scholarly journals Simulating the global atmospheric black carbon cycle: a revisit to the contribution of aircraft emissions

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 2521-2541 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hendricks ◽  
B. Kärcher ◽  
A. Döpelheuer ◽  
J. Feichter ◽  
U. Lohmann ◽  
...  

Abstract. The black carbon (BC) burden of the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere (UTLS) is investigated with the general circulation model (GCM) ECHAM4. The special focus is the contribution of aircraft emissions to the UTLS BC loading. Previous studies on the role of aircraft emissions in the global BC cycle either neglect BC sources located at the Earth's surface or simplify the BC cycle by assuming pre-defined BC residence times. Here, the global BC cycle including emissions, transport, and removal is explicitly simulated. The BC emissions considered include surface sources as well as BC from aviation. This enables a consistent calculation of the relative contribution of aviation to the global atmospheric BC cycle. As a further extension to the previous studies, the aviation-induced perturbation of the UTLS BC particle number concentration is investigated. The uncertainties associated with the model predictions are evaluated by means of several sensitivity studies. Especially, the sensitivity of the results to different assumptions on the BC hygroscopic properties is analysed. The simulated UTLS BC concentrations are compared to in-situ observations. The simulations suggest that the large-scale contribution of aviation to the UTLS BC mass budget typically amounts to only a few percent, even in the most frequented flight regions. The aviation impact far away from these regions is negligible. The simulated aircraft contributions to the UTLS BC particle number concentration are much larger compared to the corresponding mass perturbations. The simulations suggest that aviation can cause large-scale increases in the UTLS BC particle number concentration of more than 30% in regions highly frequented by aircraft. The relative effect shows a pronounced annual variation with the largest relative aviation impact occurring during winter.

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 3485-3533 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hendricks ◽  
B. Kärcher ◽  
A. Döpelheuer ◽  
J. Feichter ◽  
U. Lohmann ◽  
...  

Abstract. The black carbon (BC) burden of the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere (UTLS) is investigated with the general circulation model (GCM) ECHAM4. The special focus is the contribution of aircraft emissions to the UTLS BC loading. Previous studies on the role of aircraft emissions in the global BC cycle either neglect BC sources located at the Earth's surface or simplify the BC cycle by assuming pre-defined BC residence times. Here, the global BC cycle including emissions, transport, and removal is explicitly simulated. The BC emissions considered include surface sources as well as BC from aviation. This enables a consistent calculation of the relative contribution of aviation to the global atmospheric BC cycle. As a further extension to the previous studies, the aviation-induced perturbation of the UTLS BC particle number concentration is investigated. Several sensitivity studies were performed to evaluate the uncertainties associated with the model predictions. The simulated UTLS BC concentrations are compared to in-situ observations. The simulations suggest that the large-scale contribution of aviation to the UTLS BC mass budget typically amounts to only a few percent, even in the most frequented flight regions. The aviation impact far away from these regions is negligible. The simulated aircraft contributions to the UTLS BC particle number concentration are much larger compared to the corresponding mass perturbations. The simulations suggest that aviation can cause large-scale increases in the UTLS BC particle number concentration of more than 30% in regions highly frequented by aircraft. The relative effect shows a pronounced annual variation with the largest relative aviation impact occurring during winter.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. I. Gkatzelis ◽  
D. K. Papanastasiou ◽  
K. Florou ◽  
C. Kaltsonoudis ◽  
E. Louvaris ◽  
...  

Abstract. An experimental methodology was developed to measure the nonvolatile particle number concentration using a thermodenuder (TD). The TD was coupled with a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer, measuring the chemical composition and mass size distribution of the submicrometer aerosol and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) that provided the number size distribution of the aerosol in the range from 10 to 500 nm. The method was evaluated with a set of smog chamber experiments and achieved almost complete evaporation (> 98 %) of secondary organic as well as freshly nucleated particles, using a TD temperature of 400 °C and a centerline residence time of 15 s. This experimental approach was applied in a winter field campaign in Athens and provided a direct measurement of number concentration and size distribution for particles emitted from major pollution sources. During periods in which the contribution of biomass burning sources was dominant, more than 80 % of particle number concentration remained after passing through the thermodenuder, suggesting that nearly all biomass burning particles had a nonvolatile core. These remaining particles consisted mostly of black carbon (60 % mass contribution) and organic aerosol (OA; 40 %). Organics that had not evaporated through the TD were mostly biomass burning OA (BBOA) and oxygenated OA (OOA) as determined from AMS source apportionment analysis. For periods during which traffic contribution was dominant 50–60 % of the particles had a nonvolatile core while the rest evaporated at 400 °C. The remaining particle mass consisted mostly of black carbon with an 80 % contribution, while OA was responsible for another 15–20 %. Organics were mostly hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) and OOA. These results suggest that even at 400 °C some fraction of the OA does not evaporate from particles emitted from common combustion processes, such as biomass burning and car engines, indicating that a fraction of this type of OA is of extremely low volatility.


Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onat ◽  
Şahin ◽  
Uzun ◽  
Akın ◽  
Özkaya ◽  
...  

This paper presents measurements and analyses of the concentrations of black carbon (BC), particle number concentration (PNC), and PM2.5 (≤2.5 μm) while commuting by ferries in Istanbul. In this context, exposures to the mentioned pollutants were estimated for car ferry, fast ferry, and at the piers, and for two travel routes, for a total of 89 trips. BC, PNC, and PM2.5 measurements were simultaneously performed in a ferry and at the piers, and the correlation between pollutant concentrations, meteorological parameters, and environmental factors were analyzed. The mean concentrations for all pollutants in car ferry were lower than the average concentrations in fast ferry. The concentration ratios of fast ferry to car ferry for BC, PNC, and PM2.5 were 6.4, 1.2, and 1.3, respectively. High variability in the concentrations was observed at the piers and in ferry during berthing. The highest mean concentrations (±standard deviation) of BC (14.3 ± 10.1 µg m−3) and PNC (42,005 ± 30,899 pt cm−3) were measured at Yalova pier. The highest mean concentration (±standard deviation) of PM2.5 (26.1 ± 11.5) was measured at Bostancı pier. It was observed that the main external sources of BC, PNC, and PM2.5 at the piers were road transport, residential heating, and shipping activity. There were no significant correlations between BC, PNC, and PM2.5 in fast ferry, while BC was positively correlated with PNC (r = 0.61, p < 0.01) and PM2.5 (r = 0.76, p < 0.01) in car ferry. At the piers, significant relations between pollutants and meteorological variables were observed. It was noticed that there was no significant difference between summer and winter in ferry and at the pier concentrations of BC, PNC, and PM2.5 except for Yenikapı pier and Bakırköy pier. The highest total exposure to PNC and PM2.5 was in car ferry mode, while the highest total exposure to BC was in fast ferry mode.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 6355-6393 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. I. Gkatzelis ◽  
D. K. Papanastasiou ◽  
K. Florou ◽  
C. Kaltsonoudis ◽  
E. Louvaris ◽  
...  

Abstract. An experimental methodology was developed to measure the non-volatile particle number concentration using a thermodenuder (TD). The TD was coupled with a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer, measuring the chemical composition and mass size distribution of the submicrometer aerosol and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) that provided the number size distribution of the aerosol in the range from 10 to 500 nm. The method was evaluated with a set of smog chamber experiments and achieved almost complete evaporation (> 98 %) of secondary organic as well as freshly nucleated particles, using a TD temperature of 400 °C and a centerline residence time of 15 s. This experimental approach was applied in a winter field campaign in Athens and provided a direct measurement of number concentration and size distribution for particles emitted from major pollution sources. During periods in which the contribution of biomass burning sources was dominant, more than 80 % of particle number concentration remained after passing through the thermodenuder, suggesting that nearly all biomass burning particles had a non-volatile core. These remaining particles consisted mostly of black carbon (60 % mass contribution) and organic aerosol, OA (40 %). Organics that had not evaporated through the TD were mostly biomass burning OA (BBOA) and oxygenated OA (OOA) as determined from AMS source apportionment analysis. For periods during which traffic contribution was dominant 50–60 % of the particles had a non-volatile core while the rest evaporated at 400 °C. The remaining particle mass consisted mostly of black carbon (BC) with an 80 % contribution, while OA was responsible for another 15–20 %. Organics were mostly hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) and OOA. These results suggest that even at 400 °C some fraction of the OA does not evaporate from particles emitted from common combustion processes, such as biomass burning and car engines, indicating that a fraction of this type of OA is of extremely low volatility.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 2471-2480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geeta G. Persad ◽  
Yi Ming ◽  
V. Ramaswamy

Abstract Absorbing aerosols affect the earth’s climate through direct radiative heating of the troposphere. This study analyzes the tropical tropospheric-only response to a globally uniform increase in black carbon, simulated with an atmospheric general circulation model, to gain insight into the interactions that determine the radiative flux perturbation. Over the convective regions, heating in the free troposphere hinders the vertical development of deep cumulus clouds, resulting in the detrainment of more cloudy air into the large-scale environment and stronger cloud reflection. A different mechanism operates over the subsidence regions, where heating near the boundary layer top causes a substantial reduction in low cloud amount thermodynamically by decreasing relative humidity and dynamically by lowering cloud top. These findings, which align well with previous general circulation model and large-eddy simulation calculations for black carbon, provide physically based explanations for the main characteristics of the tropical tropospheric adjustment. The implications for quantifying the climate perturbation posed by absorbing aerosols are discussed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 5495-5513 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lauer ◽  
J. Hendricks

Abstract. First results of a multiannual integration with the new global aerosol model system ECHAM4/MADE are presented. This model system enables simulations of the particle number concentration and size-distribution, which is a fundamental innovation compared to previous global model studies considering aerosol mass cycles only. The data calculated by the model provide detailed insights into the properties of the global submicrometer aerosol regarding global burden, chemical composition, atmospheric residence time, particle number concentration and size-distribution. The aerosol components considered by the model are sulfate (SO4), nitrate (NO3), ammonium (NH4), black carbon (BC), organic matter (OM), mineral dust, sea salt and aerosol water. The simulated climatological annual mean global atmospheric burdens (residence times) of the dominant submicrometer aerosol components are 2.25 Tg (4.5 d) for SO4, 0.46 Tg (4.5 d) for NH4, 0.26 Tg (6.6 d) for BC, and 1.77 Tg (6.5 d) for OM. The contributions of individual processes such as emission, nucleation, condensation or dry and wet deposition to the global sources and sinks of specific aerosol components and particle number concentration are quantified. Based on this analysis, the significance of aerosol microphysical processes (nucleation, condensation, coagulation) is evaluated by comparison to the importance of other processes relevant for the submicrometer aerosol on the global scale. The results reveal that aerosol microphysics are essential for the simulation of the particle number concentration and important but not vital for the simulation of particle mass concentration. Hence aerosol microphysics should be taken into account in simulations of atmospheric processes showing a significant dependence on aerosol particle number concentration. The analysis of the vertical variation of the microphysical net production and net depletion rates performed for particle number concentration, sulfate mass and black carbon mass concentration unveils the dominant source and sink regions. Prominent features can be attributed to dominant microphysical processes such as nucleation in the upper troposphere or wet deposition in the lower troposphere. Regions of efficient coagulation can be identified.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 11733-11751 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Backman ◽  
L. V. Rizzo ◽  
J. Hakala ◽  
T. Nieminen ◽  
H. E. Manninen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Large conurbations are a significant source of the anthropogenic pollution and demographic differences between cities that result in a different pollution burden. The metropolitan area of São Paulo (MASP, population 20 million) accounts for one fifth of the Brazilian vehicular fleet. A feature of MASP is the amount of ethanol used by the vehicular fleet, known to exacerbate air quality. The study describes the diurnal behaviour of the submicron aerosol and relies on total particle number concentration, particle number size distribution, light scattering and light absorption measurements. Modelled planetary boundary layer (PBL) depth and air mass movement data were used to aid the interpretation. During morning rush-hour, stagnant air and a shallow PBL height favour the accumulation of aerosol pollution. During clear-sky conditions, there was a wind shift towards the edge of the city indicating a heat island effect with implications on particulate pollution levels at the site. The median total particle number concentration for the submicron aerosol typically varied in the range 1.6 × 104–3.2 × 104 cm−3 frequently exceeding 4 × 104 cm−3 during the day. During weekdays, nucleation-mode particles are responsible for most of the particles by numbers. The highest concentrations of total particle number concentrations and black carbon (BC) were observed on Fridays. Median diurnal values for light absorption and light scattering (at 637 nm wavelength) varied in the range 12–33 Mm−1 and 21–64 Mm−1, respectively. The former one is equal to 1.8–5.0 μg m−3 of BC. The growth of the PBL, from the morning rush-hour until noon, is consistent with the diurnal cycle of BC mass concentrations. Weekday hourly median single-scattering albedo (ω0) varied in the range 0.59–0.76. Overall, this suggests a top of atmosphere (TOA) warming effect. However, considering the low surface reflectance of urban areas, for the given range of ω0, the TOA radiative forcing can be either positive or negative for the sources within the MASP. On the average, weekend ω0 values were 0.074 higher than during weekdays. During 11% of the days, new particle formation (NPF) events occurred. The analysed events growth rates ranged between 9 and 25 nm h−1. Sulphuric acid proxy concentrations calculated for the site were less than 5% of the concentration needed to explain the observed growth. Thus, other vapours are likely contributors to the observed growth.


2017 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Morales Betancourt ◽  
B. Galvis ◽  
S. Balachandran ◽  
J.P. Ramos-Bonilla ◽  
O.L. Sarmiento ◽  
...  

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