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network / Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network, http://www.actris.net/) lidar stations of Barcelona (16 and 17 June) and Lecce (22 June). First, two well-known and robust radiative transfer models, parametrized by lidar profiles for the aerosol vertical distribution, are validated both in the shortwave and longwave spectral range 1) at the surface with down- and up-ward flux measurements from radiometers and 2) at the top of the atmosphere with upward flux measurements from the CERES (Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System) radiometers on board the AQUA and TERRA satellites. The differences between models and their limitations are discussed. The instantaneous and clear-sky direct radiative forcing of mineral dust is then estimated using lidar data for parametrizing the particle vertical distribution at Lecce. The difference between the obtained forcings is discussed in regard to the mineralogy and vertical structure of the dust plume.

Whitecaps, sea-salt aerosols, and climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anguelova, Magdalena Dimitrova

Oceanic whitecaps are the major source of sea-salt aerosols. Because these aerosols are dominant in remote marine air, they control the radiative properties of the clean background atmosphere by scattering sunlight, changing cloud properties and lifetime, and providing media for chemical reactions. Including sea-salt effects in climate models improves predictions, but simulating their generation is first necessary. To make the sea-salt generation function currently used in climate models more relevant for aerosol investigations, this study proposes two modifications. First, the conventional relation between whitecap coverage, W, and the 10-meter wind speed, U10, used in typical generation functions is expanded to include additional factors that affect whitecaps and sea-salt aerosol formation. Second, the sea-salt generation function is extended to smaller sizes; sea-salt aerosol with initial radii from 0.4 to 20 mum can now be modeled. To achieve these goals, this thesis develops a new method for estimating whitecap coverage on a global scale using satellite measurements of the brightness temperature of the ocean surface. Whitecap coverage evaluated with this method incorporates the effects of atmospheric stability, sea-surface temperature, salinity, wind fetch, wind duration, and the amount of surface-active material. Assimilating satellite-derived values for whitecap coverage in the sea-salt generation function incorporates the effects of all environmental factors on sea-salt production and predicts realistic sea-salt aerosol loadings into the atmosphere. An extensive database of whitecap coverage and sea-salt aerosol fluxes has been compiled with the new method and is used to investigate their spatial and temporal characteristics. The composite effect of all environmental factors suggests a more uniform latitudinal distribution of whitecaps and sea-salt aerosols than that predicted from wind speed alone. The effect of sea-surface temperature, TS, is

Relative Contributions of Regional and Sector Emissions to the Radiative Forcing of Aerosol-Radiation and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions Based on the AeroCOM Phase III/HTAP2 Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takemura, T.; Chin, M.

2014-12-01

It is important to understand relative contributions of each regional and sector emission of aerosols and their precursor gases to the regional and global mean radiative forcing of aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions. This is because it is useful for international cooperation on controls of air pollution and anthropogenic climate change along most suitable reduction path of their emissions from each region and sector. The Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF HTAP) under the United Nations researches the intercontinental transport of air pollutants including aerosols with strong support of the Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models (AeroCOM). The ongoing AeroCOM Phase III/HTAP2 experiment assesses relative contributions of regional and sector sources of aerosols and their precursor gases to the air quality using global aerosol transport models with latest emission inventories. In this study, the extended analyses on the relative contributions of each regional and sector emission to the radiative forcing of aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions are done from the AeroCOM Phase III/HTAP2 experiment. Simulated results from MIROC-SPRINTARS and other some global aerosol models participating in the the AeroCOM Phase III/HTAP2 experiment are assessed. Acknowledgements: This study is based on the AeroCOM Phase III/HTAP2 experiment and partly supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (S-12-3) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

Constraining the instantaneous aerosol influence on cloud albedo.

PubMed

Gryspeerdt, Edward; Quaas, Johannes; Ferrachat, Sylvaine; Gettelman, Andrew; Ghan, Steven; Lohmann, Ulrike; Morrison, Hugh; Neubauer, David; Partridge, Daniel G; Stier, Philip; Takemura, Toshihiko; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Minghuai; Zhang, Kai

2017-05-09

Much of the uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic forcing of climate change comes from uncertainties in the instantaneous effect of aerosols on cloud albedo, known as the Twomey effect or the radiative forcing from aerosol-cloud interactions (RFaci), a component of the total or effective radiative forcing. Because aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration ( N d ), previous studies have used the sensitivity of the N d to aerosol properties as a constraint on the strength of the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that relationships between aerosol and cloud properties in the present-day climate may not be suitable for determining the sensitivity of the N d to anthropogenic aerosol perturbations. Using an ensemble of global aerosol-climate models, this study demonstrates how joint histograms between N d and aerosol properties can account for many of the issues raised by previous studies. It shows that if the anthropogenic contribution to the aerosol is known, the RFaci can be diagnosed to within 20% of its actual value. The accuracy of different aerosol proxies for diagnosing the RFaci is investigated, confirming that using the aerosol optical depth significantly underestimates the strength of the aerosol-cloud interactions in satellite data.

Intensification of North American Megadroughts through Surface and Dust Aerosol Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, Benjamin I.; Seager, Richard; Miller, Ron L.; Mason, Joseph A

2013-01-01

Tree-ring-based reconstructions of the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) indicate that, during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), the central plains of North America experienced recurrent periods of drought spanning decades or longer. These megadroughts had exceptional persistence compared to more recent events, but the causes remain uncertain. The authors conducted a suite of general circulation model experiments to test the impact of sea surface temperature (SST) and land surface forcing on the MCA megadroughts over the central plains. The land surface forcing is represented as a set of dune mobilization boundary conditions, derived from available geomorphological evidence and modeled as increased bare soil area and a dust aerosol source (32deg-44degN, 105deg-95degW). In the experiments, cold tropical Pacific SST forcing suppresses precipitation over the central plains but cannot reproduce the overall drying or persistence seen in the PDSI reconstruction. Droughts in the scenario with dust aerosols, however, are amplified and have significantly longer persistence than in other model experiments, more closely matching the reconstructed PDSI. This additional drying occurs because the dust increases the shortwave planetary albedo, reducing energy inputs to the surface and boundary layer. The energy deficit increases atmospheric stability, inhibiting convection and reducing cloud cover and precipitation over the central plains. Results from this study provide the first model-based evidence that dust aerosol forcing and land surface changes could have contributed to the intensity and persistence of the central plains megadroughts, although uncertainties remain in the formulation of the boundary conditions and the future importance of these feedbacks.

Ambient Observations of Aerosols, Novel Aerosol Structures, And Their Engineering Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beres, Nicholas D.

The role of atmospheric aerosols remains a crucial issue in understanding and mitigating climate change in our world today. These particles influence the Earth by altering the Earth's delicate radiation balance, human health, and visibility. In particular, black carbon particulate matter remains the key driver in positive radiative forcing (i.e., warming) due to aerosols. Produced from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons, these compounds can be found in many different forms around the globe. This thesis provides an overview of three research topics: (1) the ambient characterization of aerosols in the Northern Indian Ocean, measurement techniques used, and how these aerosols influence local, regional, and global climate; (2) the exploration of novel soot superaggregate particles collected in the Northern Indian Ocean and around the globe and how the properties of these particles relate to human health and climate forcing; and (3) how aerogelated soot can be produced in a novel, one-step method utilizing an inverted flame reactor and how this material could be used in industrial settings.

Influence of aerosols on surface reaching spectral irradiance and introduction to a new technique of estimating aerosol radiative forcing from high resolution spectral flux measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, Roshan

2016-04-01

Aerosol radiative forcing estimates with high certainty are required in climate change studies. The approach in estimating the aerosol radiative forcing by using the chemical composition of aerosols is not effective as the chemical composition data with radiative properties are not widely available. We look into the approach where ground based spectral radiation flux measurement is made and along with an Radtiative transfer (RT) model, radiative forcing is estimated. Measurements of spectral flux were made using an ASD spectroradiometer with 350 - 1050 nm wavelength range and a 3nm resolution during around 54 clear-sky days during which AOD range was around 0.01 to 0.7. Simultaneous measurements of black carbon were also made using Aethalometer (Magee Scientific) which ranged from around 1.5 ug/m3 to 8 ug/m3. The primary study involved in understanding the sensitivity of spectral flux due to change in individual aerosol species (Optical properties of Aerosols and Clouds (OPAC) classified aerosol species) using the SBDART RT model. This made us clearly distinguish the influence of different aerosol species on the spectral flux. Following this, a new technique has been introduced to estimate an optically equivalent mixture of aerosol species for the given location. The new method involves matching different combinations of aerosol species in OPAC model and RT model as long as the combination which gives the minimum root mean squared deviation from measured spectral flux is obtained. Using the optically equivalent aerosol mixture and RT model, aerosol radiative forcing is estimated. Also an alternate method to estimate the spectral SSA is discussed. Here, the RT model, the observed spectral flux and spectral AOD is used. Spectral AOD is input to RT model and SSA is varied till the minimum root mean squared difference between observed and simulated spectral flux from RT model is obtained. The methods discussed are limited to clear sky scenes and its accuracy to derive

Radiative forcing and rapid adjustment of absorbing aerosols in the Pearl River Delta Region of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Z.; Yim, S. H. L.; Lau, G.

2016-12-01

Part of organic carbon defined as brown carbon (BrC) has been found to absorb solar radiation, especially in near-ultraviolet and blue bands, but their radiation impact is far less understood than black carbon (BC). Rapid adjustment thought to occur within a few weeks, induced by aerosol radiative effect and thereby alter cloud cover or other climate components. These effects are particularly pronounced for absorbing aerosols. The data gathered is from an online coupled model, WRF-Chem. A two-simulation test is conducted from July 8 to July 15. The baseline simulation doesn't account for aerosol-radiation interactions, whereas the sensitivity run includes it. The differences between these two simulations represent total effects of the aerosol instantaneous radiative forcing and subsequent rapid adjustment. In Figure 1, without cloud effect (clear sky), at the top of atmosphere (TOA), the SW radiation changes are negative in the PRD region, representing an overall cooling effect of aerosols. However, in the atmosphere (ATM), aerosols heat the atmosphere by absorbing incoming solar radiation with an average of 2.4 W/m2 (Table 1). After including rapid adjustment (all sky), the radiation change pattern becomes significantly different, especially at TOA and surface (SFC). This may be caused by cloud cover change due to rapid adjustment. The magnitude of SW radiation changes for all sky at all levels is smaller than that for clear sky. This result suggests the rapid adjustment counteracts the instantaneous radiative forcing of aerosols. At TOA, the cooling effect of the aerosol is 74% lower for all sky compared with clear sky, highlighting an overall warming effect of rapid adjustment in the PRD region. Aerosol-induced changes (W/m2) TOA ATM SFC Clear Sky -9.2 2.4 -11.6 All Sky -2.4 1.9 -4.3 Table 1. Aerosol-induced averaged changes in shortwave radiation due to aerosol-radiation interactions in the Pearl River Delta. The test shows the rapid adjustment of aerosols

Impacts of Aerosol Direct Effects on the South Asian climate: Assessment of Radiative Feedback Processes Using Model Simulations and Satellite/surface Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, S.; Gautam, R.; Lau, W. K.; Tsay, S.; Sun, W.; Kim, K.; Chern, J.; Colarco, P. R.; Hsu, N. C.; Lin, N.

2011-12-01

Current assessment of aerosol radiative effect is hindered by our incomplete knowledge of aerosol optical properties, especially absorption, and our current inability to quantify physical and microphysical processes. In this research, we investigate direct aerosol radiative effect over heavy aerosol loading areas (e.g., Indo-Gangetic Plains, South/East Asia) and its feedbacks on the South Asian climate during the pre-monsoon season (March-June) using the Purdue Regional Climate Model (PRCM) with prescribed aerosol data derived by the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS-5). Our modeling domain covers South and East Asia (60-140E and 0-50N) with spatial resolutions of 45 km in horizontal and 28 layers in vertical. The model is integrated from 15 February to 30 June 2008 continuously without nudging (i.e., only forced by initial/boundary conditions). Two numerical experiments are conducted with and without the aerosol-radiation effects. Both simulations are successful in reproducing the synoptic patterns on seasonal-to-interannual time scales and capturing a pre-monsoon feature of the northward rainfall propagation over Indian region in early June which shown in Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observation. Preliminary result suggests aerosol-radiation interactions mainly alter surface-atmosphere energetics and further result in an adjustment of the vertical temperature distribution in lower atmosphere (below 700 hPa). The modifications of temperature and associated rainfall and circulation feedbacks on the regional climate will be discussed in the presentation. In addition to modeling study, we will also present the most recent results on aerosol properties, regional aerosol absorption, and radiative forcing estimation based on NASA's operational satellite and ground-based remote sensing. Observational results show spatial gradients in aerosol loading and solar absorption accounting over Indo-Gangetic Plains during the pre-monsoon season. The

An Overview of the Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing Observational Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, P. B.; Chan, K. Roland (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Aerosol effects on atmospheric radiation are a leading source of uncertainty in predicting future climate. As a result, the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Program has established a Focus on Atmospheric Aerosols (IGAC/FAA) and endorsed a series of aerosol field campaigns. TARFOX, the second in the IGAC/FAA series, was designed to reduce this uncertainty by measuring aerosol properties and effects in the US eastern seaboard, where one of the world's major plumes of industrial haze moves from the continent over the Atlantic Ocean. TARFOX's objectives are to: 1. Make simultaneous measurements of: (a) aerosol effects on radiation fields, and (b) the chemical, physical, and optical properties of the aerosols causing those effects. 2. Perform a variety of closure studies by using overdetermined data sets to test the mutual consistency of measurements and calculations of a wide range of aerosol properties and effects. 3. Use the results of the closure studies to assess and reduce uncertainties in estimates of aerosol radiative forcing, as well as to guide future field programs. An important subset of the closure studies is tests and improvements of algorithms used to derive aerosol properties and radiative effects from satellite measurements. The TARFOX Intensive Field Period (IFP) was conducted July 10-31, 1996. It included coordinated measurements from four satellites (GOES-8, NOAA-14, ERS-2, LANDSAT), four aircraft (ER-2, C-130, C-131, and a modified Cessna), land sites, and ships. A variety of aerosol conditions was sampled, ranging from relatively clean behind frontal passages to moderately polluted with aerosol optical depths exceeding 0.5 at mid-visible wavelengths. The latter conditions included separate incidents of enhancements caused primarily by anthropogenic sources and another incident of enhancement apparently influenced by recent fog processing. Spatial gradients of aerosol optical thickness were sampled to aid in isolating aerosol effects from

Equilibrium climate response of the East Asian summer monsoon to forcing of anthropogenic aerosol species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhili; Wang, Qiuyan; Zhang, Hua

2017-12-01

We used an online aerosol-climate model to study the equilibrium climate response of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) to increases in anthropogenic emissions of sulfate, organic carbon, and black carbon aerosols from 1850 to 2000. Our results show that each of these aerosol species has a different effect on the EASM as a result of changes in the local sea-land thermal contrast and atmospheric circulation. The increased emission of sulfate aerosol leads to a decrease in the thermal contrast between the land and ocean, a southward shift of the East Asian subtropical jet, and significant northerly wind anomalies at 850 hPa over eastern China and the ambient oceans, markedly dampening the EASM. An increase in organic carbon aerosol results in pronounced surface cooling and the formation of an anomalous anticyclone over the oceans north of 30°N. These effects cause a slight increase in the sea-land thermal contrast and southerly flow anomalies to the west of the anticyclonic center, strengthening the northern EASM. An increase in organic carbon emission decreases the sea-land thermal contrast over southern China, which weakens the southern EASM. The response of the summer 850-hPa winds and rainfall over the East Asian monsoon region to an increase in black carbon emission is generally consistent with the response to an increase in organic carbon. The increase in black carbon emission leads to a strengthening of the northern EASM north of 35°N and a slight weakening of the southern EASM south of 35°N. The simulated response of the EASM to the increase in black carbon emission is unchanged when the emission of black carbon is scaled up by five times its year 2000 levels, although the intensities of the response is enhanced. The increase in sulfate emission primarily weakens the EASM, whereas the increases in black carbon and organic carbon emissions mitigate weakening of the northern EASM.

Constraining the instantaneous aerosol influence on cloud albedo

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gryspeerdt, Edward; Quaas, Johannes; Ferrachat, Sylvaine

Much of the uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic forcing of climate change comes from uncertainties in the instantaneous effect of aerosols on cloud albedo, known as the Twomey effect or the radiative forcing from aerosol–cloud interactions (RFaci), a component of the total or effective radiative forcing. Because aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration ( N d), previous studies have used the sensitivity of the N d to aerosol properties as a constraint on the strength of the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that relationships between aerosol andmore » cloud properties in the present-day climate may not be suitable for determining the sensitivity of the N d to anthropogenic aerosol perturbations. Using an ensemble of global aerosol–climate models, this study demonstrates how joint histograms between N d and aerosol properties can account for many of the issues raised by previous studies. It shows that if the anthropogenic contribution to the aerosol is known, the RFaci can be diagnosed to within 20% of its actual value. Furthermore, the accuracy of different aerosol proxies for diagnosing the RFaci is investigated, confirming that using the aerosol optical depth significantly underestimates the strength of the aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite data.« less

Constraining the instantaneous aerosol influence on cloud albedo

DOE PAGES

Gryspeerdt, Edward; Quaas, Johannes; Ferrachat, Sylvaine; ...

2017-04-26

Much of the uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic forcing of climate change comes from uncertainties in the instantaneous effect of aerosols on cloud albedo, known as the Twomey effect or the radiative forcing from aerosol–cloud interactions (RFaci), a component of the total or effective radiative forcing. Because aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration ( N d), previous studies have used the sensitivity of the N d to aerosol properties as a constraint on the strength of the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that relationships between aerosol andmore » cloud properties in the present-day climate may not be suitable for determining the sensitivity of the N d to anthropogenic aerosol perturbations. Using an ensemble of global aerosol–climate models, this study demonstrates how joint histograms between N d and aerosol properties can account for many of the issues raised by previous studies. It shows that if the anthropogenic contribution to the aerosol is known, the RFaci can be diagnosed to within 20% of its actual value. Furthermore, the accuracy of different aerosol proxies for diagnosing the RFaci is investigated, confirming that using the aerosol optical depth significantly underestimates the strength of the aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite data.« less

Constraining the instantaneous aerosol influence on cloud albedo

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gryspeerdt, Edward; Quaas, Johannes; Ferrachat, Sylvaine

2017-04-26

Much of the uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic forcing of climate change comes from uncertainties in the instantaneous effect of aerosols on cloud albedo, known as the Twomey effect or the radiative forcing from aerosol–cloud interactions (RFaci), a component of the total or effective radiative forcing. Because aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration (Nd), previous studies have used the sensitivity of the Nd to aerosol properties as a constraint on the strength of the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that relationships between aerosol and cloud properties inmore » the present-day climate may not be suitable for determining the sensitivity of the Nd to anthropogenic aerosol perturbations. Using an ensemble of global aerosol–climate models, this study demonstrates how joint histograms between Nd and aerosol properties can account for many of the issues raised by previous studies. It shows that if the anthropogenic contribution to the aerosol is known, the RFaci can be diagnosed to within 20% of its actual value. The accuracy of different aerosol proxies for diagnosing the RFaci is investigated, confirming that using the aerosol optical depth significantly underestimates the strength of the aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite data.« less

The aerosol-monsoon climate system of Asia: A new paradigm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, William K. M.

2016-02-01

This commentary is based on a series of recent lectures on aerosol-monsoon interactions I gave at the Beijing Normal University in August 2015. A main theme of the lectures is on a new paradigm of "An Aerosol-Monsoon-Climate-System", which posits that aerosol, like rainfall, cloud, and wind, is an integral component of the monsoon climate system, influencing monsoon weather and climate on all timescales. Here, salient issues discussed in my lectures and my personal perspective regarding interactions between atmospheric dynamics and aerosols from both natural and anthropogenic sources are summarized. My hope is that under this new paradigm, we can break down traditional disciplinary barriers, advance a deeper understanding of weather and climate in monsoon regions, as well as entrain a new generation of geoscientists to strive for a sustainable future for one of the most complex and challenging human-natural climate sub-system of the earth.

Do Responses to Different Anthropogenic Forcings Add Linearly in Climate Models?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marvel, Kate; Schmidt, Gavin A.; Shindell, Drew; Bonfils, Celine; LeGrande, Allegra N.; Nazarenko, Larissa; Tsigaridis, Kostas

2015-01-01

Many detection and attribution and pattern scaling studies assume that the global climate response to multiple forcings is additive: that the response over the historical period is statistically indistinguishable from the sum of the responses to individual forcings. Here, we use the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model (CCSM) simulations from the CMIP5 archive to test this assumption for multi-year trends in global-average, annual-average temperature and precipitation at multiple timescales. We find that responses in models forced by pre-computed aerosol and ozone concentrations are generally additive across forcings; however, we demonstrate that there are significant nonlinearities in precipitation responses to di?erent forcings in a configuration of the GISS model that interactively computes these concentrations from precursor emissions. We attribute these to di?erences in ozone forcing arising from interactions between forcing agents. Our results suggest that attribution to specific forcings may be complicated in a model with fully interactive chemistry and may provide motivation for other modeling groups to conduct further single-forcing experiments.

Infrared Aerosol Radiative Forcing at the Surface and the Top of the Atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Markowicz, Krzysztof M.; Flatau, Piotr J.; Vogelmann, Andrew M.; Quinn, Patricia K.; Welton, Ellsworth J.

2003-01-01

We study the clear-sky aerosol radiative forcing at infrared wavelengths using data from the Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia) cruise of the NOAA R/V Ronald H. Brown. Limited number of data points is analyzed mostly from ship and collocated satellite values. An optical model is derived from chemical measurements, lidar profiles, and visible extinction measurements which is used to and estimate the infrared aerosol optical thickness and the single scattering albedo. The IR model results are compared to detailed Fourier Transform Interferometer based infrared aerosol forcing estimates, pyrgeometer based infrared downward fluxes, and against the direct solar forcing observations. This combined approach attests for the self-consistency of the optical model and allows to derive quantities such as the infrared forcing at the top of the atmosphere or the infrared optical thickness. The mean infrared aerosol optical thickness at 10 microns is 0.08 and the single scattering albedo is 0.55. The modeled infrared aerosol forcing reaches 10 W/sq m during the cruise, which is a significant contribution to the total direct aerosol forcing. The surface infrared aerosol radiative forcing is between 10 to 25% of the shortwave aerosol forcing. The infrared aerosol forcing at the top of the atmosphere can go up to 19% of the solar aerosol forcing. We show good agreement between satellite (CERES instrument) retrievals and model results at the top of the atmosphere. Over the Sea of Japan, the average infrared radiative forcing is 4.6 W/sq m in the window region at the surface and it is 1.5 W/sq m at top of the atmosphere. The top of the atmosphere IR forcing efficiency is a strong function of aerosol temperature while the surface IR forcing efficiency varies between 37 and 55 W/sq m (per infrared optical depth unit). and changes between 10 to 18 W/sq m (per infrared optical depth unit).

Aerosol reductions could dominate regional climate responses in low GHG emission scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samset, B. H.; Sand, M.; Smith, C. J.; Bauer, S.; Forster, P.; Fuglestvedt, J. S.; Osprey, S. M.; Schleussner, C. F.

2017-12-01

Limiting global warming to current political goals requires strong, rapid mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Concurrently, emissions of anthropogenic aerosols will decline sharply, due to co-emission with greenhouse gases, and future measures to improve air quality. As the net climate effect of GHG and aerosol emissions over the industrial era is poorly constrained, predicting the impact of strong aerosol emission reductions remains challenging. Here we investigate the isolated and compound climate impacts from removing present day anthropogenic emissions of black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC) and SO2, and moderate, near term GHG dominated global warming, using four coupled climate models. As the dominating effect of aerosol emission reduction is a removal of cooling from sulphur, the resulting climate impacts amplify those of GHG induced warming. BC emissions contribute little to reducing surface warming, but have stronger regional impacts. For the major aerosol emission regions, extreme weather indices are more sensitive to aerosol removal than to GHG increases, per degree of surface warming. East Asia in particular stands out, mainly due to the high present regional aerosol emissions. We show how present climate models indicate that future regional climate change will depend strongly on changes in loading and distribution of aerosols in the atmosphere, in addition to surface temperature change.

Marine Aerosols and Clouds.

PubMed

Brooks, Sarah D; Thornton, Daniel C O

2018-01-03

The role of marine bioaerosols in cloud formation and climate is currently so uncertain that even the sign of the climate forcing is unclear. Marine aerosols form through direct emissions and through the conversion of gas-phase emissions to aerosols in the atmosphere. The composition and size of aerosols determine how effective they are in catalyzing the formation of water droplets and ice crystals in clouds by acting as cloud condensation nuclei and ice nucleating particles, respectively. Marine organic aerosols may be sourced both from recent regional phytoplankton blooms that add labile organic matter to the surface ocean and from long-term global processes, such as the upwelling of old refractory dissolved organic matter from the deep ocean. Understanding the formation of marine aerosols and their propensity to catalyze cloud formation processes are challenges that must be addressed given the major uncertainties associated with aerosols in climate models.

Technical Note: On the use of nudging for aerosol-climate model intercomparison studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, K.; Wan, H.; Liu, X.; Ghan, S. J.; Kooperman, G. J.; Ma, P.-L.; Rasch, P. J.

2014-04-01

Nudging is an assimilation technique widely used in the development and evaluation of climate models. Constraining the simulated wind and temperature fields using global weather reanalysis facilitates more straightforward comparison between simulation and observation, and reduces uncertainties associated with natural variabilities of the large-scale circulation. On the other hand, the forcing introduced by nudging can be strong enough to change the basic characteristics of the model climate. In the paper we show that for the Community Atmosphere Model version 5, due to the systematic temperature bias in the standard model and the sensitivity of simulated ice formation to anthropogenic aerosol concentration, nudging towards reanalysis results in substantial reductions in the ice cloud amount and the impact of anthropogenic aerosols on longwave cloud forcing. In order to reduce discrepancies between the nudged and unconstrained simulations and meanwhile take the advantages of nudging, two alternative experimentation methods are evaluated. The first one constrains only the horizontal winds. The second method nudges both winds and temperature, but replaces the long-term climatology of the reanalysis by that of the model. Results show that both methods lead to substantially improved agreement with the free-running model in terms of the top-of-atmosphere radiation budget and cloud ice amount. The wind-only nudging is more convenient to apply, and provides higher correlations of the wind fields, geopotential height and specific humidity between simulation and reanalysis. This suggests nudging the horizontal winds but not temperature is a good strategy for the investigation of aerosol indirect effects through ice clouds, since it provides well-constrained meteorology without strongly perturbing the model's mean climate.

Multi-Model Simulations of Aerosol and Ozone Radiative Forcing Due to Anthropogenic Emission Changes During the Period 1990-2015

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Myhre, Gunnar; Aas, Wenche; Ribu, Cherian; Collins, William; Faluvegi, Gregory S.; Flanner, Mark; Forster, Piers; Hodnebrog, Oivind; Klimont, Zbigniew; Lund, Marianne T.

2017-01-01

Over the past few decades, the geographical distribution of emissions of substances that alter the atmospheric energy balance has changed due to economic growth and air pollution regulations. Here, we show the resulting changes to aerosol and ozone abundances and their radiative forcing using recently updated emission data for the period 1990-2015, as simulated by seven global atmospheric composition models. The models broadly reproduce large-scale changes in surface aerosol and ozone based on observations (e.g. 1 to 3 percent per year in aerosols over the USA and Europe). The global mean radiative forcing due to ozone and aerosol changes over the 1990-2015 period increased by 0.17 plus or minus 0.08 watts per square meter, with approximately one-third due to ozone. This increase is more strongly positive than that reported in IPCC AR5 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report). The main reasons for the increased positive radiative forcing of aerosols over this period are the substantial reduction of global mean SO2 emissions, which is stronger in the new emission inventory compared to that used in the IPCC analysis, and higher black carbon emissions.

Investigation of short-term effective radiative forcing of fire aerosols over North America using nudged hindcast ensembles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Yawen; Zhang, Kai; Qian, Yun

Aerosols from fire emissions can potentially have large impact on clouds and radiation. However, fire aerosol sources are often intermittent, and their effect on weather and climate is difficult to quantify. Here we investigated the short-term effective radiative forcing of fire aerosols using the global aerosol–climate model Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). Different from previous studies, we used nudged hindcast ensembles to quantify the forcing uncertainty due to the chaotic response to small perturbations in the atmosphere state. Daily mean emissions from three fire inventories were used to consider the uncertainty in emission strength and injection heights. The simulated aerosolmore » optical depth (AOD) and mass concentrations were evaluated against in situ measurements and reanalysis data. Overall, the results show the model has reasonably good predicting skills. Short (10-day) nudged ensemble simulations were then performed with and without fire emissions to estimate the effective radiative forcing. Results show fire aerosols have large effects on both liquid and ice clouds over the two selected regions in April 2009. Ensemble mean results show strong negative shortwave cloud radiative effect (SCRE) over almost the entirety of southern Mexico, with a 10-day regional mean value of –3.0 W m –2. Over the central US, the SCRE is positive in the north but negative in the south, and the regional mean SCRE is small (–0.56 W m –2). For the 10-day average, we found a large ensemble spread of regional mean shortwave cloud radiative effect over southern Mexico (15.6 % of the corresponding ensemble mean) and the central US (64.3 %), despite the regional mean AOD time series being almost indistinguishable during the 10-day period. Moreover, the ensemble spread is much larger when using daily averages instead of 10-day averages. In conclusion, this demonstrates the importance of using a large ensemble of simulations to estimate the short

Investigation of short-term effective radiative forcing of fire aerosols over North America using nudged hindcast ensembles

DOE PAGES

Liu, Yawen; Zhang, Kai; Qian, Yun; ...

2018-01-03

Aerosols from fire emissions can potentially have large impact on clouds and radiation. However, fire aerosol sources are often intermittent, and their effect on weather and climate is difficult to quantify. Here we investigated the short-term effective radiative forcing of fire aerosols using the global aerosol–climate model Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). Different from previous studies, we used nudged hindcast ensembles to quantify the forcing uncertainty due to the chaotic response to small perturbations in the atmosphere state. Daily mean emissions from three fire inventories were used to consider the uncertainty in emission strength and injection heights. The simulated aerosolmore » optical depth (AOD) and mass concentrations were evaluated against in situ measurements and reanalysis data. Overall, the results show the model has reasonably good predicting skills. Short (10-day) nudged ensemble simulations were then performed with and without fire emissions to estimate the effective radiative forcing. Results show fire aerosols have large effects on both liquid and ice clouds over the two selected regions in April 2009. Ensemble mean results show strong negative shortwave cloud radiative effect (SCRE) over almost the entirety of southern Mexico, with a 10-day regional mean value of –3.0 W m –2. Over the central US, the SCRE is positive in the north but negative in the south, and the regional mean SCRE is small (–0.56 W m –2). For the 10-day average, we found a large ensemble spread of regional mean shortwave cloud radiative effect over southern Mexico (15.6 % of the corresponding ensemble mean) and the central US (64.3 %), despite the regional mean AOD time series being almost indistinguishable during the 10-day period. Moreover, the ensemble spread is much larger when using daily averages instead of 10-day averages. In conclusion, this demonstrates the importance of using a large ensemble of simulations to estimate the short

Global Climate Models Intercomparison of Anthropogenic Aerosols Effects on Regional Climate over North Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, J.; Zhang, R.; Wang, Y.; Ming, Y.; Lin, Y.; Pan, B.

2015-12-01

Aerosols can alter atmospheric radiation and cloud physics, which further exert impacts on weather and global climate. With the development and industrialization of the developing Asian countries, anthropogenic aerosols have received considerable attentions and remain to be the largest uncertainty in the climate projection. Here we assess the performance of two stat-of-art global climate models (National Center for Atmospheric Research-Community Atmosphere Model 5 (CAM5) and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Atmosphere Model 3 (AM3)) in simulating the impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on North Pacific storm track region. By contrasting two aerosol scenarios, i.e. present day (PD) and pre-industrial (PI), both models show aerosol optical depth (AOD) enhanced by about 22%, with CAM5 AOD 40% lower in magnitude due to the long range transport of anthropogenic aerosols. Aerosol effects on the ice water path (IWP), stratiform precipitation, convergence and convection strengths in the two models are distinctive in patterns and magnitudes. AM3 shows qualitatively good agreement with long-term satellite observations, while CAM5 overestimates convection and liquid water path resulting in an underestimation of large-scale precipitation and IWP. Due to coarse resolution and parameterization in convection schemes, both models' performance on convection needs to be improved. Aerosols performance on large-scale circulation and radiative budget are also examined in this study.

Desert dust and anthropogenic aerosol interactions in the Community Climate System Model coupled-carbon-climate model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mahowald, Natalie; Rothenberg, D.; Lindsay, Keith

2011-02-01

Coupled-carbon-climate simulations are an essential tool for predicting the impact of human activity onto the climate and biogeochemistry. Here we incorporate prognostic desert dust and anthropogenic aerosols into the CCSM3.1 coupled carbon-climate model and explore the resulting interactions with climate and biogeochemical dynamics through a series of transient anthropogenic simulations (20th and 21st centuries) and sensitivity studies. The inclusion of prognostic aerosols into this model has a small net global cooling effect on climate but does not significantly impact the globally averaged carbon cycle; we argue that this is likely to be because the CCSM3.1 model has a small climatemore » feedback onto the carbon cycle. We propose a mechanism for including desert dust and anthropogenic aerosols into a simple carbon-climate feedback analysis to explain the results of our and previous studies. Inclusion of aerosols has statistically significant impacts on regional climate and biogeochemistry, in particular through the effects on the ocean nitrogen cycle and primary productivity of altered iron inputs from desert dust deposition.« less

Developing and diagnosing climate change indictors of regional aerosol optical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sullivan, Ryan C.; Levy, Robert C.; da Silva, Arlindo M.; Pryor, Sara C.

2017-04-01

The US Global Change Research Program has developed climate indicators (CIs) to track changes in the physical, chemical, biological, and societal components of the climate system. Given the importance of atmospheric aerosol particles to clouds and radiative forcing, human mortality and morbidity, and biogeochemical cycles, we propose new aerosol particle CIs applicable to the US National Climate Assessment (NCA). Here we define these aerosol CIs and use them to quantify temporal trends in each NCA region. Furthermore, we use a synoptic classification (e.g., meteorological variables), and gas and particle emissions inventories to diagnose and attribute causes of observed changes. Our CIs are derived using output from the satellite-constrained Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Application, Version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis. MERRA-2 provides estimates of column-integrated aerosol optical properties at 0.625° by 0.5° resolution, including aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström exponent (AE), and single scattering albedo (SSA), which are related to aerosol loading, relative particle size, and chemical composition, respectively. For each NCA region, and for each aerosol variable, we derive statistics that describe mean and extreme values, as well as two metrics (spatial autocorrelation and coherence) that describe the spatial scales of aerosol variability. Consistent with previous analyses of aerosol precursor emissions and near-surface fine aerosol mass concentrations in the US, analyses of our aerosol CIs show that since 2000, both mean and extreme AOD have decreased over most NCA regions. There are significant (α = 0.05, using the non-parametric Kendall's tau) decreases in AOD for the Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE), Midwest (MW), and lower Great Plains (GPl) regions, and notable but not significant decreases in the Southwest (SW). AOD has increased for the Northwest (NW; significant) and upper Great Plains (GPu; not significant). Over all regions

Simulating Aerosol Indirect Effects with Improved Aerosol-Cloud- Precipitation Representations in a Coupled Regional Climate Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Yang; Leung, L. Ruby; Fan, Jiwen

This is a collaborative project among North Carolina State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego to address the critical need for an accurate representation of aerosol indirect effect in climate and Earth system models. In this project, we propose to develop and improve parameterizations of aerosol-cloud-precipitation feedbacks in climate models and apply them to study the effect of aerosols and clouds on radiation and hydrologic cycle. Our overall objective is to develop, improve, and evaluate parameterizations to enable more accurate simulations of these feedbacks in high resolution regional and globalmore » climate models.« less

CHASER: An Innovative Satellite Mission Concept to Measure the Effects of Aerosols on Clouds and Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renno, N.; Williams, E.; Rosenfeld, D.; Fischer, D.; Fischer, J.; Kremic, T.; Agrawal, A.; Andreae, M.; Bierbaum, R.; Blakeslee, R.; Boerner, A.; Bowles, N.; Christian, H.; Dunion, J.; Horvath, A.; Huang, X.; Khain, A.; Kinne, S.; Lemos, M.-C.; Penner, J.

2012-04-01

The formation of cloud droplets on aerosol particles, technically known as the activation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), is the fundamental process driving the interactions of aerosols with clouds and precipitation. Knowledge of these interactions is foundational to our understanding of weather and climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Decadal Survey (NRC 2007) indicate that the uncertainty in how clouds adjust to aerosol perturbations dominates the uncertainty in the overall quantification of the radiative forcing attributable to human activities. The Clouds, Hazards, and Aerosols Survey for Earth Researchers (CHASER) mission concept responds to the IPCC and Decadal Survey concerns by studying the activation of CCN and their interactions with clouds and storms. CHASER proposes to revolutionize our understanding of the interactions of aerosols with clouds by making the first global measurements of the fundamental physical entity linking them: activated cloud condensation nuclei. The CHASER mission was conceptualized to measure all quantities necessary for determining the interactions of aerosols with clouds and storms. Measurements by current satellites allow the determination of crude profiles of cloud particle size but not of the activated CCN that seed them. CHASER uses a new technique (Freud et al. 2011; Rosenfeld et al. 2012) and high-heritage instruments to produce the first global maps of activated CCN and the properties of the clouds associated with them. CHASER measures the CCN concentration and cloud thermodynamic forcing simultaneously, allowing their effects to be distinguished. Changes in the behavior of a group of weather systems in which only one of the quantities varies (a partial derivative of the intensity with the desirable quantity) allow the determination of each effect statistically. The high uncertainties of current climate predictions limit their much-needed use in decision-making. CHASER mitigates this

Aerosols and their Impact on Radiation, Clouds, Precipitation & Severe Weather Events

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Zhanqing; Rosenfeld, Daniel; Fan, Jiwen

Aerosols, the tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere, have been in the forefront of environmental and climate change sciences as the primary atmospheric pollutant and external force affecting Earth’s weather and climate. There are two dominant mechanisms by which aerosols affect weather and climate: aerosol-radiation interactions (ARI) and aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI). ARI arises from aerosol scattering and absorption, which alters the radiation budgets of the atmosphere and surface, while ACI is rooted to the fact that aerosols serve as cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei. Both ARI and ACI are coupled with atmospheric dynamics to produce a chain of complexmore » interactions with a large range of meteorological variables that influence both weather and climate. Elaborated here are the impacts of aerosols on the radiation budget, clouds (microphysics, structure, and lifetime), precipitation, and severe weather events (lightning, thunderstorms, hail, and tornados). Depending on environmental variables and aerosol properties, the effects can be both positive and negative, posing the largest uncertainties in the external forcing of the climate system. This has considerably hindered our ability in projecting future climate changes and in doing accurate numerical weather predictions.« less

Aerosols and Clouds: In Cahoots to Change Climate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berg, Larry

Key knowledge gaps persist despite advances in the scientific understanding of how aerosols and clouds evolve and affect climate. The Two-Column Aerosol Project, or TCAP, was designed to provide a detailed set of observations to tackle this area of unknowns. Led by PNNL atmospheric scientist Larry Berg, ARM's Climate Research Facility was deployed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts for the 12-month duration of TCAP, which came to a close in June 2013. "We are developing new tools to look at particle chemistry, like our mass spectrometer used in TCAP that can tell us the individual chemical composition of an aerosol," saidmore » Berg. "Then, we'll run our models and compare it with the data that we have to make sure we're getting correct answers and make sure our climate models are reflecting the best information."« less

Aerosols and Clouds: In Cahoots to Change Climate

ScienceCinema

Berg, Larry

2018-01-16

Key knowledge gaps persist despite advances in the scientific understanding of how aerosols and clouds evolve and affect climate. The Two-Column Aerosol Project, or TCAP, was designed to provide a detailed set of observations to tackle this area of unknowns. Led by PNNL atmospheric scientist Larry Berg, ARM's Climate Research Facility was deployed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts for the 12-month duration of TCAP, which came to a close in June 2013. "We are developing new tools to look at particle chemistry, like our mass spectrometer used in TCAP that can tell us the individual chemical composition of an aerosol," said Berg. "Then, we'll run our models and compare it with the data that we have to make sure we're getting correct answers and make sure our climate models are reflecting the best information."

Aerosol forcing of extreme summer drought over North China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, L.

2017-12-01

The frequency of extreme summer drought has been increasing in North China during the past sixty years, which has caused serious water shortages. It remains unclear whether anthropogenic forcing has contributed to the increasing extreme droughts. Using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) re-analysis data and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) model simulations with various combinations of historical forcings, the authors investigated the driving mechanism behind the observed changes. Metrological drought is usually measured by precipitation anomalies, which show lower fidelity in current climate models compared to largescale circulation patterns. Based on NCEP/NCAR re-analysis, a linear relationship is firstly established between the weakest regional average 850 hPa southerly winds and extreme summer drought. This meridional winds index (MWI) is then used as a proxy for attribution of extreme North China drought using CMIP5 outputs. Examination of the CMIP5 simulations reveals that the probability of the extreme summer droughts with the first percentile of MWI for 1850-2004 under anthropogenic forcing has increased by 100%, on average, relative to a pre-industrial control run. The more frequent occurrence of extremely weak MWIs or drought over North China is ascribed from weakened climate and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation due to the direct cooling effect from increased aerosol.

Beyond MODIS: Developing an aerosol climate data record

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levy, R. C.; Mattoo, S.; Munchak, L. A.; Patadia, F.; Laszlo, I.; Holz, R.

2013-12-01

As defined by the National Research Council, a climate data record (CDR) is a time series of measurements of sufficient length, consistency, and continuity to determine climate variability and change. As one of our most pressing research questions concerns changes in global direct aerosol radiative forcing (DARF), creating an aerosol CDR is of high importance. To reduce our uncertainties in DARF, we need uncertainty in global aerosol optical depth (AOD) reduced to ×0.02 or better, or about 10% of global mean AOD (~0.15-0.20). To quantify aerosol trends with significance, we also need a stable time series at least 20-30 years. By this Fall-2013 AGU meeting, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) has been flying on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites for 14 years and 11.5 years, respectively. During this time, we have fine-tuned the aerosol retrieval algorithms and data processing protocols, resulting in a well characterized product of aerosol optical depth (AOD). MODIS AOD has been extensively compared to ground-based sunphotometer data, showing per-retrieval expected error (EE) of ×(0.03 + 5%) over ocean, and has been generally adopted as a robust and stable environmental data record (EDR). With the 2011 launch of the Visible and Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard Suomi-NPP, we have begun a new aerosol time series. The VIIRS AOD product has stabilized to the point where, compared to ground-based AERONET sunphotometer, the VIIRS AOD is within similar EE envelope as MODIS. Thus, if VIIRS continues to perform as expected, it too can provide a robust and stable aerosol EDR. What will it take to stitch MODIS and VIIRS into a robust aerosol CDR? Based on the recent experience of MODIS 'Collection 6' development, there are many details of aerosol retrieval that each lead to ×0.01 uncertainties in global AOD. These include 'radiative transfer' assumptions such as calculations for gas absorption and sea-level Rayleigh optical depth, 'decision

Global Impacts of Gas-Phase Chemistry-Aerosol Interactions on Direct Radiative Forcing by Anthropogenic Aerosols and Ozone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liao, Hong; Seinfeld, John H.

2005-01-01

We present here a first global modeling study on the influence of gas-phase chemistry/aerosol interactions on estimates of anthropogenic forcing by tropospheric O3 and aerosols. Concentrations of gas-phase species and sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, black carbon, primary organic carbon, secondary organic carbon, sea salt, and mineral dust aerosols in the preindustrial, present-day, and year 2100 (IPCC SRES A2) atmospheres are simulated online in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model II' (GISS GCM II'). With fully coupled chemistry and aerosols, the preindustrial, presentday, and year 2100 global burdens of tropospheric ozone are predicted to be 190, 319, and 519 Tg, respectively. The burdens of sulfate, nitrate, black carbon, and organic carbon are predicted respectively to be 0.32. 0.18, 0.01, 0.33 Tg in preindustrial time, 1.40, 0.48, 0.23, 1.60 Tg in presentday, and 1.37, 1.97, 0.54, 3.31 Tg in year 2100. Anthropogenic O3 is predicted to have a globally and annually averaged present-day forcing of +0.22 W m(sup -2) and year 2100 forcing of +0.57 W m(sup -2) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). Net anthropogenic TOA forcing by internally mixed sulfate, nitrate, organic carbon, and black carbon aerosols is estimated to be virtually zero in the present-day and +0.34 W m(sup -2) in year 2100, whereas it is predicted to be -0.39 W m(sup -2) in present-day and -0.61 W m(sup -2) in year 2100 if the aerosols are externally mixed. Heterogeneous reactions are shown to be important in affecting anthropogenic forcing. When reactions of N2O5, NO3, NO2, and HO2 on aerosols are accounted for, TOA anthropogenic O3 forcing is less by 20-45% in present-day and by 20-32% in year 2100 at mid to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, as compared with values predicted in the absence of heterogeneous gas aerosol reactions. Mineral dust uptake of HNO3 and O3 is shown to have practically no influence on anthropogenic O3 forcing. Heterogeneous reactions of N2Os

Sensitivity of aerosol indirect forcing and autoconversion to cloud droplet parameterization: an assessment with the NASA Global Modeling Initiative.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sotiropoulou, R. P.; Meshkhidze, N.; Nenes, A.

2006-12-01

The aerosol indirect forcing is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in assessments of anthropogenic climate change [IPCC, 2001]. Much of this uncertainty arises from the approach used for linking cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) to precursor aerosol. Global Climate Models (GCM) use a wide range of cloud droplet activation mechanisms ranging from empirical [Boucher and Lohmann, 1995] to detailed physically- based formulations [e.g., Abdul-Razzak and Ghan, 2000; Fountoukis and Nenes, 2005]. The objective of this study is to assess the uncertainties in indirect forcing and autoconversion of cloud water to rain caused by the application of different cloud droplet parameterization mechanisms; this is an important step towards constraining the aerosol indirect effects (AIE). Here we estimate the uncertainty in indirect forcing and autoconversion rate using the NASA Global Model Initiative (GMI). The GMI allows easy interchange of meteorological fields, chemical mechanisms and the aerosol microphysical packages. Therefore, it is an ideal tool for assessing the effect of different parameters on aerosol indirect forcing. The aerosol module includes primary emissions, chemical production of sulfate in clear air and in-cloud aqueous phase, gravitational sedimentation, dry deposition, wet scavenging in and below clouds, and hygroscopic growth. Model inputs include SO2 (fossil fuel and natural), black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), mineral dust and sea salt. The meteorological data used in this work were taken from the NASA Data Assimilation Office (DAO) and two different GCMs: the NASA GEOS4 finite volume GCM (FVGCM) and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies version II' (GISS II') GCM. Simulations were carried out for "present day" and "preindustrial" emissions using different meteorological fields (i.e. DAO, FVGCM, GISS II'); cloud droplet number concentration is computed from the correlations of Boucher and Lohmann [1995], Abdul-Razzak and Ghan [2000

Uncertainties in global aerosols and climate effects due to biofuel emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kodros, J. K.; Scott, C. E.; Farina, S. C.; Lee, Y. H.; L'Orange, C.; Volckens, J.; Pierce, J. R.

2015-04-01

Aerosol emissions from biofuel combustion impact both health and climate; however, while reducing emissions through improvements to combustion technologies will improve health, the net effect on climate is largely unconstrained. In this study, we examine sensitivities in global aerosol concentration, direct radiative climate effect, and cloud-albedo aerosol indirect climate effect to uncertainties in biofuel emission factors, optical mixing-state, and model nucleation and background SOA. We use the Goddard Earth Observing System global chemical-transport model (GEOS-Chem) with TwO Moment Aerosol Sectional (TOMAS) microphysics. The emission factors include: amount, composition, size and hygroscopicity, as well as optical mixing-state properties. We also evaluate emissions from domestic coal use, which is not biofuel but is also frequently emitted from homes. We estimate the direct radiative effect assuming different mixing states (internal, core-shell, and external) with and without absorptive organic aerosol (brown carbon). We find the global-mean direct radiative effect of biofuel emissions ranges from -0.02 to +0.06 W m-2 across all simulation/mixing state combinations with regional effects in source regions ranging from -0.2 to +1.2 W m-2. The global-mean cloud-albedo aerosol indirect effect ranges from +0.01 to -0.02 W m-2 with regional effects in source regions ranging from -1.0 to -0.05 W m-2. The direct radiative effect is strongly dependent on uncertainties in emissions mass, composition, emissions aerosol size distributions and assumed optical mixing state, while the indirect effect is dependent on the emissions mass, emissions aerosol size distribution and the choice of model nucleation and secondary organic aerosol schemes. The sign and magnitude of these effects have a strong regional dependence. We conclude that the climate effects of biofuel aerosols are largely unconstrained, and the overall sign of the aerosol effects is unclear due to uncertainties

Atmospheric Teleconnection over Eurasia Induced by Aerosol Radiative Forcing During Boreal Spring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Maeng-Ki; Lau, K. M.; Chin, Mian; Kim, Kyu-Myong; Sud, Y. C.; Walker, Greg K.

2005-01-01

The direct effects of aerosols on global and regional climate during boreal spring are investigated based on simulations using the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) finite-volume general circulation model (fvGCM) with Microphyics of clouds in Relaxed Arakawa Schubert Scheme (McRAS). The aerosol loading are prescribed from three-dimensional monthly distribution of tropospheric aerosols viz., sulfate, black carbon, organic carbon, soil dust, and sea salt from output of the Goddard Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport model (GOCART). The aerosol extinction coefficient, single scattering albedo, and asymmetric factor are computed as wavelength-dependent radiative forcing in the radiative transfer scheme of the fvGCM, and as a function of the aerosol loading and ambient relative humidity. We find that anomalous atmospheric heat sources induced by absorbing aerosols (dust and black carbon) excites a planetary scale teleconnection pattern in sea level pressure, temperature and geopotential height spanning North Africa through Eurasia to the North Pacific. Surface cooling due to direct effects of aerosols is found in the vicinity and downstream of the aerosol source regions, i.e., South Asia, East Asia, and northern and western Africa. Additionally, atmospheric heating is found in regions with large loading of dust (over Northern Africa, and Middle East), and black carbon (over South-East Asia). Paradoxically, the most pronounced feature in aerosol-induced surface temperature is an east-west dipole anomaly with strong cooling over the Caspian Sea, and warming over central and northeastern Asia, where aerosol concentration are low. Analyses of circulation anomalies show that the dipole anomaly is a part of an atmospheric teleconnection driven by atmospheric heating anomalies induced by absorbing aerosols in the source regions, but the influence was conveyed globally through barotropic energy dispersion and sustained by feedback processes

Do responses to different anthropogenic forcings add linearly in climate models?

DOE PAGES

Marvel, Kate; Schmidt, Gavin A.; Shindell, Drew; ...

2015-10-14

Many detection and attribution and pattern scaling studies assume that the global climate response to multiple forcings is additive: that the response over the historical period is statistically indistinguishable from the sum of the responses to individual forcings. Here, we use the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model (CCSM4) simulations from the CMIP5 archive to test this assumption for multi-year trends in global-average, annual-average temperature and precipitation at multiple timescales. We find that responses in models forced by pre-computed aerosol and ozone concentrations are generally additive across forcings. However,more » we demonstrate that there are significant nonlinearities in precipitation responses to different forcings in a configuration of the GISS model that interactively computes these concentrations from precursor emissions. We attribute these to differences in ozone forcing arising from interactions between forcing agents. Lastly, our results suggest that attribution to specific forcings may be complicated in a model with fully interactive chemistry and may provide motivation for other modeling groups to conduct further single-forcing experiments.« less

Global climate impacts of country-level primary carbonaceous aerosol from solid-fuel cookstove emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lacey, Forrest; Henze, Daven

2015-11-01

Cookstove use is globally one of the largest unregulated anthropogenic sources of primary carbonaceous aerosol. While reducing cookstove emissions through national-scale mitigation efforts has clear benefits for improving indoor and ambient air quality, and significant climate benefits from reduced green-house gas emissions, climate impacts associated with reductions to co-emitted black (BC) and organic carbonaceous aerosol are not well characterized. Here we attribute direct, indirect, semi-direct, and snow/ice albedo radiative forcing (RF) and associated global surface temperature changes to national-scale carbonaceous aerosol cookstove emissions. These results are made possible through the use of adjoint sensitivity modeling to relate direct RF and BC deposition to emissions. Semi- and indirect effects are included via global scaling factors, and bounds on these estimates are drawn from current literature ranges for aerosol RF along with a range of solid fuel emissions characterizations. Absolute regional temperature potentials are used to estimate global surface temperature changes. Bounds are placed on these estimates, drawing from current literature ranges for aerosol RF along with a range of solid fuel emissions characterizations. We estimate a range of 0.16 K warming to 0.28 K cooling with a central estimate of 0.06 K cooling from the removal of cookstove aerosol emissions. At the national emissions scale, countries’ impacts on global climate range from net warming (e.g., Mexico and Brazil) to net cooling, although the range of estimated impacts for all countries span zero given uncertainties in RF estimates and fuel characterization. We identify similarities and differences in the sets of countries with the highest emissions and largest cookstove temperature impacts (China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal), those with the largest temperature impact per carbon emitted (Kazakhstan, Estonia, and Mongolia), and those that would provide the

Global direct radiative forcing by process-parameterized aerosol optical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KirkevâG, Alf; Iversen, Trond

2002-10-01

A parameterization of aerosol optical parameters is developed and implemented in an extended version of the community climate model version 3.2 (CCM3) of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research. Direct radiative forcing (DRF) by monthly averaged calculated concentrations of non-sea-salt sulfate and black carbon (BC) is estimated. Inputs are production-specific BC and sulfate from [2002] and background aerosol size distribution and composition. The scheme interpolates between tabulated values to obtain the aerosol single scattering albedo, asymmetry factor, extinction coefficient, and specific extinction coefficient. The tables are constructed by full calculations of optical properties for an array of aerosol input values, for which size-distributed aerosol properties are estimated from theory for condensation and Brownian coagulation, assumed distribution of cloud-droplet residuals from aqueous phase oxidation, and prescribed properties of the background aerosols. Humidity swelling is estimated from the Köhler equation, and Mie calculations finally yield spectrally resolved aerosol optical parameters for 13 solar bands. The scheme is shown to give excellent agreement with nonparameterized DRF calculations for a wide range of situations. Using IPCC emission scenarios for the years 2000 and 2100, calculations with an atmospheric global cliamte model (AFCM) yield a global net anthropogenic DRF of -0.11 and 0.11 W m-2, respectively, when 90% of BC from biomass burning is assumed anthropogenic. In the 2000 scenario, the individual DRF due to sulfate and BC has separately been estimated to -0.29 and 0.19 W m-2, respectively. Our estimates of DRF by BC per BC mass burden are lower than earlier published estimates. Some sensitivity tests are included to investigate to what extent uncertain assumptions may influence these results.

Multi-site characterization of tropical aerosols: Implications for regional radiative forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sumit, Kumar; Devara, P. C. S.; Manoj, M. G.

2012-03-01

A land campaign, as a part of the Indian Space Research Organization-Geosphere Biosphere Program (ISRO-GBP), has been organized using a suit of instruments like AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) Sun/Sky sunphotometer, Microtops-II (MICROprocessor-controlled Total Ozone Portable Spectrometer), short-wave pyranometer from December 1, 2006 to April 30, 2007, over five locations (Ahmedabad, Pune, Sinhgad, Trivandrum and Gadanki) representing different environments. The dominance of different aerosol types such as biomass burning, urban/industrial pollution, marine origin and desert-dust particles is expected at these five sites. In all locations, significant day-to-day variability in AOD and Ångström exponent is observed. The Ångström exponent exhibits its lowest values over semi-arid region (Ahmedabad) 0.4-0.7, while it is around 1.8 at rural site (Gadanki). The retrieved volume size distributions for Pune, Ahmedabad and Trivandrum are found to be bimodal with varying concentration of each mode. Interesting feature of this observation is, very low coarse-mode volume concentration observed at Trivandrum even though observations were made about 300 m from the coast. The synergy of results from these complementary measurements is reflected in the computed regional aerosol radiative forcing and heating rates. We have used a radiative transfer model (SBDART) to examine the variations of aerosol direct radiative effect (ADRE) and heating rates to give an overall estimation of the effect on climate. The ADRE, over different measurement sites, at short wavelength is found to be negative at the surface in the range of - 18 to - 59 W m - 2 , and TOA forcing values varied from + 0.9 to - 8 W m - 2 .

Climate response of the South Asian monsoon system to anthropogenic aerosols

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ganguly, Dilip; Rasch, Philip J.; Wang, Hailong

2012-07-13

The equilibrium climate response to the total effects (direct, indirect and semi-direct effects) of aerosols arising from anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions on the South Asian summer monsoon system is studied using a coupled atmosphere-slab ocean model. Our results suggest that anthropogenic and biomass burning aerosols generally induce a reduction in mean summer monsoon precipitation over most parts of the Indian subcontinent, strongest along the western coastline of the Indian peninsula and eastern Nepal region, but modest increases also occur over the north western part of the subcontinent. While most of the noted reduction in precipitation is triggered by increasedmore » emissions of aerosols from anthropogenic activities, modest increases in the north west are mostly associated with decreases in local emissions of aerosols from forest fire and grass fire sources. Anthropogenic aerosols from outside Asia also contribute to the overall reduction in precipitation but the dominant contribution comes from aerosol sources within Asia. Local emissions play a more important role in the total rainfall response to anthropogenic aerosol sources during the early monsoon period, whereas both local as well as remote emissions of aerosols play almost equally important roles during the later part of the monsoon period. While precipitation responses are primarily driven by local aerosol forcing, regional surface temperature changes over the region are strongly influenced by anthropogenic aerosols from sources further away (non-local changes). Changes in local anthropogenic organic and black carbon emissions by as much as a factor of two (preserving their ratio) produce the same basic signatures in the model's summer monsoon temperature and precipitation responses.« less

The economics (or lack thereof) of aerosol geoengineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goes, M.; Keller, K.; Tuana, N.

2009-04-01

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are changing the Earth's climate and impose substantial risks for current and future generations. What are scientifically sound, economically viable, and ethically defendable strategies to manage these climate risks? Ratified international agreements call for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Recent proposals, however, call for the deployment of a different approach: to geoengineer climate by injecting aerosol precursors into the stratosphere. Published economic studies typically suggest that substituting aerosol geoengineering for abatement of carbon dioxide emissions results in large net monetary benefits. However, these studies neglect the risks of aerosol geoengineering due to (i) the potential for future geoengineering failures and (ii) the negative impacts associated with the aerosol forcing. Here we use a simple integrated assessment model of climate change to analyze potential economic impacts of aerosol geoengineering strategies over a wide range of uncertain parameters such as climate sensitivity, the economic damages due to climate change, and the economic damages due to aerosol geoengineering forcing. The simplicity of the model provides the advantages of parsimony and transparency, but it also imposes severe caveats on the interpretation of the results. For example, the analysis is based on a globally aggregated model and is hence silent on the question of intragenerational distribution of costs and benefits. In addition, the analysis neglects the effects of endogenous learning about the climate system. We show that the risks associated with a future geoengineering failure and negative impacts of aerosol forcings can cause geoenginering strategies to fail an economic cost-benefit test. One key to this finding is that a geoengineering failure would lead to dramatic and abrupt climatic changes. The monetary damages due to this failure can

Sources, Transport, and Climate Impacts of Biomass Burning Aerosols

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chin, Mian

2010-01-01

In this presentation, I will first talk about fundamentals of modeling of biomass burning emissions of aerosols, then show the results of GOCART model simulated biomass burning aerosols. I will compare the model results with observations of satellite and ground-based network in terms of total aerosol optical depth, aerosol absorption optical depth, and vertical distributions. Finally the long-range transport of biomass burning aerosols and the climate effects will be addressed. I will also discuss the uncertainties associated with modeling and observations of biomass burning aerosols

How Well Can Aerosol Measurements from the Terra Morning Polar Orbiting Satellite Represent the Daily Aerosol Abundance and Properties?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufman, Y. J.; Holben, B. N.; Tanre, D.; Slutzker, I.; Eck, T. F.; Smirnov, A.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The Terra mission, launched at the dawn of 1999, and Aqua mission to be launched soon, will possess innovative measurements of the aerosol daily spatial distribution, distinguish between dust, smoke and regional pollution and measure aerosol radiative forcing of climate. Their polar orbit gives daily global coverage, however measurements are acquired at specific time of the day. To what degree can present measurements from Terra taken between 10:00 and 11:30 AM local time, represent the daily average aerosol forcing of climate? Here we answer this question using 7 years of data from the distributed ground based 50-70 instrument Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) This (AERONET) half a million measurement data set shows that Terra aerosol measurements represent the daily average values within 5%. The excellent representation is found for large dust particles or small aerosol particles from Fires or regional pollution and for any range of the optical thickness, a measure of the amount of aerosol in the atmosphere.

Uncertainties in global aerosols and climate effects due to biofuel emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kodros, J. K.; Scott, C. E.; Farina, S. C.; Lee, Y. H.; L'Orange, C.; Volckens, J.; Pierce, J. R.

2015-08-01

Aerosol emissions from biofuel combustion impact both health and climate; however, while reducing emissions through improvements to combustion technologies will improve health, the net effect on climate is largely unconstrained. In this study, we examine sensitivities in global aerosol concentration, direct radiative climate effect, and cloud-albedo aerosol indirect climate effect to uncertainties in biofuel emission factors, optical mixing state, and model nucleation and background secondary organic aerosol (SOA). We use the Goddard Earth Observing System global chemical-transport model (GEOS-Chem) with TwO Moment Aerosol Sectional (TOMAS) microphysics. The emission factors include amount, composition, size, and hygroscopicity, as well as optical mixing-state properties. We also evaluate emissions from domestic coal use, which is not biofuel but is also frequently emitted from homes. We estimate the direct radiative effect assuming different mixing states (homogeneous, core-shell, and external) with and without absorptive organic aerosol (brown carbon). We find the global-mean direct radiative effect of biofuel emissions ranges from -0.02 to +0.06 W m-2 across all simulation/mixing-state combinations with regional effects in source regions ranging from -0.2 to +0.8 W m-2. The global-mean cloud-albedo aerosol indirect effect (AIE) ranges from +0.01 to -0.02 W m-2 with regional effects in source regions ranging from -1.0 to -0.05 W m-2. The direct radiative effect is strongly dependent on uncertainties in emissions mass, composition, emissions aerosol size distributions, and assumed optical mixing state, while the indirect effect is dependent on the emissions mass, emissions aerosol size distribution, and the choice of model nucleation and secondary organic aerosol schemes. The sign and magnitude of these effects have a strong regional dependence. We conclude that the climate effects of biofuel aerosols are largely unconstrained, and the overall sign of the aerosol

In Situ Measurement of Aerosol Extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strawa, Anthony W.; Castaneda, R.; Owano, T. G.; Bear, D.; Gore, Warren J. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Aerosols are important contributors to the radiative forcing in the atmosphere. Much of the uncertainty in our knowledge of climate forcing is due to uncertainties in the radiative forcing due to aerosols as illustrated in the IPCC reports of the last ten years. Improved measurement of aerosol optical properties, therefore, is critical to an improved understanding of atmospheric radiative forcing. Additionally, attempts to reconcile in situ and remote measurements of aerosol radiative properties have generally not been successful. This is due in part to the fact that it has been impossible to measure aerosol extinction in situ in the past. In this presentation we introduce a new instrument that employs the techniques used in cavity ringdown spectroscopy to measure the aerosol extinction and scattering coefficients in situ. A prototype instrument has been designed and tested in the lab and the field. It is capable of measuring aerosol extinction coefficient to 2x10(exp -6) per meter. This prototype instrument is described and results are presented.

Radiative Importance of Aerosol-Cloud Interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsay, Si-Chee

1999-01-01

even greater consequences. Presently we know that through the use of fossil fuel and land-use changes we have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In parallel, we have seen a modest increase of global temperature in the last century. These two observations have been linked as cause and effect by climate models, but this connection is still experimentally not verified. The spatial and seasonal distribution of aerosol forcing is different from that of greenhouse gases, thus generating a different spatial fingerprint of climate change. This fingerprint was suggested as a method to identify the response of the climate system to anthropogenic forcing of greenhouse gases and aerosol. The aerosol fingerprint may be the only way to firmly establish the presence (or absence) of human impact on climate. Aerosol-cloud interaction through the indirect effect will be an important component of establishing this fingerprint.

Aerosol nucleation and its role for clouds and Earth's radiative forcing in the aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazil, J.; Stier, P.; Zhang, K.; Quaas, J.; Kinne, S.; O'Donnell, D.; Rast, S.; Esch, M.; Ferrachat, S.; Lohmann, U.; Feichter, J.

2010-05-01

Nucleation from the gas phase is an important source of aerosol particles in the Earth's atmosphere, contributing to the number of cloud condensation nuclei, which form cloud droplets. We have implemented in the aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM a new scheme for neutral and charged nucleation of sulfuric acid and water based on laboratory data, and nucleation of an organic compound and sulfuric acid using a parametrization of cluster activation based on field measurements. We give details of the implementation, compare results with observations, and investigate the role of the individual aerosol nucleation mechanisms for clouds and the Earth's radiative budget. The results of our simulations are most consistent with observations when neutral and charged nucleation of sulfuric acid proceed throughout the troposphere and nucleation due to cluster activation is limited to the forested boundary layer. The globally averaged annual mean contributions of the individual nucleation processes to total absorbed solar short-wave radiation via the direct, semi-direct, indirect cloud-albedo and cloud-lifetime effects in our simulations are -1.15 W/m2 for charged H2SO4/H2O nucleation, -0.235 W/m2 for cluster activation, and -0.05 W/m2 for neutral H2SO4/H2O nucleation. The overall effect of nucleation is -2.55 W/m2, which exceeds the sum of the individual terms due to feedbacks and interactions in the model. Aerosol nucleation contributes over the oceans with -2.18 W/m2 to total absorbed solar short-wave radiation, compared to -0.37 W/m2 over land. We explain the higher effect of aerosol nucleation on Earth's radiative budget over the oceans with the larger area covered by ocean clouds, due to the larger contrast in albedo between clouds and the ocean surface compared to continents, and the larger susceptibility of pristine clouds owing to the saturation of effects. The large effect of charged nucleation in our simulations is not in contradiction with small effects seen in local

Global Observations of Aerosols and Clouds from Combined Lidar and Passive Instruments to Improve Radiation Budget and Climate Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winker, David M.

1999-01-01

Current uncertainties in the effects of clouds and aerosols on the Earth radiation budget limit our understanding of the climate system and the potential for global climate change. Pathfinder Instruments for Cloud and Aerosol Spaceborne Observations - Climatologie Etendue des Nuages et des Aerosols (PICASSO-CENA) is a recently approved satellite mission within NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program which will address these uncertainties with a unique suite of active and passive instruments. The Lidar In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) demonstrated the potential benefits of space lidar for studies of clouds and aerosols. PICASSO-CENA builds on this experience with a payload consisting of a two-wavelength polarization-sensitive lidar, an oxygen A-band spectrometer (ABS), an imaging infrared radiometer (IIR), and a wide field camera (WFC). Data from these instruments will be used to measure the vertical distributions of aerosols and clouds in the atmosphere, as well as optical and physical properties of aerosols and clouds which influence the Earth radiation budget. PICASSO-CENA will be flown in formation with the PM satellite of the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) to provide a comprehensive suite of coincident measurements of atmospheric state, aerosol and cloud optical properties, and radiative fluxes. The mission will address critical uncertainties iin the direct radiative forcing of aerosols and clouds as well as aerosol influences on cloud radiative properties and cloud-climate radiation feedbacks. PICASSO-CENA is planned for a three year mission, with a launch in early 2003. PICASSO-CENA is being developed within the framework of a collaboration between NASA and CNES.

Sensitivity of aerosol radiative forcing efficiency to the coarse mode contributions across aerosol regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McComiskey, A. C.; Telg, H.; Sheridan, P. J.; Kassianov, E.

2017-12-01

The coarse mode contribution to the aerosol radiative effect in a range of clean and turbid aerosol regimes has not been well quantified. While the coarse-mode radiative effect in turbid conditions is generally assumed to be consequential, the effect in clean conditions has likely been underestimated. We survey ground-based in situ measurements of the coarse mode fraction of aerosol optical properties measured around the globe over the past 20 years by the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Facility and the NOAA Global Monitoring Division. The aerosol forcing efficiency is presented, allowing an evaluation of where the aerosol coarse mode might be climatologically significant.

Impact of springtime biomass-burning aerosols on radiative forcing over northern Thailand during the 7SEAS campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pani, Shantanu Kumar; Wang, Sheng-Hsiang; Lin, Neng-Huei; Lee, Chung-Te; Tsay, Si-Chee; Holben, Brent; Janjai, Serm; Hsiao, Ta-Chih; Chuang, Ming-Tung; Chantara, Somporn

2016-04-01

Biomass-burning (BB) aerosols are the significant contributor to the regional/global aerosol loading and radiation budgets. BB aerosols affect the radiation budget of the earth and atmosphere by scattering and absorbing directly the incoming solar and outgoing terrestrial radiation. These aerosols can exert either cooling or warming effect on climate, depending on the balance between scattering and absorption. BB activities in the form of wildland forest fires and agricultural crop burning are very pronounced in the Indochina peninsular regions in Southeast Asia mainly in spring (late February to April) season. The region of interest includes Doi Ang Khang (19.93° N, 99.05° E, 1536 msl) in northern Thailand, as part of the Seven South East Asian Studies (7-SEAS)/BASELInE (Biomass-burning Aerosols & Stratocumulus Environment: Lifecycles & Interactions Experiment) campaign in 2013. In this study, for the first time, the direct aerosol radiative effects of BB aerosols over near-source BB emissions, during the peak loading spring season, in northern Indochina were investigated by using ground-based physical, chemical, and optical properties of aerosols as well as the aerosol optical and radiative transfer models. Information on aerosol parameters in the field campaign was used in the OPAC (Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds) model to estimate various optical properties corresponding to aerosol compositions. Clear-sky shortwave direct aerosol radiative effects were further estimated with a raditive transfer model SBDART (Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer). The columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD500) was found to be ranged from 0.26 to 1.13 (with the mean value 0.71 ± 0.24). Fine-mode (fine mode fraction ≈0.98, angstrom exponent ≈1.8) and significantly absorbing aerosols (columnar single-scattering albedo ≈0.89, asymmetry-parameter ≈0.67 at 441 nm wavelength) dominated in this region. Water soluble and black carbon (BC) aerosols mainly

Black carbon aerosol mixing state, organic aerosols and aerosol optical properties over the UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMeeking, G. R.; Morgan, W. T.; Flynn, M.; Highwood, E. J.; Turnbull, K.; Haywood, J.; Coe, H.

2011-05-01

Black carbon (BC) aerosols absorb sunlight thereby leading to a positive radiative forcing and a warming of climate and can also impact human health through their impact on the respiratory system. The state of mixing of BC with other aerosol species, particularly the degree of internal/external mixing, has been highlighted as a major uncertainty in assessing its radiative forcing and hence its climate impact, but few in situ observations of mixing state exist. We present airborne single particle soot photometer (SP2) measurements of refractory BC (rBC) mass concentrations and mixing state coupled with aerosol composition and optical properties measured in urban plumes and regional pollution over the UK. All data were obtained using instrumentation flown on the UK's BAe-146-301 large Atmospheric Research Aircraft (ARA) operated by the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM). We measured sub-micron aerosol composition using an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and used positive matrix factorization to separate hydrocarbon-like (HOA) and oxygenated organic aerosols (OOA). We found a higher number fraction of thickly coated rBC particles in air masses with large OOA relative to HOA, higher ozone-to-nitrogen oxides (NOx) ratios and large concentrations of total sub-micron aerosol mass relative to rBC mass concentrations. The more ozone- and OOA-rich air masses were associated with transport from continental Europe, while plumes from UK cities had higher HOA and NOx and fewer thickly coated rBC particles. We did not observe any significant change in the rBC mass absorption efficiency calculated from rBC mass and light absorption coefficients measured by a particle soot absorption photometer despite observing significant changes in aerosol composition and rBC mixing state. The contributions of light scattering and absorption to total extinction (quantified by the single scattering albedo; SSA) did change for different air masses, with lower SSA observed in

How Well Will MODIS Measure Top of Atmosphere Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Remer, Lorraine A.; Kaufman, Yoram J.; Levin, Zev; Ghan, Stephen; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The new generation of satellite sensors such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) will be able to detect and characterize global aerosols with an unprecedented accuracy. The question remains whether this accuracy will be sufficient to narrow the uncertainties in our estimates of aerosol radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere. Satellite remote sensing detects aerosol optical thickness with the least amount of relative error when aerosol loading is high. Satellites are less effective when aerosol loading is low. We use the monthly mean results of two global aerosol transport models to simulate the spatial distribution of smoke aerosol in the Southern Hemisphere during the tropical biomass burning season. This spatial distribution allows us to determine that 87-94% of the smoke aerosol forcing at the top of the atmosphere occurs in grid squares with sufficient signal to noise ratio to be detectable from space. The uncertainty of quantifying the smoke aerosol forcing in the Southern Hemisphere depends on the uncertainty introduced by errors in estimating the background aerosol, errors resulting from uncertainties in surface properties and errors resulting from uncertainties in assumptions of aerosol properties. These three errors combine to give overall uncertainties of 1.5 to 2.2 Wm-2 (21-56%) in determining the Southern Hemisphere smoke aerosol forcing at the top of the atmosphere. The range of values depend on which estimate of MODIS retrieval uncertainty is used, either the theoretical calculation (upper bound) or the empirical estimate (lower bound). Strategies that use the satellite data to derive flux directly or use the data in conjunction with ground-based remote sensing and aerosol transport models can reduce these uncertainties.

Climate forcing growth rates: doubling down on our Faustian bargain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, James; Kharecha, Pushker; Sato, Makiko

2013-03-01

, in causing a large increase in net primary productivity of temperate and boreal forests. Sulfate aerosols from coal burning also might increase carbon uptake by increasing the proportion of diffuse insolation, as noted above for Pinatubo aerosols, even though the total solar radiation reaching the surface is reduced. Thus we see the decreased CO2 airborne fraction since 2000 as sharing some of the same causes as the decreased airborne fraction after the Pinatubo eruption (figure 3). CO2 fertilization is likely the major effect, as a plausible addition of 5 TgN yr-1 from fossil fuels and net ecosystem productivity of 200 kgC kgN-1 (Magnani et al 2007, 2008) yields an annual carbon drawdown of 1 GtC yr-1, which is of the order of what is needed to explain the post-2000 anomaly in airborne CO2. However, an aerosol-induced increase of diffuse radiation might also contribute. Although tropospheric aerosol properties are not accurately monitored, there are suggestions of an upward trend of stratospheric background aerosols since 2000 (Hofmann et al 2009, Solomon et al 2011), which could be a consequence of more tropospheric aerosols at low latitudes where injection of tropospheric air into the stratosphere occurs (Holton et al 1995). We discuss climate implications of the reduced CO2 airborne fraction after presenting data for other greenhouse gases. Atmospheric CH4 is increasing more slowly than in IPCC scenarios (figure 4), which were defined more than a decade ago (IPCC 2001). However, after remaining nearly constant for several years, CH4 has increased during the past five years, pushing slightly above the level that was envisaged in the Alternative Scenario of Hansen et al (2000). Reduction of CH4, besides slowdown in CO2 growth in the twenty first century and a decline of CO2 in the twenty second century, is a principal requirement to achieve a low climate forcing that stabilizes climate, in part because CH4 also affects tropospheric ozone and stratospheric water

Evaluation of Rapid Adjustments to Radiative Forcing for Five Climate Forcing Agents in the Precipitation Driver Response Model Intercomparison Project (PDRMIP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, C. J.; Forster, P.; Richardson, T.; Myhre, G.

2016-12-01

Effective radiative forcing (ERF), rather than "traditional" radiative forcing (RF), has become an increasingly popular metric in recent years, as it more closely links the difference in the earth's top-of-atmosphere (TOA) energy budget to equilibrium near-surface temperature rise. One method to diagnose ERF is to take the difference of TOA radiative fluxes from two climate model runs (a perturbation and a control) with prescribed sea-surface temperatures and sea-ice coverage. ERF can be thought of as the sum of a direct forcing, which is the pure radiative effect of a forcing agent, plus rapid adjustments, which are changes in climate state triggered by the forcing agent that themselves affect the TOA energy budget and are unrelated to surface temperature changes.In addition to the classic experiment of doubling of CO2 (2xCO2), we analyse rapid adjustments to a tripling of methane (3xCH4), a quintupling of sulphate aerosol (5xSul), a ten times increase in black carbon (10xBC) and a 2% increase in the solar constant (2%Sol). We use CMIP-style climate model diagnostics from six participating models of the Precipitation Driver Response Model Intercomparison Project (PDRMIP).Assuming approximately linear contributions to the TOA flux differences, the rapid adjustments from changes in atmospheric temperature, surface temperature, surface albedo and water vapour can be cleanly and simply separated from the direct forcing by radiative kernels. The rapid adjustments are in turn decomposed into stratospheric and tropospheric components. We introduce kernels based on the HadGEM2 climate model and find similar results to those based on other models. Cloud adjustments are evaluated as a residual of the TOA radiative fluxes between all-sky and clear-sky runs once direct forcing and rapid adjustments have been subtracted. The cloud adjustments are also calculated online within the HadGEM2 model using the ISCCP simulator. For aerosol forcing experiments, rapid adjustments vary

Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing and Forcing Efficiencies at Surface from the shortwave Irradiance Measurements in Abu Dhabi, UAE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beegum S, N.; Ben Romdhane, H.; Ghedira, H.

2013-12-01

Atmospheric aerosols are known to affect the radiation balance of the Earth-Atmospheric system directly by scattering and absorbing the solar and terrestrial radiation, and indirectly by affecting the lifetime and albedo of the clouds. Continuous and simultaneous measurements of short wave global irradiance in combination with synchronous spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements (from 340 nm to 1640 nm in 8 channels), for a period of 1 year from June 2012 to May 2013, were used for the determination of the surface direct aerosol radiative forcing and forcing efficiencies under cloud free conditions in Abu Dhabi (24.42°N, 54.61o E, 7m MSL), a coastal location in United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Arabian Peninsula. The Rotating Shadow band Pyranometer (RSP, LI-COR) was used for the irradiance measurements (in the spectral region 400-1100 nm), whereas the AOD measurements were carried out using CIMEL Sunphotometer (CE 318-2, under AERONET program). The differential method, which is neither sensitive to calibration uncertainties nor model assumptions, has been employed for estimating forcing efficiencies from the changes in the measured fluxes. The forcing efficiency, which quantifies the net change in irradiance per unit change in AOD, is an appropriate parameter for the characterization of the aerosol radiative effects even if the microphysical and optical properties of the aerosols are not completely understood. The corresponding forcing values were estimated from the forcing efficiencies. The estimated radiative forcing and forcing efficiencies exhibited strong monthly variations. The forcing efficiencies (absolute magnitudes) were highest during March, and showed continuous decrease thereafter to reach the lowest value during September. In contrast, the forcing followed a slightly different pattern of variability, with the highest solar dimming during April ( -60 W m-2) and the minimum during February ( -20 W m-2). The results indicate that the aerosol

Isoprene derived secondary organic aerosol in a global aerosol chemistry climate model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stadtler, Scarlet; Kühn, Thomas; Taraborrelli, Domenico; Kokkola, Harri; Schultz, Martin

2017-04-01

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) impacts earth's climate and human health. Since its precursor chemistry and its formation are not fully understood, climate models cannot catch its direct and indirect effects. Global isoprene emissions are higher than any other non-methane hydrocarbons. Therefore, SOA from isoprene-derived, low volatile species (iSOA) is simulated using a global aerosol chemistry climate model ECHAM6-HAM-SALSA-MOZ. Isoprene oxidation in the chemistry model MOZ is following a novel semi-explicit scheme, embedded in a detailed atmospheric chemical mechanism. For iSOA formation four low volatile isoprene oxidation products were identified. The group method by Nanoonlal et al. 2008 was used to estimate their evaporation enthalpies ΔHvap. To calculate the saturation concentration C∗(T) the sectional aerosol model SALSA uses the gas phase concentrations simulated by MOZ and their corresponding ΔHvap to obtain the saturation vapor pressure p∗(T) from the Clausius Clapeyron equation. Subsequently, the saturation concentration is used to calculate the explicit kinetic partitioning of these compounds forming iSOA. Furthermore, the irreversible heterogeneous reactions of IEPOX and glyoxal from isoprene were included. The possibility of reversible heterogeneous uptake was ignored at this stage, leading to an upper estimate of the contribution of glyoxal to iSOA mass.

Aerosol Climate Time Series in ESA Aerosol_cci

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popp, Thomas; de Leeuw, Gerrit; Pinnock, Simon

2016-04-01

Within the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Aerosol_cci (2010 - 2017) conducts intensive work to improve algorithms for the retrieval of aerosol information from European sensors. Meanwhile, full mission time series of 2 GCOS-required aerosol parameters are completely validated and released: Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from dual view ATSR-2 / AATSR radiometers (3 algorithms, 1995 - 2012), and stratospheric extinction profiles from star occultation GOMOS spectrometer (2002 - 2012). Additionally, a 35-year multi-sensor time series of the qualitative Absorbing Aerosol Index (AAI) together with sensitivity information and an AAI model simulator is available. Complementary aerosol properties requested by GCOS are in a "round robin" phase, where various algorithms are inter-compared: fine mode AOD, mineral dust AOD (from the thermal IASI spectrometer, but also from ATSR instruments and the POLDER sensor), absorption information and aerosol layer height. As a quasi-reference for validation in few selected regions with sparse ground-based observations the multi-pixel GRASP algorithm for the POLDER instrument is used. Validation of first dataset versions (vs. AERONET, MAN) and inter-comparison to other satellite datasets (MODIS, MISR, SeaWIFS) proved the high quality of the available datasets comparable to other satellite retrievals and revealed needs for algorithm improvement (for example for higher AOD values) which were taken into account for a reprocessing. The datasets contain pixel level uncertainty estimates which were also validated and improved in the reprocessing. For the three ATSR algorithms the use of an ensemble method was tested. The paper will summarize and discuss the status of dataset reprocessing and validation. The focus will be on the ATSR, GOMOS and IASI datasets. Pixel level uncertainties validation will be summarized and discussed including unknown components and their potential usefulness and limitations. Opportunities for time series extension

Toward Creating A Global Retrospective Climatology of Aerosol Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curran, Robert J.; Mishchenko, Michael I.; Hansen, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Tropospheric aerosols are thought to cause a significant direct and indirect climate forcing, but the magnitude of this forcing remains highly uncertain because of poor knowledge of global aerosol characteristics and their temporal changes. The standard long-term global product, the one-channel Advanced Very-High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) aerosol optical thickness over the ocean, relies on a single predefined aerosol model and can be inaccurate in many cases. Furthermore, it provides no information on aerosol column number density, thus making it impossible to estimate the indirect aerosol effect on climate. Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data can be used to detect absorbing aerosols over land, but are insensitive to aerosols located below one kilometer. It is thus clear that innovative approaches must be employed in order to extract a more quantitative and accurate aerosol climatology from available satellite and other measurements, thus enabling more reliable estimates of the direct and indirect aerosol forcings. The Global Aerosol Climatology Project (GACP) was established in 1998 as part of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX). Its main objective is to analyze satellite radiance measurements and field observations to infer the global distribution of aerosols, their properties, and their seasonal and interannual variations. The overall goal is to develop advanced global aerosol climatologies for the period of satellite data and to make the aerosol climatologies broadly available through the GACP web site.

Tailoring Meridional and Seasonal Radiative Forcing by Sulfate Aerosol Solar Geoengineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Z.; Weisenstein, D. K.; Keith, D. W.

2018-01-01

We study the possibility of designing solar radiation management schemes to achieve a desired meridional radiative forcing (RF) profile using a two-dimensional chemistry-transport-aerosol model. Varying SO2 or H2SO4 injection latitude, altitude, and season, we compute RF response functions for a broad range of possible injection schemes, finding that linear combinations of these injection cases can roughly achieve RF profiles that have been proposed to accomplish various climate objectives. Globally averaged RF normalized by the sulfur injection rate (the radiative efficacy) is largest for injections at high altitudes, near the equator, and using emission of H2SO4 vapor into an aircraft wake to produce accumulation-mode particles. There is a trade-off between radiative efficacy and control as temporal and spatial control is best achieved with injections at lower altitudes and higher latitudes. These results may inform studies using more realistic models that couple aerosol microphysics, chemistry, and stratospheric dynamics.

Anthropogenic Sulfate, Clouds, and Climate Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghan, Steven J.

1997-01-01

This research work is a joint effort between research groups at the Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Virginia Tech University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Texas A&M University. It has been jointly sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In this research, a detailed tropospheric aerosol-chemistry model that predicts oxidant concentrations as well as concentrations of sulfur dioxide and sulfate aerosols has been coupled to a general circulation model that distinguishes between cloud water mass and cloud droplet number. The coupled model system has been first validated and then used to estimate the radiative impact of anthropogenic sulfur emissions. Both the direct radiative impact of the aerosols and their indirect impact through their influence on cloud droplet number are represented by distinguishing between sulfuric acid vapor and fresh and aged sulfate aerosols, and by parameterizing cloud droplet nucleation in terms of vertical velocity and the number concentration of aged sulfur aerosols. Natural sulfate aerosols, dust, and carbonaceous and nitrate aerosols and their influence on the radiative impact of anthropogenic sulfate aerosols, through competition as cloud condensation nuclei, will also be simulated. Parallel simulations with and without anthropogenic sulfur emissions are performed for a global domain. The objectives of the research are: To couple a state-of-the-art tropospheric aerosol-chemistry model with a global climate model. To use field and satellite measurements to evaluate the treatment of tropospheric chemistry and aerosol physics in the coupled model. To use the coupled model to simulate the radiative (and ultimately climatic) impacts of anthropogenic sulfur emissions.

Black carbon aerosol mixing state, organic aerosols and aerosol optical properties over the United Kingdom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMeeking, G. R.; Morgan, W. T.; Flynn, M.; Highwood, E. J.; Turnbull, K.; Haywood, J.; Coe, H.

2011-09-01

Black carbon (BC) aerosols absorb sunlight thereby leading to a positive radiative forcing and a warming of climate and can also impact human health through their impact on the respiratory system. The state of mixing of BC with other aerosol species, particularly the degree of internal/external mixing, has been highlighted as a major uncertainty in assessing its radiative forcing and hence its climate impact, but few in situ observations of mixing state exist. We present airborne single particle soot photometer (SP2) measurements of refractory BC (rBC) mass concentrations and mixing state coupled with aerosol composition and optical properties measured in urban plumes and regional pollution over the United Kingdom. All data were obtained using instrumentation flown on the UK's BAe-146-301 large Atmospheric Research Aircraft (ARA) operated by the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM). We measured sub-micron aerosol composition using an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and used positive matrix factorization to separate hydrocarbon-like (HOA) and oxygenated organic aerosols (OOA). We found a higher number fraction of thickly coated rBC particles in air masses with large OOA relative to HOA, higher ozone-to-nitrogen oxides (NOx) ratios and large concentrations of total sub-micron aerosol mass relative to rBC mass concentrations. The more ozone- and OOA-rich air masses were associated with transport from continental Europe, while plumes from UK cities had higher HOA and NOx and fewer thickly coated rBC particles. We did not observe any significant change in the rBC mass absorption efficiency calculated from rBC mass and light absorption coefficients measured by a particle soot absorption photometer despite observing significant changes in aerosol composition and rBC mixing state. The contributions of light scattering and absorption to total extinction (quantified by the single scattering albedo; SSA) did change for different air masses, with lower SSA

Aerosol Climate Time Series Evaluation In ESA Aerosol_cci

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popp, T.; de Leeuw, G.; Pinnock, S.

2015-12-01

Within the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Aerosol_cci (2010 - 2017) conducts intensive work to improve algorithms for the retrieval of aerosol information from European sensors. By the end of 2015 full mission time series of 2 GCOS-required aerosol parameters are completely validated and released: Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from dual view ATSR-2 / AATSR radiometers (3 algorithms, 1995 - 2012), and stratospheric extinction profiles from star occultation GOMOS spectrometer (2002 - 2012). Additionally, a 35-year multi-sensor time series of the qualitative Absorbing Aerosol Index (AAI) together with sensitivity information and an AAI model simulator is available. Complementary aerosol properties requested by GCOS are in a "round robin" phase, where various algorithms are inter-compared: fine mode AOD, mineral dust AOD (from the thermal IASI spectrometer), absorption information and aerosol layer height. As a quasi-reference for validation in few selected regions with sparse ground-based observations the multi-pixel GRASP algorithm for the POLDER instrument is used. Validation of first dataset versions (vs. AERONET, MAN) and inter-comparison to other satellite datasets (MODIS, MISR, SeaWIFS) proved the high quality of the available datasets comparable to other satellite retrievals and revealed needs for algorithm improvement (for example for higher AOD values) which were taken into account for a reprocessing. The datasets contain pixel level uncertainty estimates which are also validated. The paper will summarize and discuss the results of major reprocessing and validation conducted in 2015. The focus will be on the ATSR, GOMOS and IASI datasets. Pixel level uncertainties validation will be summarized and discussed including unknown components and their potential usefulness and limitations. Opportunities for time series extension with successor instruments of the Sentinel family will be described and the complementarity of the different satellite aerosol products

Investigation of air pollution and regional climate change due to anthropogenic aerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakata, Makiko; Sano, Itaru; Mukai, Sonoyo

2016-10-01

Increased emissions of anthropogenic aerosols associated with economic growth can lead to increased concentrations of hazardous air pollutants. In particular, large cities in East Asia have experienced numerous heavy haze episodes. Atmospheric aerosol distributions in East Asia are complex, being influenced by both natural phenomena and human activity, with urban areas in particular being dominated by fine anthropogenic aerosols released from diesel-powered vehicles and industrial activity. In Japan, air pollution levels have been reduced; nevertheless, in recent years, there is increasing concern regarding air pollution caused by fine particulate matter. The origins of air pollution were examined, focusing on the comparison between aerosol properties observed from satellites and that on the ground. Because of their short life spans, concentrations of anthropogenic aerosols are highest over the source regions, and as a result, the climatic impacts of anthropogenic aerosols are also found to be most pronounced in these regions. In this study, aerosol impacts on climate are assessed by numerical model simulations. The direct effects of aerosols include reduced solar radiation, and hence a decrease in surface temperatures. In addition to these changes in the radiation budget, aerosols have a significant potential to change cloud and precipitation fields. These climatic responses to aerosols can manifest far from their source regions with high industrial activities.

Global source attribution of sulfate aerosol and its radiative forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Y.; Wang, H.; Smith, S.; Easter, R. C.; Ma, P. L.; Qian, Y.; Li, C.; Yu, H.; Rasch, P. J.

2017-12-01

Sulfate is an important aerosol that poses health risks and influences climate. Due to long-range atmospheric transport, local sulfate pollution could result from intercontinental influences, making domestic efforts of improving air quality inefficient. Accurate understanding of source attribution of sulfate and its radiative forcing is important for both regional air quality improvement and global climate mitigation. In this study, for the first time, a sulfur source-tagging capability is implemented in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM5) to quantify the global source-receptor relationships of sulfate and its direct and indirect radiative forcing (DRF and IRF). Near-surface sulfate concentrations are mostly contributed by local emissions in regions with high emissions, while over regions with relatively low SO2 emissions, the near-surface sulfate is primarily attributed to non-local sources from long-range transport. The export of SO2 and sulfate from Europe contributes 20% of sulfate concentrations over North Africa, Russia and Central Asia. Sources from the Middle East account for 20% of sulfate over North Africa, Southern Africa and Central Asia in winter and autumn, and 20% over South Asia in spring. East Asia accounts for about 50% of sulfate over Southeast Asia in winter and autumn, 15% over Russia in summer, and 10% over North America in spring. South Asia contributes to 25% of sulfate over Southeast Asia in spring. Lifetime of aerosols, together with regional export, is found to determine regional air quality. The simulated global total sulfate DRF is -0.42 W m-2, with 75% contributed by anthropogenic sulfate and 25% contributed by natural sulfate. In the Southern Hemisphere tropics, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) contributes the most to the total DRF. East Asia has the largest contribution of 20-30% over the Northern Hemisphere mid- and high-latitudes. A 20% perturbation of sulfate and its precursor emissions gives a sulfate IRF of -0.44 W m-2. DMS has the

Photophoretic levitation of engineered aerosols for geoengineering

PubMed Central

Keith, David W.

2010-01-01

Aerosols could be injected into the upper atmosphere to engineer the climate by scattering incident sunlight so as to produce a cooling tendency that may mitigate the risks posed by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. Analysis of climate engineering has focused on sulfate aerosols. Here I examine the possibility that engineered nanoparticles could exploit photophoretic forces, enabling more control over particle distribution and lifetime than is possible with sulfates, perhaps allowing climate engineering to be accomplished with fewer side effects. The use of electrostatic or magnetic materials enables a class of photophoretic forces not found in nature. Photophoretic levitation could loft particles above the stratosphere, reducing their capacity to interfere with ozone chemistry; and, by increasing particle lifetimes, it would reduce the need for continual replenishment of the aerosol. Moreover, particles might be engineered to drift poleward enabling albedo modification to be tailored to counter polar warming while minimizing the impact on equatorial climates. PMID:20823254

Photophoretic levitation of engineered aerosols for geoengineering.

PubMed

Keith, David W

2010-09-21

Aerosols could be injected into the upper atmosphere to engineer the climate by scattering incident sunlight so as to produce a cooling tendency that may mitigate the risks posed by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. Analysis of climate engineering has focused on sulfate aerosols. Here I examine the possibility that engineered nanoparticles could exploit photophoretic forces, enabling more control over particle distribution and lifetime than is possible with sulfates, perhaps allowing climate engineering to be accomplished with fewer side effects. The use of electrostatic or magnetic materials enables a class of photophoretic forces not found in nature. Photophoretic levitation could loft particles above the stratosphere, reducing their capacity to interfere with ozone chemistry; and, by increasing particle lifetimes, it would reduce the need for continual replenishment of the aerosol. Moreover, particles might be engineered to drift poleward enabling albedo modification to be tailored to counter polar warming while minimizing the impact on equatorial climates.

A new approach to modeling aerosol effects on East Asian climate: Parametric uncertainties associated with emissions, cloud microphysics, and their interactions: AEROSOL EFFECTS ON EAST ASIAN CLIMATE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Huiping; Qian, Yun; Zhao, Chun

2015-09-09

In this study, we adopt a parametric sensitivity analysis framework that integrates the quasi-Monte Carlo parameter sampling approach and a surrogate model to examine aerosol effects on the East Asian Monsoon climate simulated in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM5). A total number of 256 CAM5 simulations are conducted to quantify the model responses to the uncertain parameters associated with cloud microphysics parameterizations and aerosol (e.g., sulfate, black carbon (BC), and dust) emission factors and their interactions. Results show that the interaction terms among parameters are important for quantifying the sensitivity of fields of interest, especially precipitation, to the parameters. Themore » relative importance of cloud-microphysics parameters and emission factors (strength) depends on evaluation metrics or the model fields we focused on, and the presence of uncertainty in cloud microphysics imposes an additional challenge in quantifying the impact of aerosols on cloud and climate. Due to their different optical and microphysical properties and spatial distributions, sulfate, BC, and dust aerosols have very different impacts on East Asian Monsoon through aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions. The climatic effects of aerosol do not always have a monotonic response to the change of emission factors. The spatial patterns of both sign and magnitude of aerosol-induced changes in radiative fluxes, cloud, and precipitation could be different, depending on the aerosol types, when parameters are sampled in different ranges of values. We also identify the different cloud microphysical parameters that show the most significant impact on climatic effect induced by sulfate, BC and dust, respectively, in East Asia.« less

Using prior information to separate the temperature response to greenhouse gas forcing from that of aerosols - Estimating the transient climate response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schurer, Andrew; Hegerl, Gabriele

2016-04-01

The evaluation of the transient climate response (TCR) is of critical importance to policy makers as it can be used to calculate a simple estimate of the expected warming given predicted greenhouse gas emissions. Previous studies using optimal detection techniques have been able to estimate a TCR value from the historic record using simulations from some of the models which took part in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) but have found that others give unconstrained results. At least partly this is due to degeneracy between the greenhouse gas and aerosol signals which makes separation of the temperature response to these forcings problematic. Here we re-visit this important topic by using an adapted optimal detection analysis within a Bayesian framework. We account for observational uncertainty by the use of an ensemble of instrumental observations, and model uncertainty by combining the results from several different models. This framework allows the use of prior information which is found to help separate the response to the different forcings leading to a more constrained estimate of TCR.

WRF-Chem simulations of aerosols and anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing in East Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Yi; Zhao, Chun; Liu, Xiaohong; Zhang, Meigen; Leung, L. Ruby

2014-08-01

This study aims to provide a first comprehensive evaluation of WRF-Chem for modeling aerosols and anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing (RF, including direct, semi-direct and indirect forcing) over East Asia. Several numerical experiments were conducted from November 2007 to December 2008. Comparison between model results and observations shows that the model can generally reproduce the observed spatial distributions of aerosol concentration, aerosol optical depth (AOD) and single scattering albedo (SSA) from measurements at many sites, including the relatively higher aerosol concentration and AOD over East China and the relatively lower AOD over Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan. The model also depicts the seasonal variation and transport of pollutions over East Asia. Particulate matter of 10 μm or less in the aerodynamic diameter (PM10), black carbon (BC), sulfate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+) concentrations are higher in spring than other seasons in Japan, which indicates the possible influence of pollutant transport from polluted area of East Asia. The model underestimates SO42- and organic carbon (OC) concentrations over mainland China by about a factor of 2, while overestimates NO3- concentration in autumn along the Yangtze River. The model captures the dust events at the Zhangye site in the semi-arid region of China. AOD is high over Southwest and Central China in winter and spring and over North China in winter, spring and summer while is low over South China in summer due to monsoon precipitation. SSA is lowest in winter and highest in summer. Anthropogenic aerosol RF is estimated to range from -5 to -20 W m-2 over land and -20 to -40 W m-2 over adjacent oceans at the top of atmosphere (TOA), 5-30 W m-2 in the atmosphere (ATM) and -15 to -40 W m-2 at the bottom (BOT). The warming effect of anthropogenic aerosol in ATM results from BC aerosol while the negative aerosol RF at TOA is caused by scattering aerosols such as SO42-, NO3- and NH4

On the representation of aerosol activation and its influence on model-derived estimates of the aerosol indirect effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rothenberg, Daniel; Avramov, Alexander; Wang, Chien

2018-06-01

Interactions between aerosol particles and clouds contribute a great deal of uncertainty to the scientific community's understanding of anthropogenic climate forcing. Aerosol particles serve as the nucleation sites for cloud droplets, establishing a direct linkage between anthropogenic particulate emissions and clouds in the climate system. To resolve this linkage, the community has developed parameterizations of aerosol activation which can be used in global climate models to interactively predict cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNCs). However, different activation schemes can exhibit different sensitivities to aerosol perturbations in different meteorological or pollution regimes. To assess the impact these different sensitivities have on climate forcing, we have coupled three different core activation schemes and variants with the CESM-MARC (two-Moment, Multi-Modal, Mixing-state-resolving Aerosol model for Research of Climate (MARC) coupled with the National Center for Atmospheric Research's (NCAR) Community Earth System Model (CESM; version 1.2)). Although the model produces a reasonable present-day CDNC climatology when compared with observations regardless of the scheme used, ΔCDNCs between the present and preindustrial era regionally increase by over 100 % in zonal mean when using the most sensitive parameterization. These differences in activation sensitivity may lead to a different evolution of the model meteorology, and ultimately to a spread of over 0.8 W m-2 in global average shortwave indirect effect (AIE) diagnosed from the model, a range which is as large as the inter-model spread from the AeroCom intercomparison. Model-derived AIE strongly scales with the simulated preindustrial CDNC burden, and those models with the greatest preindustrial CDNC tend to have the smallest AIE, regardless of their ΔCDNC. This suggests that present-day evaluations of aerosol-climate models may not provide useful constraints on the magnitude of the AIE, which

Observations of enhanced aerosol longwave radiative forcing over an urban environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panicker, A. S.; Pandithurai, G.; Safai, P. D.; Kewat, S.

2008-02-01

Collocated measurements of sun/sky radiance, aerosol chemical composition and radiative fluxes have been utilized to estimate longwave aerosol radiative forcing over Pune, an Indian urban site during dry winter [Dec2004 to Feb2005] by two methods. Hybrid method which uses observed downwelling and modeled upwelling longwave fluxes for different aerosol loadings yielded a surface forcing of 9.4 Wm-2. Model approach includes utilization of skyradiometer derived spectral aerosol optical properties in the visible and near infra-red wavelengths, modeled aerosol properties in 1.2-40 μm using observed soot and chemical composition data, MODIS water vapor and TOMS column ozone in a radiative transfer model. Estimates from model method showed longwave enhancement of 6.5 and 8.2 Wm-2 at the surface with tropical model atmosphere and temporally varying profiles of temperature and humidity, respectively. Study reveals that about 25% of the aerosol shortwave cooling is being compensated by increase in longwave radiation due to aerosol absorption.

Climate impact of biofuels in shipping: global model studies of the aerosol indirect effect.

PubMed

Righi, Mattia; Klinger, Carolin; Eyring, Veronika; Hendricks, Johannes; Lauer, Axel; Petzold, Andreas

2011-04-15

Aerosol emissions from international shipping are recognized to have a large impact on the Earth's radiation budget, directly by scattering and absorbing solar radiation and indirectly by altering cloud properties. New regulations have recently been approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aiming at progressive reductions of the maximum sulfur content allowed in marine fuels from current 4.5% by mass down to 0.5% in 2020, with more restrictive limits already applied in some coastal regions. In this context, we use a global bottom-up algorithm to calculate geographically resolved emission inventories of gaseous (NO(x), CO, SO(2)) and aerosol (black carbon, organic matter, sulfate) species for different kinds of low-sulfur fuels in shipping. We apply these inventories to study the resulting changes in radiative forcing, attributed to particles from shipping, with the global aerosol-climate model EMAC-MADE. The emission factors for the different fuels are based on measurements at a test bed of a large diesel engine. We consider both fossil fuel (marine gas oil) and biofuels (palm and soy bean oil) as a substitute for heavy fuel oil in the current (2006) fleet and compare their climate impact to that resulting from heavy fuel oil use. Our simulations suggest that ship-induced surface level concentrations of sulfate aerosol are strongly reduced, up to about 40-60% in the high-traffic regions. This clearly has positive consequences for pollution reduction in the vicinity of major harbors. Additionally, such reductions in the aerosol loading lead to a decrease of a factor of 3-4 in the indirect global aerosol effect induced by emissions from international shipping.

The Joint Aerosol-Monsoon Experiment: A New Challenge to Monsoon Climate Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, William K. M.

2008-01-01

Aerosol and monsoon related droughts and floods are two of the most serious environmental hazards confronting more than 60% of the population of the world living in the Asian monsoon countries. In recent years, thanks to improved satellite and in-situ observations, and better models, great strides have been made in aerosol, and monsoon research respectively. There is now a growing body of evidence suggesting that interaction of aerosol forcing with water cycle dynamics in monsoon regions may substantially alter the redistribution of energy at the earth surface and in the atmosphere, and therefore significantly impact monsoon rainfall variability and long term trends. In this talk, I will describe issues related to societal needs, scientific background, and challenges in studies of aerosol-water cycle interaction in Asian monsoon regions. As a first step towards addressing these issues, the authors call for an integrated observation and modeling research approach aimed at the interactions between aerosol chemistry and radiative effects and monsoon dynamics of the coupled ocean-atmosphere-land system. A Joint Aerosol-Monsoon Experiment (JAMEX) is proposed for 2007-2011, with an enhanced observation period during 2008-09, encompassing diverse arrays of observations from surface, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and satellites of physical and chemical properties of aerosols, long range aerosol transport as well as meteorological and oceanographic parameters in the Indo-Pacific Asian monsoon region. JAMEX will leverage on coordination among many ongoing and planned national programs on aerosols and monsoon research in China, India, Japan, Nepal, Italy, US, as well as international research programs of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Are Atmospheric Updrafts a Key to Unlocking Climate Forcing and Sensitivity?

DOE PAGES

Donner, Leo J.; O'Brien, Travis A.; Rieger, Daniel; ...

2016-06-08

Both climate forcing and climate sensitivity persist as stubborn uncertainties limiting the extent to which climate models can provide actionable scientific scenarios for climate change. A key, explicit control on cloud-aerosol interactions, the largest uncertainty in climate forcing, is the vertical velocity of cloud-scale updrafts. Model-based studies of climate sensitivity indicate that convective entrainment, which is closely related to updraft speeds, is an important control on climate sensitivity. Updraft vertical velocities also drive many physical processes essential to numerical weather prediction. Vertical velocities and their role in atmospheric physical processes have been given very limited attention in models for climatemore » and numerical weather prediction. The relevant physical scales range down to tens of meters and are thus frequently sub-grid and require parameterization. Many state-of-science convection parameterizations provide mass fluxes without specifying vertical velocities, and parameterizations which do provide vertical velocities have been subject to limited evaluation against what have until recently been scant observations. Atmospheric observations imply that the distribution of vertical velocities depends on the areas over which the vertical velocities are averaged. Distributions of vertical velocities in climate models may capture this behavior, but it has not been accounted for when parameterizing cloud and precipitation processes in current models. New observations of convective vertical velocities offer a potentially promising path toward developing process-level cloud models and parameterizations for climate and numerical weather prediction. Taking account of scale-dependence of resolved vertical velocities offers a path to matching cloud-scale physical processes and their driving dynamics more realistically, with a prospect of reduced uncertainty in both climate forcing and sensitivity.« less

Dependence of the radiative forcing of the climate system on fossil fuel type

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nunez, L. I.

2015-12-01

Climate change mitigation strategies are greatly directed towards the reduction of CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuel combustion to limit warming to 2º C in this century. For example, the Clean Power Plan aims to reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector by 32% of 2005 levels by 2030 by increasing power plant efficiency but also by switching from coal-fired power plants to natural gas-fired power plants. It is important to understand the impact of such fuel switching on climate change. While all fossil fuels emit CO2, they also emit other pollutants with varying effects on climate, health and agriculture. First, The emission of CO2 per joule of energy produced varies significantly between coal, oil and natural gas. Second, the complexity that the co-emitted pollutants add to the perturbations in the climate system necessitates the detangling of radiative forcing for each type of fossil fuel. The historical (1850-2011) net radiative forcing of climate as a function of fuel type (coal, oil, natural gas and biofuel) is reconstructed. The results reveal the significant dependence of the CO2 and the non-CO2 forcing on fuel type. The CO2 forcing per joule of energy is largest for coal. Radiative forcing from the co-emitted pollutants (black carbon, methane, nitrogen oxides, organic carbon, sulfate aerosols) changes the global mean CO2 forcing attributed to coal and oil significantly. For natural gas, the CO2-only radiative forcing from gas is increased by about 60% when the co-emitted pollutants are included.

Host model uncertainties in aerosol radiative forcing estimates: results from the AeroCom prescribed intercomparison study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stier, P.; Schutgens, N. A. J.; Bian, H.; Boucher, O.; Chin, M.; Ghan, S.; Huneeus, N.; Kinne, S.; Lin, G.; Myhre, G.; Penner, J. E.; Randles, C.; Samset, B.; Schulz, M.; Yu, H.; Zhou, C.

2012-09-01

Simulated multi-model "diversity" in aerosol direct radiative forcing estimates is often perceived as measure of aerosol uncertainty. However, current models used for aerosol radiative forcing calculations vary considerably in model components relevant for forcing calculations and the associated "host-model uncertainties" are generally convoluted with the actual aerosol uncertainty. In this AeroCom Prescribed intercomparison study we systematically isolate and quantify host model uncertainties on aerosol forcing experiments through prescription of identical aerosol radiative properties in nine participating models. Even with prescribed aerosol radiative properties, simulated clear-sky and all-sky aerosol radiative forcings show significant diversity. For a purely scattering case with globally constant optical depth of 0.2, the global-mean all-sky top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing is -4.51 W m-2 and the inter-model standard deviation is 0.70 W m-2, corresponding to a relative standard deviation of 15%. For a case with partially absorbing aerosol with an aerosol optical depth of 0.2 and single scattering albedo of 0.8, the forcing changes to 1.26 W m-2, and the standard deviation increases to 1.21 W m-2, corresponding to a significant relative standard deviation of 96%. However, the top-of-atmosphere forcing variability owing to absorption is low, with relative standard deviations of 9% clear-sky and 12% all-sky. Scaling the forcing standard deviation for a purely scattering case to match the sulfate radiative forcing in the AeroCom Direct Effect experiment, demonstrates that host model uncertainties could explain about half of the overall sulfate forcing diversity of 0.13 W m-2 in the AeroCom Direct Radiative Effect experiment. Host model errors in aerosol radiative forcing are largest in regions of uncertain host model components, such as stratocumulus cloud decks or areas with poorly constrained surface albedos, such as sea ice. Our results demonstrate that host

Host model uncertainties in aerosol radiative forcing estimates: results from the AeroCom Prescribed intercomparison study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stier, P.; Schutgens, N. A. J.; Bellouin, N.; Bian, H.; Boucher, O.; Chin, M.; Ghan, S.; Huneeus, N.; Kinne, S.; Lin, G.; Ma, X.; Myhre, G.; Penner, J. E.; Randles, C. A.; Samset, B.; Schulz, M.; Takemura, T.; Yu, F.; Yu, H.; Zhou, C.

2013-03-01

Simulated multi-model "diversity" in aerosol direct radiative forcing estimates is often perceived as a measure of aerosol uncertainty. However, current models used for aerosol radiative forcing calculations vary considerably in model components relevant for forcing calculations and the associated "host-model uncertainties" are generally convoluted with the actual aerosol uncertainty. In this AeroCom Prescribed intercomparison study we systematically isolate and quantify host model uncertainties on aerosol forcing experiments through prescription of identical aerosol radiative properties in twelve participating models. Even with prescribed aerosol radiative properties, simulated clear-sky and all-sky aerosol radiative forcings show significant diversity. For a purely scattering case with globally constant optical depth of 0.2, the global-mean all-sky top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing is -4.47 Wm-2 and the inter-model standard deviation is 0.55 Wm-2, corresponding to a relative standard deviation of 12%. For a case with partially absorbing aerosol with an aerosol optical depth of 0.2 and single scattering albedo of 0.8, the forcing changes to 1.04 Wm-2, and the standard deviation increases to 1.01 W-2, corresponding to a significant relative standard deviation of 97%. However, the top-of-atmosphere forcing variability owing to absorption (subtracting the scattering case from the case with scattering and absorption) is low, with absolute (relative) standard deviations of 0.45 Wm-2 (8%) clear-sky and 0.62 Wm-2 (11%) all-sky. Scaling the forcing standard deviation for a purely scattering case to match the sulfate radiative forcing in the AeroCom Direct Effect experiment demonstrates that host model uncertainties could explain about 36% of the overall sulfate forcing diversity of 0.11 Wm-2 in the AeroCom Direct Radiative Effect experiment. Host model errors in aerosol radiative forcing are largest in regions of uncertain host model components, such as stratocumulus

A Study of The Direct Aerosol Forcing At Ground Level For A Pollution Event During The Escompte Campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallet, M.; Roger, J. C.; Dubuisson, P.; Putaud, J. P.; van Dingenen, R.; Despiau, S.

Radiative forcing by aerosol particles is one of the largest source of uncertainties in predicting climate change (IPCC, 2001). Indeed, quantitative estimates of this effect are still uncertain due to little knowledge of these atmospheric particles. Atmospheric particles influence the Earth's radiation balance both directly and indirectly. The indi- rect effect denotes the effect of aerosols acting as cloud condensation nuclei, possibly modifying cloud albedo and cloud lifetime. The direct effect is due to scattering and absorption of radiation and each of these processes depends mainly on the refractive index and the size distribution of aerosol particles. During the ESCOMPTE campaign, which took place in coastal Mediterranean area during the summer 2001, we estimated these aerosol micro-physical properties during a pollution event at two different sites. The first is an urban site (the city of Marseille), and the second is a rural area located fifty kilometers inland. The aerosol size distribution was measured with an SMPS for the particles with radii < 1 µm, and an optical counter for r > 1 µm. The chemi- cal composition (including different ionic compounds , dust, elemental and organic carbon) was deduced from chromatography analysis. The aerosol optical properties calculated from measured aerosol physical and chemical properties at ground level (from Mie theory) are used as input to a shortwave radiative transfer model. Then, this model is used to calculate the diurnally averaged direct aerosol forcing at surface and to compare this values with those measured from the ARAT aircraft and surface pyranometer during the campaign.

The Impact of the Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing on Deep Convection and Air Quality in the Pearl River Delta Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Z.; Yim, Steve H. L.; Wang, C.; Lau, N. C.

2018-05-01

Literature has reported the remarkable aerosol impact on low-level cloud by direct radiative forcing (DRF). Impacts on middle-upper troposphere cloud are not yet fully understood, even though this knowledge is important for regions with a large spatial heterogeneity of emissions and aerosol concentration. We assess the aerosol DRF and its cloud response in June (with strong convection) in Pearl River Delta region for 2008-2012 at cloud-resolving scale using an air quality-climate coupled model. Aerosols suppress deep convection by increasing atmospheric stability leading to less evaporation from the ground. The relative humidity is reduced in middle-upper troposphere due to induced reduction in both evaporation from the ground and upward motion. The cloud reduction offsets 20% of the aerosol DRF. The weaker vertical mixing further increases surface aerosol concentration by up to 2.90 μg/m3. These findings indicate the aerosol DRF impact on deep convection and in turn regional air quality.

Multi-Decadal Variation of Aerosols: Sources, Transport, and Climate Effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chin, Mian; Diehl, Thomas; Bian, Huisheng; Streets, David

2008-01-01

We present a global model study of multi-decadal changes of atmospheric aerosols and their climate effects using a global chemistry transport model along with the near-term to longterm data records. We focus on a 27-year time period of satellite era from 1980 to 2006, during which a suite of aerosol data from satellite observations, ground-based measurements, and intensive field experiments have become available. We will use the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model, which involves a time-varying, comprehensive global emission dataset that we put together in our previous investigations and will be improved/extended in this project. This global emission dataset includes emissions of aerosols and their precursors from fuel combustion, biomass burning, volcanic eruptions, and other sources from 1980 to the present. Using the model and satellite data, we will analyze (1) the long-term global and regional aerosol trends and their relationship to the changes of aerosol and precursor emissions from anthropogenic and natural sources, (2) the intercontinental source-receptor relationships controlled by emission, transport pathway, and climate variability.

CO2 forcing induces semi-direct effects with consequences for climate feedback interpretations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrews, Timothy; Forster, Piers M.

2008-02-01

Climate forcing and feedbacks are diagnosed from seven slab-ocean GCMs for 2 × CO2 using a regression method. Results are compared to those using conventional methodologies to derive a semi-direct forcing due to tropospheric adjustment, analogous to the semi-direct effect of absorbing aerosols. All models show a cloud semi-direct effect, indicating a rapid cloud response to CO2; cloud typically decreases, enhancing the warming. Similarly there is evidence of semi-direct effects from water-vapour, lapse-rate, ice and snow. Previous estimates of climate feedbacks are unlikely to have taken these semi-direct effects into account and so misinterpret processes as feedbacks that depend only on the forcing, but not the global surface temperature. We show that the actual cloud feedback is smaller than what previous methods suggest and that a significant part of the cloud response and the large spread between previous model estimates of cloud feedback is due to the semi-direct forcing.

Moderate Imaging Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aerosol Optical Depth Retrieval for Aerosol Radiative Forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asmat, A.; Jalal, K. A.; Ahmad, N.

2018-02-01

The present study uses the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) retrieved from Moderate Imaging Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data for the period from January 2011 until December 2015 over an urban area in Kuching, Sarawak. The results show the minimum AOD value retrieved from MODIS is -0.06 and the maximum value is 6.0. High aerosol loading with high AOD value observed during dry seasons and low AOD monitored during wet seasons. Multi plane regression technique used to retrieve AOD from MODIS (AODMODIS) and different statistics parameter is proposed by using relative absolute error for accuracy assessment in spatial and temporal averaging approach. The AODMODIS then compared with AOD derived from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sunphotometer (AODAERONET) and the results shows high correlation coefficient (R2) for AODMODIS and AODAERONET with 0.93. AODMODIS used as an input parameters into Santa Barbara Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model to estimate urban radiative forcing at Kuching. The observed hourly averaged for urban radiative forcing is -0.12 Wm-2 for top of atmosphere (TOA), -2.13 Wm-2 at the surface and 2.00 Wm-2 in the atmosphere. There is a moderate relationship observed between urban radiative forcing calculated using SBDART and AERONET which are 0.75 at the surface, 0.65 at TOA and 0.56 in atmosphere. Overall, variation in AOD tends to cause large bias in the estimated urban radiative forcing.

An evaluation of uncertainty in the aerosol optical properties as represented by satellites and an ensemble of chemistry-climate coupled models over Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palacios-Peña, Laura; Baró, Rocío; Jiménez-Guerrero, Pedro

2016-04-01

The changes in Earth's climate are produced by forcing agents such as greenhouse gases, clouds and atmospheric aerosols. The latter modify the Earth's radiative budget due to their optical, microphysical and chemical properties, and are considered to be the most uncertain forcing agent. There are two main approaches to the study of aerosols: (1) ground-based and remote sensing observations and (2) atmospheric modelling. With the aim of characterizing the uncertainties associated with these approaches, and estimating the radiative forcing caused by aerosols, the main objective of this work is to assess the representation of aerosol optical properties by different remote sensing sensors and online-coupled chemistry-climate models and to determine whether the inclusion of aerosol radiative feedbacks in this type of models improves the modelling outputs over Europe. Two case studies have been selected under the framework of the EuMetChem COST Action ES1004, when important aerosol episodes during 2010 over Europe took place: a Russian wildfires episode and a Saharan desert dust outbreak covering most of Europe. Model data comes from an ensemble of regional air quality-climate simulations performed by the working group 2 of EuMetChem, that investigates the importance of different processes and feedbacks in on-line coupled chemistry-climate models. These simulations are run for three different configurations for each model, differing in the inclusion (or not) of aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions. The remote sensing data comes from three different sensors, MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) and SeaWIFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor). The evaluation has been performed by using classical statistical metrics, comparing modelled and remotely sensed data versus a ground-based instrument network (AERONET). The evaluated variables are aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the Angström exponent (AE) at

Effect of Spectrally Varying Albedo of Vegetation Surfaces on Shortwave Radiation Fluxes and Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhu, L.; Martins, J. V.; Yu, H.

2012-01-01

This study develops an algorithm for representing detailed spectral features of vegetation albedo based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) observations at 7 discrete channels, referred to as the MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Albedo (MEVA) algorithm. The MEVA algorithm empirically fills spectral gaps around the vegetation red edge near 0.7 micrometers and vegetation water absorption features at 1.48 and 1.92 micrometers which cannot be adequately captured by the MODIS 7 channels. We then assess the effects of applying MEVA in comparison to four other traditional approaches to calculate solar fluxes and aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF) at the top of atmosphere (TOA) based on the MODIS discrete reflectance bands. By comparing the DRF results obtained through the MEVA method with the results obtained through the other four traditional approaches, we show that filling the spectral gap of the MODIS measurements around 0.7 micrometers based on the general spectral behavior of healthy green vegetation leads to significant improvement in the instantaneous aerosol DRF at TOA (up to 3.02Wm(exp -2) difference or 48% fraction of the aerosol DRF, .6.28Wm(exp -2), calculated for high spectral resolution surface reflectance from 0.3 to 2.5 micrometers for deciduous vegetation surface). The corrections of the spectral gaps in the vegetation spectrum in the near infrared, again missed by the MODIS reflectances, also contributes to improving TOA DRF calculations but to a much lower extent (less than 0.27Wm(exp -2), or about 4% of the instantaneous DRF). Compared to traditional approaches, MEVA also improves the accuracy of the outgoing solar flux between 0.3 to 2.5 micrometers at TOA by over 60Wm(exp -2) (for aspen 3 surface) and aerosol DRF by over 10Wm(exp -2) (for dry grass). Specifically, for Amazon vegetation types, MEVA can improve the accuracy of daily averaged aerosol radiative forcing in the spectral range of 0.3 to 2.5 micrometers at equator at the

Calculations of Aerosol Radiative Forcing in the SAFARI Region from MODIS Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Remer, L. A.; Ichoku, C.; Kaufman, Y. J.; Chu, D. A.

2003-01-01

SAFARI 2000 provided the opportunity to validate MODIS aerosol retrievals and to correct any assumptions in the retrieval process. By comparing MODIS retrievals with ground-based sunphotometer data, we quantified the degree to which the MODIS algorithm underestimated the aerosol optical thickness. This discrepancy was attributed to underestimating the degree of light absorption by the southern African smoke aerosol. Correcting for this underestimation of absorption, produces more realistic aerosol retrievals that allow various applications of the MODIS aerosol products. One such application is the calculation of the aerosol radiative forcing at the top and bottom of the atmosphere. The combination of MODIS accuracy, coverage, resolution and the ability to separate fine and coarse mode make this calculation substantially advanced over previous attempts with other satellites. We focus on the oceans adjacent to southern Africa and use a solar radiative transfer model to perform the flux calculations. The forcing at the top of atmosphere is calculated to be 10 W/sq m, while the forcing at the surface is -26 W/sq m. These results resemble those calculated from INDOEX data, and are most sensitive to assumptions of aerosol absorption, the same parameter that initially interfered with our retrievals.

Integrating biomass, sulphate and sea-salt aerosol responses into a microphysical chemical parcel model: implications for climate studies.

PubMed

Ghosh, S; Smith, M H; Rap, A

2007-11-15

Aerosols are known to influence significantly the radiative budget of the Earth. Although the direct effect (whereby aerosols scatter and absorb solar and thermal infrared radiation) has a large perturbing influence on the radiation budget, the indirect effect (whereby aerosols modify the microphysical and hence the radiative properties and amounts of clouds) poses a greater challenge to climate modellers. This is because aerosols undergo chemical and physical changes while in the atmosphere, notably within clouds, and are removed largely by precipitation. The way in which aerosols are processed by clouds depends on the type, abundance and the mixing state of the aerosols concerned. A parametrization with sulphate and sea-salt aerosol has been successfully integrated within the Hadley Centre general circulation model (GCM). The results of this combined parametrization indicate a significantly reduced role, compared with previous estimates, for sulphate aerosol in cloud droplet nucleation and, consequently, in indirect radiative forcing. However, in this bicomponent system, the cloud droplet number concentration, N(d) (a crucial parameter that is used in GCMs for radiative transfer calculations), is a smoothly varying function of the sulphate aerosol loading. Apart from sea-salt and sulphate aerosol particles, biomass aerosol particles are also present widely in the troposphere. We find that biomass smoke can significantly perturb the activation and growth of both sulphate and sea-salt particles. For a fixed salt loading, N(d) increases linearly with modest increases in sulphate and smoke masses, but significant nonlinearities are observed at higher non-sea-salt mass loadings. This non-intuitive N(d) variation poses a fresh challenge to climate modellers.

Source apportionments of aerosols and their direct radiative forcing and long-term trends over continental United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Yang; Wang, Hailong; Smith, Steven J.

Due to US air pollution regulations, aerosol and precursor emissions have decreased during recent decades, while changes in emissions in other regions of the world also influence US aerosol trends through long-range transport. We examine here the relative roles of these domestic and foreign emission changes on aerosol concentrations and direct radiative forcing (DRF) at the top of the atmosphere over the continental US. Long-term (1980-2014) trends and aerosol source apportionment are quantified in this study using a global aerosol-climate model equipped with an explicit aerosol source tagging technique. Due to US emission control policies, the annual mean near-surface concentrationmore » of particles, consisting of sulfate, black carbon, and primary organic aerosol, decreases by about –1.1 (±0.1) / –1.4 (±0.1) μg m -3 in western US and –3.3 (±0.2) / –2.9 (±0.2) μg m -3 in eastern US during 2010–2014, as compared to those in 1980–1984. Meanwhile, decreases in US emissions lead to a warming of +0.48 (±0.03) / –0.46 (±0.03) W m -2 in western US and +1.41 (±0.07) /+1.32 (±0.09) W m -2 in eastern US through changes in aerosol DRF. Increases in emissions from East Asia generally have a modest impact on US air quality, but mitigated the warming effect induced by reductions in US emissions by 25% in western US and 7% in eastern US. Thus, as US domestic aerosol and precursor emissions continue to decrease, foreign emissions may become increasingly important to radiative forcing over the US.« less

Source apportionments of aerosols and their direct radiative forcing and long-term trends over continental United States

DOE PAGES

Yang, Yang; Wang, Hailong; Smith, Steven J.; ...

2018-05-23

Due to US air pollution regulations, aerosol and precursor emissions have decreased during recent decades, while changes in emissions in other regions of the world also influence US aerosol trends through long-range transport. We examine here the relative roles of these domestic and foreign emission changes on aerosol concentrations and direct radiative forcing (DRF) at the top of the atmosphere over the continental US. Long-term (1980-2014) trends and aerosol source apportionment are quantified in this study using a global aerosol-climate model equipped with an explicit aerosol source tagging technique. Due to US emission control policies, the annual mean near-surface concentrationmore » of particles, consisting of sulfate, black carbon, and primary organic aerosol, decreases by about –1.1 (±0.1) / –1.4 (±0.1) μg m -3 in western US and –3.3 (±0.2) / –2.9 (±0.2) μg m -3 in eastern US during 2010–2014, as compared to those in 1980–1984. Meanwhile, decreases in US emissions lead to a warming of +0.48 (±0.03) / –0.46 (±0.03) W m -2 in western US and +1.41 (±0.07) /+1.32 (±0.09) W m -2 in eastern US through changes in aerosol DRF. Increases in emissions from East Asia generally have a modest impact on US air quality, but mitigated the warming effect induced by reductions in US emissions by 25% in western US and 7% in eastern US. Thus, as US domestic aerosol and precursor emissions continue to decrease, foreign emissions may become increasingly important to radiative forcing over the US.« less

Reduced anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing caused by biogenic new particle formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordon, Hamish; Sengupta, Kamalika; Rap, Alexandru; Duplissy, Jonathan; Frege, Carla; Williamson, Christina; Heinritzi, Martin; Simon, Mario; Yan, Chao; Almeida, João; Tröstl, Jasmin; Nieminen, Tuomo; Ortega, Ismael K.; Wagner, Robert; Dunne, Eimear M.; Adamov, Alexey; Amorim, Antonio; Bernhammer, Anne-Kathrin; Bianchi, Federico; Breitenlechner, Martin; Brilke, Sophia; Chen, Xuemeng; Craven, Jill S.; Dias, Antonio; Ehrhart, Sebastian; Fischer, Lukas; Flagan, Richard C.; Franchin, Alessandro; Fuchs, Claudia; Guida, Roberto; Hakala, Jani; Hoyle, Christopher R.; Jokinen, Tuija; Junninen, Heikki; Kangasluoma, Juha; Kim, Jaeseok; Kirkby, Jasper; Krapf, Manuel; Kürten, Andreas; Laaksonen, Ari; Lehtipalo, Katrianne; Makhmutov, Vladimir; Mathot, Serge; Molteni, Ugo; Monks, Sarah A.; Onnela, Antti; Peräkylä, Otso; Piel, Felix; Petäjä, Tuukka; Praplan, Arnaud P.; Pringle, Kirsty J.; Richards, Nigel A. D.; Rissanen, Matti P.; Rondo, Linda; Sarnela, Nina; Schobesberger, Siegfried; Scott, Catherine E.; Seinfeld, John H.; Sharma, Sangeeta; Sipilä, Mikko; Steiner, Gerhard; Stozhkov, Yuri; Stratmann, Frank; Tomé, Antonio; Virtanen, Annele; Vogel, Alexander Lucas; Wagner, Andrea C.; Wagner, Paul E.; Weingartner, Ernest; Wimmer, Daniela; Winkler, Paul M.; Ye, Penglin; Zhang, Xuan; Hansel, Armin; Dommen, Josef; Donahue, Neil M.; Worsnop, Douglas R.; Baltensperger, Urs; Kulmala, Markku; Curtius, Joachim; Carslaw, Kenneth S.

2016-10-01

The magnitude of aerosol radiative forcing caused by anthropogenic emissions depends on the baseline state of the atmosphere under pristine preindustrial conditions. Measurements show that particle formation in atmospheric conditions can occur solely from biogenic vapors. Here, we evaluate the potential effect of this source of particles on preindustrial cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and aerosol-cloud radiative forcing over the industrial period. Model simulations show that the pure biogenic particle formation mechanism has a much larger relative effect on CCN concentrations in the preindustrial atmosphere than in the present atmosphere because of the lower aerosol concentrations. Consequently, preindustrial cloud albedo is increased more than under present day conditions, and therefore the cooling forcing of anthropogenic aerosols is reduced. The mechanism increases CCN concentrations by 20-100% over a large fraction of the preindustrial lower atmosphere, and the magnitude of annual global mean radiative forcing caused by changes of cloud albedo since 1750 is reduced by 0.22 W m-2 (27%) to -0.60 W m-2. Model uncertainties, relatively slow formation rates, and limited available ambient measurements make it difficult to establish the significance of a mechanism that has its dominant effect under preindustrial conditions. Our simulations predict more particle formation in the Amazon than is observed. However, the first observation of pure organic nucleation has now been reported for the free troposphere. Given the potentially significant effect on anthropogenic forcing, effort should be made to better understand such naturally driven aerosol processes.

Impact of tropospheric sulphate aerosols on the terrestrial carbon cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eliseev, Alexey V.

2015-01-01

Tropospheric sulphate aerosols (TSAs) may oxidise the photosynthesising tissues if they are taken up by plants. A parameterisation of this impact of tropospheric sulphate aerosols (TSAs) on the terrestrial gross primary production is suggested. This parameterisation is implemented into the global Earth system model developed at the A.M. Obukhov Institute of the Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS CM). With this coupled model, the simulations are performed which are forced by common anthropogenic and natural climate forcings based on historical reconstructions followed by the RCP 8.5 scenario. The model response to sulphate aerosol loading is subdivided into the climatic (related to the influence of TSA on the radiative transport in the atmosphere) and ecological (related to the toxic influence of sulphate aerosol on terrestrial plants) impacts. We found that the former basically dominates over the latter on a global scale and modifies the responses of the global vegetation and soil carbon stocks to external forcings by 10%. At a regional scale, however, ecological impact may be as much important as the climatic one.

422nd Brookhaven Lecture. Aerosols, Clouds and Climate: From Micro to Micro

ScienceCinema

Yangang Liu

2018-01-05

As scientists who study aerosols, clouds, and precipitation know, particles in the atmosphere interact with one another and affect the Earth's climate through a myriad of complex processes. Learn more about this topic from Yangang Liu as he presents "Aerosols, Clouds, and Climate: From Micro to Macro."

Regional aerosol radiative and hydrological effects over the mid-Atlantic corridor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Creekmore, Torreon N.

A thorough assessment of direct, indirect, and semi-direct influences of aerosols on Earth's energy budget is required to better understand climate and estimate how it may change in the future. Clear-sky surface broadband (measured and modeled) irradiance, spectral aerosol optical depth, heating rate profiles, and non-radiative flux measurements were conducted at a state-of-the-art site, developed by the NOAA-Howard University Center for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS) program, providing a best estimate of aerosol radiative atmosphere-surface interactions. Methods developed by the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program were applied to: (1) temporally quantify regional aerosol forcing, (2) to derive an empirical equation describing a relationship between aerosol optical depth and normalized diffuse ratio, (3) evaluate aerosol impacts on atmospheric heating, and (4) evaluate how aerosol forcing impacts may possibly reduce latent and sensible fluxes. Measurements were obtained during the period of May--September for the years of 2005, 2006, and 2007. Atmospheric aerosols are among the key uncertainties affecting the Earth's climate and atmospheric radiative processes. Present-day increases in aerosol concentrations directly, indirectly, and semi-directly impact the Earth's energy budget (i.e., cooling the surface and heating the atmosphere), thereby contributing to climate change. The Howard University Beltsville Site (HUBS) has experienced a greater loss in mean normalized aerosol radiative forcing with time, as observations show a decrease from --0.9 in 2005 to --3.1 and --3.4 W/m2 for 2006 and 2007 respectively, in mean net surface irradiance. The mean normalized aerosol radiative forcing estimated for the period considered was --2.5 W/m2. The reduction in surface solar insolation is due to increased scattering and absorption related to increased aerosol burdens v for the period, promoting surface cooling and atmospheric heating

Linkages Between Ozone-depleting Substances, Tropospheric Oxidation and Aerosols

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voulgarakis, A.; Shindell, D. T.; Faluvegi, G.

2013-01-01

Coupling between the stratosphere and the troposphere allows changes in stratospheric ozone abundances to affect tropospheric chemistry. Large-scale effects from such changes on chemically produced tropospheric aerosols have not been systematically examined in past studies. We use a composition-climate model to investigate potential past and future impacts of changes in stratospheric ozone depleting substances (ODS) on tropospheric oxidants and sulfate aerosols. In most experiments, we find significant responses in tropospheric photolysis and oxidants, with small but significant effects on methane radiative forcing. The response of sulfate aerosols is sizeable when examining the effect of increasing future nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. We also find that without the regulation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) through the Montreal Protocol, sulfate aerosols could have increased by 2050 by a comparable amount to the decreases predicted due to relatively stringent sulfur emissions controls. The individual historical radiative forcings of CFCs and N2O through their indirect effects on methane (-22.6mW/sq. m for CFCs and -6.7mW/sq. m for N2O) and sulfate aerosols (-3.0mW/sq. m for CFCs and +6.5mW/sq. m for N2O when considering the direct aerosol effect) discussed here are non-negligible when compared to known historical ODS forcing. Our results stress the importance of accounting for stratosphere-troposphere, gas-aerosol and composition-climate interactions when investigating the effects of changing emissions on atmospheric composition and climate.

Are atmospheric updrafts a key to unlocking climate forcing and sensitivity?

DOE PAGES

Donner, Leo J.; O'Brien, Travis A.; Rieger, Daniel; ...

2016-10-20

Both climate forcing and climate sensitivity persist as stubborn uncertainties limiting the extent to which climate models can provide actionable scientific scenarios for climate change. A key, explicit control on cloud–aerosol interactions, the largest uncertainty in climate forcing, is the vertical velocity of cloud-scale updrafts. Model-based studies of climate sensitivity indicate that convective entrainment, which is closely related to updraft speeds, is an important control on climate sensitivity. Updraft vertical velocities also drive many physical processes essential to numerical weather prediction. Vertical velocities and their role in atmospheric physical processes have been given very limited attention in models for climatemore » and numerical weather prediction. The relevant physical scales range down to tens of meters and are thus frequently sub-grid and require parameterization. Many state-of-science convection parameterizations provide mass fluxes without specifying Vertical velocities and their role in atmospheric physical processes have been given very limited attention in models for climate and numerical weather prediction. The relevant physical scales range down to tens of meters and are thus frequently sub-grid and require parameterization. Many state-of-science convection parameterizations provide mass fluxes without specifying vs in climate models may capture this behavior, but it has not been accounted for when parameterizing cloud and precipitation processes in current models. New observations of convective vertical velocities offer a potentially promising path toward developing process-level cloud models and parameterizations for climate and numerical weather prediction. Taking account of the scale dependence of resolved vertical velocities offers a path to matching cloud-scale physical processes and their driving dynamics more realistically, with a prospect of reduced uncertainty in both climate forcing and sensitivity.« less

Are atmospheric updrafts a key to unlocking climate forcing and sensitivity?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Donner, Leo J.; O'Brien, Travis A.; Rieger, Daniel

Both climate forcing and climate sensitivity persist as stubborn uncertainties limiting the extent to which climate models can provide actionable scientific scenarios for climate change. A key, explicit control on cloud–aerosol interactions, the largest uncertainty in climate forcing, is the vertical velocity of cloud-scale updrafts. Model-based studies of climate sensitivity indicate that convective entrainment, which is closely related to updraft speeds, is an important control on climate sensitivity. Updraft vertical velocities also drive many physical processes essential to numerical weather prediction. Vertical velocities and their role in atmospheric physical processes have been given very limited attention in models for climatemore » and numerical weather prediction. The relevant physical scales range down to tens of meters and are thus frequently sub-grid and require parameterization. Many state-of-science convection parameterizations provide mass fluxes without specifying Vertical velocities and their role in atmospheric physical processes have been given very limited attention in models for climate and numerical weather prediction. The relevant physical scales range down to tens of meters and are thus frequently sub-grid and require parameterization. Many state-of-science convection parameterizations provide mass fluxes without specifying vs in climate models may capture this behavior, but it has not been accounted for when parameterizing cloud and precipitation processes in current models. New observations of convective vertical velocities offer a potentially promising path toward developing process-level cloud models and parameterizations for climate and numerical weather prediction. Taking account of the scale dependence of resolved vertical velocities offers a path to matching cloud-scale physical processes and their driving dynamics more realistically, with a prospect of reduced uncertainty in both climate forcing and sensitivity.« less

Characterization of Wildfire-Induced Aerosol Emissions From the Maritime Continent Peatland and Central African Dry Savannah with MISR and CALIPSO Aerosol Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Huikyo; Jeong, Su-Jong; Kalashnikova, Olga; Tosca, Mika; Kim, Sang-Woo; Kug, Jong-Seong

2018-03-01

Aerosol plumes from wildfires affect the Earth's climate system through regulation of the radiative budget and clouds. However, optical properties of aerosols from individual wildfire smoke plumes and their resultant impact on regional climate are highly variable. Therefore, there is a critical need for observations that can constrain the partitioning between different types of aerosols. Here we present the apparent influence of regional ecosystem types on optical properties of wildfire-induced aerosols based on remote sensing observations from two satellite instruments and three ground stations. The independent observations commonly show that the ratio of the absorbing aerosols is significantly lower in smoke plumes from the Maritime Continent than those from Central Africa, so that their impacts on regional climate are different. The observed light-absorbing properties of wildfire-induced aerosols are explained by dominant ecosystem types such as wet peatlands for the Maritime Continent and dry savannah for Central Africa, respectively. These results suggest that the wildfire-aerosol-climate feedback processes largely depend on the terrestrial environments from which the fires originate. These feedbacks also interact with climate under greenhouse warming. Our analysis shows that aerosol optical properties retrieved based on satellite observations are critical in assessing wildfire-induced aerosols forcing in climate models. The optical properties of carbonaceous aerosol mixtures used by state-of-the-art chemistry climate models may overestimate emissions for absorbing aerosols from wildfires over the Maritime Continent.

The Impact of Biogenic and Anthropogenic Atmospheric Aerosol on Climate in Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrahim, A. I.; Zakey, A.; Steiner, A. L.; Shokr, M. E.; El-Raey, M.; Ahmed, Y.; Al-Hadidi, A.; Zakey, A.

2014-12-01

Aerosols are indicators of air quality as they reduce visibility and adversely affect public health. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is a measure of the radiation extinction due to interaction of radiation with aerosol particles in the atmosphere. Using this optical measure of atmospheric aerosols we explore the seasonal and annual patterns of aerosols from both anthropogenic and biogenic sources over Egypt. Here, we use an integrated environment-climate-aerosol model in conjunction with inversion technique to identify the aerosol particle size distribution over different locations in Egypt. The online-integrated Environment-Climate-Aerosol model (EnvClimA), which is based on the International Center for Theoretical Physics Regional Climate Model (ICTP-RegCM), is used to study the emission of different aerosols and their impact on climate parameters for a long-term base line simulation run over Egypt and North Africa. The global emission inventory is downscaled and remapping them over Egypt using local factors such as population, traffic and industrial activities to identify the sources of anthropogenic and biogenic emission from local emission over Egypt. The results indicated that the dominant natural aerosols over Egypt are dust emissions that frequently occur during the transitional seasons (Spring and Autumn). From the local observation we identify the number of dust and sand storm occurrences over Egypt. The Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) is used to identify the optical characterizations of different types of aerosols over Egypt. Modeled aerosol optical depth and MISR observed (at 555 nm) are compared from March 2000 through November 2013. The results identify that the MISR AOD captures the maximum peaks of AOD in March/April that coincide with the Khamasin dust storms. However, peaks in May are either due to photochemical reactions or anthropogenic activities. Note: This presentation is for a Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER

Atmospheric Aerosols in a Changing World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heald, C. L.

2015-12-01

Aerosols in the atmosphere impact human and environmental health, visibility, and climate. Exposure to air pollution is the leading environmental cause of premature mortality world-wide. The role of aerosols on the Earth's climate represents the single largest source of uncertainty in our understanding of global radiative forcing. Tremendous strides have been made to clean up the air in recent decades, and yet poor air quality continues to plague many regions of the world, and our understanding of how global change will feedback on to aerosol sources, formation, and impacts is limited. In this talk, I will use recent results from my research group to highlight some of the key uncertainties and research topics in global aerosol lifecycle.

Anomalies of the Asian Monsoon Induced by Aerosol Forcings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, William K. M.; Kim, M. K.

2004-01-01

Impacts of aerosols on the Asian summer monsoon are studied using the NASA finite volume General Circulation Model (fvGCM), with radiative forcing derived from three-dimensional distributions of five aerosol species i.e., black carbon, organic carbon, soil dust, and sea salt from the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport Model (GOCART). Results show that absorbing aerosols, i.e., black carbon and dust, induce large-scale upper-level heating anomaly over the Tibetan Plateau in April and May, ushering in & early onset of the Indian summer monsoon. Absorbing aerosols also I i enhance lower-level heating and anomalous ascent over northern India, intensifying the Indian monsoon. Overall, the aerosol-induced large-scale surface' temperature cooling leads to a reduction of monsoon rainfall over the East Asia continent, and adjacent oceanic regions.

eVolv2k: A new ice core-based volcanic forcing reconstruction for the past 2000 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toohey, Matthew; Sigl, Michael

2016-04-01

Radiative forcing resulting from stratospheric aerosols produced by major volcanic eruptions is a dominant driver of climate variability in the Earth's past. The ability of climate model simulations to accurately recreate past climate is tied directly to the accuracy of the volcanic forcing timeseries used in the simulations. We present here a new volcanic forcing reconstruction, based on newly updated ice core composites from Antarctica and Greenland. Ice core records are translated into stratospheric aerosol properties for use in climate models through the Easy Volcanic Aerosol (EVA) module, which provides an analytic representation of volcanic stratospheric aerosol forcing based on available observations and aerosol model results, prescribing the aerosol's radiative properties and primary modes of spatial and temporal variability. The evolv2k volcanic forcing dataset covers the past 2000 years, and has been provided for use in the Paleo-Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP), and VolMIP experiments within CMIP6. Here, we describe the construction of the eVolv2k data set, compare with prior forcing sets, and show initial simulation results.

Lidar characterizations of atmospheric aerosols and clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrare, R. A.; Hostetler, C. A.; Hair, J. W.; Burton, S. P.

2017-12-01

Knowledge of the vertical profile, composition, concentration, and size distribution of aerosols is required to quantify the impacts of aerosols on human health, global and regional climate, clouds and precipitation. In particular, radiative forcing due to anthropogenic aerosols is the most uncertain part of anthropogenic radiative forcing, with aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) as the largest source of uncertainty in current estimates of global radiative forcing. Improving aerosol transport model predictions of the vertical profile of aerosol optical and microphysical characteristics is crucial for improving assessments of aerosol radiative forcing. Understanding how aerosols and clouds interact is essential for investigating the aerosol indirect effect and ACI. Through its ability to provide vertical profiles of aerosol and cloud distributions as well as important information regarding the optical and physical properties of aerosols and clouds, lidar is a crucial tool for addressing these science questions. This presentation describes how surface, airborne, and satellite lidar measurements have been used to address these questions, and in particular how High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) measurements provide profiles of aerosol properties (backscatter, extinction, depolarization, concentration, size) important for characterizing radiative forcing. By providing a direct measurement of aerosol extinction, HSRL provides more accurate aerosol measurement profiles and more accurate constraints for models than standard retrievals from elastic backscatter lidar, which loses accuracy and precision at lower altitudes due to attenuation from overlying layers. Information regarding particle size and abundance from advanced lidar retrievals provides better proxies for cloud-condensation-nuclei (CCN), which are required for assessing aerosol-cloud interactions. When combined with data from other sensors, advanced lidar measurements can provide information on aerosol and

Studying Climate Response to Forcing by the Nonlinear Dynamical Mode Decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukhin, Dmitry; Gavrilov, Andrey; Loskutov, Evgeny; Feigin, Alexander

2017-04-01

An analysis of global climate response to external forcing, both anthropogenic (mainly, CO2 and aerosol) and natural (solar and volcanic), is needed for adequate predictions of global climate change. Being complex dynamical system, the climate reacts to external perturbations exciting feedbacks (both positive and negative) making the response non-trivial and poorly predictable. Thus an extraction of internal modes of climate system, investigation of their interaction with external forcings and further modeling and forecast of their dynamics, are all the problems providing the success of climate modeling. In the report the new method for principal mode extraction from climate data is presented. The method is based on the Nonlinear Dynamical Mode (NDM) expansion [1,2], but takes into account a number of external forcings applied to the system. Each NDM is represented by hidden time series governing the observed variability, which, together with external forcing time series, are mapped onto data space. While forcing time series are considered to be known, the hidden unknown signals underlying the internal climate dynamics are extracted from observed data by the suggested method. In particular, it gives us an opportunity to study the evolution of principal system's mode structure in changing external conditions and separate the internal climate variability from trends forced by external perturbations. Furthermore, the modes so obtained can be extrapolated beyond the observational time series, and long-term prognosis of modes' structure including characteristics of interconnections and responses to external perturbations, can be carried out. In this work the method is used for reconstructing and studying the principal modes of climate variability on inter-annual and decadal time scales accounting the external forcings such as anthropogenic emissions, variations of the solar activity and volcanic activity. The structure of the obtained modes as well as their response to