scholarly journals Large contribution of meteorological factors to inter-decadal changes in regional aerosol optical depth

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huizheng Che ◽  
Ke Gui ◽  
Xiangao Xia ◽  
Yaqiang Wang ◽  
Brent N. Holben ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Meteorological Parameters ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Meteorological Parameter ◽  
Emission Factors ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Large Contribution ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosol

Abstract. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) has become a crucial metric for assessing global climate change. Although global and regional AOD trends have been studied extensively, it remains unclear what factors are driving the inter-decadal variations in regional AOD and how to quantify the relative contribution of each dominant factor. This study used a long-term (1980–2016) aerosol dataset from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis, along with two satellite-based AOD datasets (MODIS/Terra and MISR) from 2001 to 2016, to investigate the long-term trends in global and regional aerosol loading. Statistical models based on emission factors and meteorological parameters were developed to identify the main factors driving the inter-decadal changes of regional AOD and to quantify their contribution. Evaluation of the MERRA-2 AOD with the combined in-situ measurements of AERONET and the China Aerosol Remote Sensing Network indicated significant spatial agreement on the global scale (r = 0.84, RMSE = 0.14, and MAE = 0.07). In general, MERRA-2 was able to quantitatively reproduce the annual and seasonal AOD trends on both regional and global scales, as observed by MODIS/Terra, albeit some differences were found when compared to MISR. Over the 37-year period in this study, significant decreasing trends were observed over Europe and the eastern United States. In contrast, eastern China and South Asia showed AOD increases, but the increasing trend of the former reversed sharply in the most recent decade. The statistical analyses suggested that the meteorological parameters explained a larger proportion of the AOD variability (20.4 %–72.8 %) over almost all regions of interest (ROIs) during 1980–2014 when compared with emission factors (0 %–56 %). Further analysis also showed that SO2 was the dominant emission factor, explaining 12.7 %–32.6 % of the variation in AOD over anthropogenic aerosol–dominant regions, while BC or OC was the leading factor over the biomass burning–dominant (BBD) regions, contributing 24.0 %–27.7 % of the variation. Additionally, wind speed was found to be the leading meteorological parameter, explaining 11.8 %–30.3 % of the variance over the mineral dust–dominant regions, while ambient humidity (including soil moisture and relative humidity) was the top meteorological parameter over the BBD regions, accounting for 11.7 %–35.5 % of the variation. The results of this study indicate that the variation in meteorological parameters is a key factor in determining the inter-decadal change in regional AOD.

scholarly journals Large contribution of meteorological factors to inter-decadal changes in regional aerosol optical depth

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (16) ◽  
pp. 10497-10523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huizheng Che ◽  
Ke Gui ◽  
Xiangao Xia ◽  
Yaqiang Wang ◽  
Brent N. Holben ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Meteorological Parameters ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Meteorological Parameter ◽  
Emission Factors ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Large Contribution ◽  
Gross Error

Abstract. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) has become a crucial metric for assessing global climate change. Although global and regional AOD trends have been studied extensively, it remains unclear what factors are driving the inter-decadal variations in regional AOD and how to quantify the relative contribution of each dominant factor. This study used a long-term (1980–2016) aerosol dataset from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis, along with two satellite-based AOD datasets (MODIS/Terra and MISR) from 2001 to 2016, to investigate the long-term trends in global and regional aerosol loading. Statistical models based on emission factors and meteorological parameters were developed to identify the main factors driving the inter-decadal changes of regional AOD and to quantify their contribution. Evaluation of the MERRA-2 AOD with the ground-based measurements of AERONET indicated significant spatial agreement on the global scale (r= 0.85, root-mean-square error = 0.12, mean fractional error = 38.7 %, fractional gross error = 9.86 % and index of agreement = 0.94). However, when AOD observations from the China Aerosol Remote Sensing Network (CARSNET) were employed for independent verification, the results showed that MERRA-2 AODs generally underestimated CARSNET AODs in China (relative mean bias = 0.72 and fractional gross error =-34.3 %). In general, MERRA-2 was able to quantitatively reproduce the annual and seasonal AOD trends on both regional and global scales, as observed by MODIS/Terra, although some differences were found when compared to MISR. Over the 37-year period in this study, significant decreasing trends were observed over Europe and the eastern United States. In contrast, eastern China and southern Asia showed AOD increases, but the increasing trend of the former reversed sharply in the most recent decade. The statistical analyses suggested that the meteorological parameters explained a larger proportion of the AOD variability (20.4 %–72.8 %) over almost all regions of interest (ROIs) during 1980–2014 when compared with emission factors (0 %–56 %). Further analysis also showed that SO2 was the dominant emission factor, explaining 12.7 %–32.6 % of the variation in AOD over anthropogenic-aerosol-dominant regions, while black carbon or organic carbon was the leading factor over the biomass-burning-dominant (BBD) regions, contributing 24.0 %–27.7 % of the variation. Additionally, wind speed was found to be the leading meteorological parameter, explaining 11.8 %–30.3 % of the variance over the mineral-dust-dominant regions, while ambient humidity (including soil moisture and relative humidity) was the top meteorological parameter over the BBD regions, accounting for 11.7 %–35.5 % of the variation. The results of this study indicate that the variation in meteorological parameters is a key factor in determining the inter-decadal change in regional AOD.

scholarly journals Aerosol optical depth retrievals at the Izaña Atmospheric Observatory from 1941 to 2013 by using artificial neural networks

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. García ◽  
O. E. García ◽  
E. Cuevas ◽  
V. E. Cachorro ◽  
A. Barreto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Artificial Neural Networks ◽  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Filter Radiometer ◽  
Artificial Neural

Abstract. This paper presents the reconstruction of a 73-year time series of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm at the subtropical high-mountain Izaña Atmospheric Observatory (IZO) located in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). For this purpose, we have combined AOD estimates from artificial neural networks (ANNs) from 1941 to 2001 and AOD measurements directly obtained with a Precision Filter Radiometer (PFR) between 2003 and 2013. The analysis is limited to summer months (July–August–September), when the largest aerosol load is observed at IZO (Saharan mineral dust particles). The ANN AOD time series has been comprehensively validated against coincident AOD measurements performed with a solar spectrometer Mark-I (1984–2009) and AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) CIMEL photometers (2004–2009) at IZO, obtaining a rather good agreement on a daily basis: Pearson coefficient, R, of 0.97 between AERONET and ANN AOD, and 0.93 between Mark-I and ANN AOD estimates. In addition, we have analysed the long-term consistency between ANN AOD time series and long-term meteorological records identifying Saharan mineral dust events at IZO (synoptical observations and local wind records). Both analyses provide consistent results, with correlations  >  85 %. Therefore, we can conclude that the reconstructed AOD time series captures well the AOD variations and dust-laden Saharan air mass outbreaks on short-term and long-term timescales and, thus, it is suitable to be used in climate analysis.

scholarly journals Evaluating Carbon Monoxide and Aerosol Optical Depth Simulations from CAM-Chem Using Satellite Observations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2231
Author(s):  
Débora Souza Alvim ◽  
Júlio Barboza Chiquetto ◽  
Monica Tais Siqueira D’Amelio ◽  
Bushra Khalid ◽  
Dirceu Luis Herdies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
South America ◽  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Central China ◽  
Stratospheric Chemistry ◽  
Tropical Areas

The scope of this work was to evaluate simulated carbon monoxide (CO) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the CAM-chem model against observed satellite data and additionally explore the empirical relationship of CO, AOD and fire radiative power (FRP). The simulated seasonal global concentrations of CO and AOD were compared, respectively, with the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) and the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite products for the period 2010–2014. The CAM-chem simulations were performed with two configurations: (A) tropospheric-only; and (B) tropospheric with stratospheric chemistry. Our results show that the spatial and seasonal distributions of CO and AOD were reasonably reproduced in both model configurations, except over central China, central Africa and equatorial regions of the Atlantic and Western Pacific, where CO was overestimated by 10–50 ppb. In configuration B, the positive CO bias was significantly reduced due to the inclusion of dry deposition, which was not present in the model configuration A. There was greater CO loss due to the chemical reactions, and shorter lifetime of the species with stratospheric chemistry. In summary, the model has difficulty in capturing the exact location of the maxima of the seasonal AOD distributions in both configurations. The AOD was overestimated by 0.1 to 0.25 over desert regions of Africa, the Middle East and Asia in both configurations, but the positive bias was even higher in the version with added stratospheric chemistry. By contrast, the AOD was underestimated over regions associated with anthropogenic activity, such as eastern China and northern India. Concerning the correlations between CO, AOD and FRP, high CO is found during March–April–May (MAM) in the Northern Hemisphere, mainly in China. In the Southern Hemisphere, high CO, AOD, and FRP values were found during August–September–October (ASO) due to fires, mostly in South America and South Africa. In South America, high AOD levels were observed over subtropical Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. Sparsely urbanized regions showed higher correlations between CO and FRP (0.7–0.9), particularly in tropical areas, such as the western Amazon region. There was a high correlation between CO and aerosols from biomass burning at the transition between the forest and savanna environments over eastern and central Africa. It was also possible to observe the transport of these pollutants from the African continent to the Brazilian coast. High correlations between CO and AOD were found over southeastern Asian countries, and correlations between FRP and AOD (0.5–0.8) were found over higher latitude regions such as Canada and Siberia as well as in tropical areas. Higher correlations between CO and FRP are observed in Savanna and Tropical forests (South America, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Southeast Asia) than FRP x AOD. In contrast, boreal forests in Russia, particularly in Siberia, show a higher FRP x AOD correlation than FRP x CO. In tropical forests, CO production is likely favored over aerosol, while in temperate forests, aerosol production is more than CO compared to tropical forests. On the east coast of the United States, the eastern border of the USA with Canada, eastern China, on the border between China, Russia, and Mongolia, and the border between North India and China, there is a high correlation of CO x AOD and a low correlation between FRP with both CO and AOD. Therefore, such emissions in these regions are not generated by forest fires but by industries and vehicular emissions since these are densely populated regions.

scholarly journals Nine years of UV aerosol optical depth measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 2091-2101 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kazadzis ◽  
A. Bais ◽  
V. Amiridis ◽  
D. Balis ◽  
C. Meleti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Back Trajectories ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Range Transport ◽  
Air Quality Monitoring Stations ◽  
Pm 10 ◽  
The City

Abstract. Spectral measurements of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the Ångström coefficient were conducted at Thessaloniki, Greece (40.5° N, 22.9° E) between January 1997 and December 2005 with a Brewer MKIII double-monochromator spectroradiometer. The dataset was compared with collocated measurements of a second spectroradiometer (Brewer MKII) and a CIMEL sun-photometer, showing correlations of 0.93 and 0.98, respectively. A seasonal variation of the AOD was observed at Thessaloniki, with AOD values at 340 nm of 0.52 and 0.28 for August and December respectively. Back trajectories of air masses for up to 4 days were used to assess the influence of long-range transport from various regions to the aerosol load over Thessaloniki. It is shown that part of the observed seasonality can be attributed to air masses with high AOD originating from North-Eastern and Eastern directions during summertime. The analysis of the long-term record (9 years) of AOD showed a downward tendency. A similar decreasing tendency was found in the record of the PM$_{10}$ aerosol measurements, which are conducted near the surface at 4 air-quality monitoring stations in the area of the city of Thessaloniki.

Long-term (1995–2018) aerosol optical depth derived using ground based AERONET and SKYNET measurements from aerosol aged-background sites

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 608-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shantikumar S. Ningombam ◽  
E.J.L. Larson ◽  
U.C. Dumka ◽  
Victor Estellés ◽  
M. Campanelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth

scholarly journals Estimating ground-level PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Eastern China using aerosol optical depth determined from the GOCI Satellite Instrument

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 17251-17281 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Xu ◽  
R. V. Martin ◽  
A. van Donkelaar ◽  
J. Kim ◽  
M. Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
East China ◽  
Chemical Transport Model ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Significant Agreement

Abstract. We determine and interpret fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in East China for January to December 2013 at a horizontal resolution of 6 km from aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from the Korean Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) satellite instrument. We implement a set of filters to minimize cloud contamination in GOCI AOD. Evaluation of filtered GOCI AOD with AOD from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) indicates significant agreement with mean fractional bias (MFB) in Beijing of 6.7 % and northern Taiwan of −1.2 %. We use a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to relate the total column AOD to the near-surface PM2.5. The simulated PM2.5/AOD ratio exhibits high consistency with ground-based measurements (MFB = −0.52–8.0 %). We evaluate the satellite-derived PM2.5 vs. the ground-level PM2.5 in 2013 measured by the China Environmental Monitoring Center. Significant agreement is found between GOCI-derived PM2.5 and in-situ observations in both annual averages (r = 0.81, N = 494) and monthly averages (MFB = 13.1 %), indicating GOCI provides valuable data for air quality studies in Northeast Asia. The GEOS-Chem simulated chemical speciation of GOCI-derived PM2.5 reveals that secondary inorganics (SO42−, NO3−, NH4+) and organic matter are the most significant components. Biofuel emissions in northern China for heating are responsible for an increase in the concentration of organic matter in winter. The population-weighted GOCI-derived PM2.5 over East China for 2013 is 53.8 μg m−3, threatening the health and life expectancy of its 600 million residents.

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