Transport of pollution to a remote coastal site during gap flow from California's interior: impacts on aerosol composition, clouds, and radiative balance

Abstract. During the CalWater 2015 field campaign, ground-level observations of aerosol size, concentration, chemical composition, and cloud activity were made at Bodega Bay, CA, on the remote California coast. A strong anthropogenic influence on air quality, aerosol physicochemical properties, and cloud activity was observed at Bodega Bay during periods with special weather conditions, known as Petaluma Gap flow, in which air from California's interior is transported to the coast. This study applies a diverse set of chemical, cloud microphysical, and meteorological measurements to the Petaluma Gap flow phenomenon for the first time. It is demonstrated that the sudden and often dramatic change in aerosol properties is strongly related to regional meteorology and anthropogenically influenced chemical processes in California's Central Valley. In addition, it is demonstrated that the change in air mass properties from those typical of a remote marine environment to properties of a continental regime has the potential to impact atmospheric radiative balance and cloud formation in ways that must be accounted for in regional climate simulations.

Download Full-text

Transport of Pollution to a Remote Coastal Site during Gap Flow from California’s Interior: Impacts on Aerosol Composition, Clouds and Radiative Balance

10.5194/acp-2016-454 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

A. C. Martin ◽

G. C. Cornwell ◽

S. A. Atwood ◽

K. A. Moore ◽

N. Rothfuss ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Regional Climate ◽

Central Valley ◽

Ground Level ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Cloud Formation ◽

Aerosol Composition ◽

Radiative Balance ◽

Gap Flow ◽

Climate Simulations ◽

Bodega Bay

Abstract. During the CalWater 2015 field campaign, ground-level observations of aerosol size, concentration, chemical composition, and cloud activity were made at Bodega Bay, CA on the remote California coast. A strong anthropogenic influence on air quality, aerosol physicochemical properties, and cloud activity was observed at Bodega Bay during periods with special weather conditions, known as Petaluma Gap flow, in which air from California’s interior is transported to the coast. This study applies a diverse set of chemical, cloud microphysical and meteorological measurements to the Petaluma Gap flow phenomenon for the first time. It is demonstrated that the sudden and often dramatic change in aerosol properties are strongly related to regional meteorology and anthropogenically-influenced chemical processes in California’s Central Valley. In addition, it is demonstrated that the change in airmass properties from those typical of a remote marine environment to properties of a continental regime has the potential to impact atmospheric radiative balance and cloud formation in ways that must be accounted for in regional climate simulations.

Download Full-text

Unanticipated Side Effects of Stratospheric Albedo Modification Proposals Due to Aerosol Composition and Phase

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-53595-3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniel J. Cziczo ◽

Martin J. Wolf ◽

Blaž Gasparini ◽

Steffen Münch ◽

Ulrike Lohmann

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gases ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Cloud Formation ◽

Aerosol Composition ◽

Radiative Balance ◽

Nucleation Sites ◽

Polar Stratospheric Cloud ◽

Reduction Of Emissions ◽

Cloud Ice

AbstractThe Earth has now warmed ~1.0 °C since the period 1850–1900, due in large part to the anthropogenic addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Most strategies to address this warming have called for a reduction of emissions and, often, accompanying removal of greenhouse gases. Other proposals suggest masking the increased radiative forcing by an increase in particles and/or clouds to increase scattering of incoming solar radiation. Two related recent proposals have suggested addition of calcite particles to the stratosphere, which one model suggests may enhance ozone. Here we show that the interaction of calcite with acidic materials in the stratosphere results in a more complex aerosol than has been previously considered, including aqueous and hydrate phases that can lead to ozone loss. Our study suggests particle addition to the stratosphere could also perturb global radiative balance by affecting high altitude cloud formation and properties. Experimental and modeling results suggest particles will act as the nucleation sites for polar stratospheric cloud ice and, after sedimentation into the troposphere, impact cirrus clouds in the absence of other efficient ice nucleating particles. These results show that an overly simplistic set of assumptions regarding intentional particle emissions to the atmosphere can lead to incorrect estimates of the radiative effect and fail to identify unintended consequences.

Download Full-text

Aerosols: Connection between regional climate change and air quality (IUPAC Technical Report)

Pure and Applied Chemistry ◽

10.1351/pac200476061241 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 76 (6) ◽

pp. 1241-1253 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

S. Slanina ◽

Y. Zhang

Keyword(s):

Black Carbon ◽

Direct Effect ◽

Indirect Effect ◽

Western Europe ◽

Industrial Revolution ◽

Stratospheric Ozone ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Cloud Formation ◽

Strong Impact ◽

Radiative Balance

Aerosols play an important role in all problems connected with air pollution, ranging from very local effects and human health problems to regional problems such as acid deposition and eutrophication up to continental and global questions such as stratospheric ozone loss and climatic change. In this report, an explanation of these effects is given and an assessment is made for parts of China, based on the aerosol data given by Zhang et al. elsewhere in this volume. (Pure Appl. Chem. 76(6), 1227-1239, 2004)Epidemiological research has made clear that aerosols are a cause of enhanced mortality due to cardiopulmonary diseases (heart and lung diseases). Based on the same mortality as found in Europe and on linear extrapolation (with large uncertainties; no sufficient data are available to make better estimates), an excess mortality of 5000 to 10 000 due to acute effects and 20 000 to 50 000 due to chronic effects per year could be expected for a city like Beijing with a population of 14.5 million. A major cause of these uncertainties is problems in the determination of semivolatile compounds and elemental or black carbon in aerosols. Aerosols have a strong impact on the radiative balance of the earth, in a direct way by reflecting solar light as well as in an indirect way by cloud formation leading to clouds with higher albedo, which reflect sunlight better. The total direct effect, backscatter of sunlight, including backscatter from nitrates and organic compounds, is estimated to be approximately 2 to 3 W m–2 for Western Europe, while the indirect effect is approximately 0 to –6 W m–2. Soot absorbs incoming solar radiation and heats the atmosphere. This process contributes 0.1 to 0.2 W m–2 on a global scale. If PM-2.5 levels are compared with Europe, a direct effect of approximately –4 to –10 W m–2 would be plausible for China, black carbon could contribute probably about 0.5 to 2 W m–2, and the indirect effect could be about 0 to –6 W m–2. These effects could cause a net cooling over China (and over many developing countries in the same position) of about –4 to –15 W m–2. This estimate is obviously based on many assumptions and hence is quite uncertain.One must be aware that measures reducing local aerosol concentrations will have a large impact on the radiative balance and could, over a few decades, have potentially at least the same impact as the build-up of greenhouse gases since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Download Full-text

Two-Way Integration of WRF and CCSM for Regional Climate Simulations

10.2172/1087316 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Wuyin Lin ◽

Minghua Zhang ◽

Juanxiong He ◽

Xiangmin Jiao ◽

Ying Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Regional Climate ◽

Climate Simulations

Download Full-text

A 3D study on the amplification of regional haze and particle growth by local emissions

npj Climate and Atmospheric Science ◽

10.1038/s41612-020-00156-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Wei Du ◽

Lubna Dada ◽

Jian Zhao ◽

Xueshun Chen ◽

Kaspar R. Daellenbach ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atmospheric Stability ◽

Ground Level ◽

Particle Growth ◽

Chemical Compositions ◽

Size Distributions ◽

Aerosol Composition ◽

Regional Haze ◽

Haze Formation ◽

Beijing China

AbstractThe role of new particle formation (NPF) events and their contribution to haze formation through subsequent growth in polluted megacities is still controversial. To improve the understanding of the sources, meteorological conditions, and chemistry behind air pollution, we performed simultaneous measurements of aerosol composition and particle number size distributions at ground level and at 260 m in central Beijing, China, during a total of 4 months in 2015–2017. Our measurements show a pronounced decoupling of gas-to-particle conversion between the two heights, leading to different haze processes in terms of particle size distributions and chemical compositions. The development of haze was initiated by the growth of freshly formed particles at both heights, whereas the more severe haze at ground level was connected directly to local primary particles and gaseous precursors leading to higher particle growth rates. The particle growth creates a feedback loop, in which a further development of haze increases the atmospheric stability, which in turn strengthens the persisting apparent decoupling between the two heights and increases the severity of haze at ground level. Moreover, we complemented our field observations with model analyses, which suggest that the growth of NPF-originated particles accounted up to ∼60% of the accumulation mode particles in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei area during haze conditions. The results suggest that a reduction in anthropogenic gaseous precursors, suppressing particle growth, is a critical step for alleviating haze although the number concentration of freshly formed particles (3–40 nm) via NPF does not reduce after emission controls.

Download Full-text

Climatological characterization of tropical cyclones detected in the regional climate simulations over the CORDEX‐SEA domain

International Journal of Climatology ◽

10.1002/joc.7070 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Tibay ◽

Faye Cruz ◽

Fredolin Tangang ◽

Liew Juneng ◽

Thanh Ngo‐Duc ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclones ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Climate Simulations

Download Full-text

Reduction of systematic errors in regional climate simulations of the summer monsoon over East Asia and the western North Pacific by applying the spectral nudging technique

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres ◽

10.1029/2008jd011176 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 114 (D14) ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

Dong-Hyun Cha ◽

Dong-Kyou Lee

Keyword(s):

East Asia ◽

Summer Monsoon ◽

North Pacific ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Systematic Errors ◽

Spectral Nudging ◽

Climate Simulations

Download Full-text

Ice nucleating particles over the Eastern Mediterranean measured by unmanned aircraft systems

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-17-4817-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (7) ◽

pp. 4817-4835 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Jann Schrod ◽

Daniel Weber ◽

Jaqueline Drücke ◽

Christos Keleshis ◽

Michael Pikridas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transport Model ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Lower Troposphere ◽

Ground Level ◽

Ice Nucleation ◽

Unmanned Aircraft ◽

Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽

Saharan Dust ◽

Cloud Formation ◽

Aircraft Systems

Abstract. During an intensive field campaign on aerosol, clouds, and ice nucleation in the Eastern Mediterranean in April 2016, we measured the abundance of ice nucleating particles (INPs) in the lower troposphere from unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). Aerosol samples were collected by miniaturized electrostatic precipitators onboard the UASs at altitudes up to 2.5 km. The number of INPs in these samples, which are active in the deposition and condensation modes at temperatures from −20 to −30 °C, were analyzed immediately after collection on site using the ice nucleus counter FRIDGE (FRankfurt Ice nucleation Deposition freezinG Experiment). During the 1-month campaign, we encountered a series of Saharan dust plumes that traveled at several kilometers' altitude. Here we present INP data from 42 individual flights, together with aerosol number concentrations, observations of lidar backscattering, dust concentrations derived by the dust transport model DREAM (Dust Regional Atmospheric Model), and results from scanning electron microscopy. The effect of the dust plumes is reflected by the coincidence of INPs with the particulate matter (PM), the lidar signal, and the predicted dust mass of the model. This suggests that mineral dust or a constituent related to dust was a major contributor to the ice nucleating properties of the aerosol. Peak concentrations of above 100 INPs std L−1 were measured at −30 °C. The INP concentration in elevated plumes was on average a factor of 10 higher than at ground level. Since desert dust is transported for long distances over wide areas of the globe predominantly at several kilometers' altitude, we conclude that INP measurements at ground level may be of limited significance for the situation at the level of cloud formation.

Download Full-text