The Impact of Molecular Interactions on Atmospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing

Author(s):  
Shawn M. Kathmann ◽  
Gregory K. Schenter ◽  
Bruce C. Garrett
2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 4039-4048 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. T. Turnock ◽  
G. W. Mann ◽  
M. T. Woodhouse ◽  
M. Dalvi ◽  
F. M. O'Connor ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 03004
Author(s):  
Abdelouahid Tahiri ◽  
Mohamed Diouri

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


2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 976-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinwon Kim ◽  
Yu Gu ◽  
K. N. Liou

Abstract To understand the regional impact of the atmospheric aerosols on the surface energy and water cycle in the southern Sierra Nevada characterized by extreme variations in terrain elevation, the authors examine the aerosol radiative forcing on surface insolation and snowmelt for the spring of 1998 in a regional climate model experiment. With a prescribed aerosol optical thickness of 0.2, it is found that direct aerosol radiative forcing influences spring snowmelt primarily by reducing surface insolation and that these forcings on surface insolation and snowmelt vary strongly following terrain elevation. The direct aerosol radiative forcing on surface insolation is negative in all elevations. It is nearly uniform in the regions below 2000 m and decreases with increasing elevation in the region above 2000 m. This elevation dependency in the direct aerosol radiative forcing on surface insolation is related to the fact that the amount of cloud water and the frequency of cloud formation are nearly uniform in the lower elevation region, but increase with increasing elevation in the higher elevation region. This also suggests that clouds can effectively mask the direct aerosol radiative forcing on surface insolation. The direct aerosol radiative forcing on snowmelt is notable only in the regions above 2000 m and is primarily via the reduction in the surface insolation by aerosols. The effect of this forcing on low-level air temperature is as large as −0.3°C, but its impact on snowmelt is small because the sensible heat flux change is much smaller than the insolation change. The direct aerosol radiative forcing on snowmelt is significant only when low-level temperature is near the freezing point, between −3° and 5°C. When low-level temperature is outside this range, the direct aerosol radiative forcing on surface insolation has only a weak influence on snowmelt. The elevation dependency of the direct aerosol radiative forcing on snowmelt is related with this low-level temperature effect as the occurrence of the favored temperature range is most frequent in high elevation regions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianyi Fan ◽  
Xiaohong Liu ◽  
Chenglai Wu ◽  
Yi Gao ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
...  

<p>          Biases of aerosol simulation by models participating the Aerosol and Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP) were identified over China. Although the yearly trend of simulated aerosol optical depth (AOD) agrees with the MODIS satellite retrievals for the country-wide averages, this agreement is an offset between the underestimation of AOD over eastern China and the overestimation of AOD over western China. The AODs were underestimated over the Northeastern China Plain and the North China Plain all year along and overestimated over Sichuan Basin in the winter. These model biases were persistent over multiple years from 2002 to 2015. We attempt to evaluate the impact of emission uncertainties on model simulated aerosol properties and aerosol radiative forcing by comparing the simulations by the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2) with the default inventory developed by the Community Emission Data System (CEDS) and with a country-level inventory (Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China, MEIC). It turns out that the differences between simulations with the two emission inventories are much smaller than the differences between simulations and observations. Low-bias of precursor gases (e.g., SO<sub>2</sub>), too strong convergence of wind field, too strong dilution and transport by summer monsoon circulation, too much wet scavenging by precipitation, and too weak aerosol swelling due to low-biased relative humidity are suggested to be responsible for the biased AOD in eastern China. This indicates that the influence of emission inventory uncertainties on aerosol radiative forcing can be overwhelmed by influences of biased meteorology and aerosol processes. Therefore, it is necessary for climate models to perform reasonably well in the dynamical, physical and chemical processes in order to estimate the aerosol radiative forcing.   </p>


2004 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 1799-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria João Costa ◽  
Ana Maria Silva ◽  
Vincenzo Levizzani

Abstract A method based on the synergistic use of low earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite data for aerosol-type characterization, as well as aerosol optical thickness (AOT) retrieval and monitoring over the ocean, is presented. These properties are used for the estimation of the direct shortwave aerosol radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere. The synergy serves the purpose of monitoring aerosol events at the GEO time and space scales while maintaining the accuracy level achieved with LEO instruments. Aerosol optical properties representative of the atmospheric conditions are obtained from the inversion of high-spectral-resolution measurements from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME). The aerosol optical properties are input for radiative transfer calculations for the retrieval of the AOT from GEO visible broadband measurements, avoiding the use of fixed aerosol models available in the literature. The retrieved effective aerosol optical properties represent an essential component for the aerosol radiative forcing assessment. A sensitivity analysis is also presented to quantify the effects that changes on the aerosol model may have on modeled results of spectral reflectance, AOT, and direct shortwave aerosol radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere. The impact on modeled values of the physical assumptions on surface reflectance and vertical profiles of ozone and water vapor are analyzed. Results show that the aerosol model is the main factor influencing the investigated radiative variables. Results of the application of the method to several significant aerosol events, as well as their validation, are presented in a companion paper.


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