scholarly journals Enhancement of marine cloud albedo via controlled sea spray injections: a global model study of the influence of emission rates, microphysics and transport

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 735-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Korhonen ◽  
K. S. Carslaw ◽  
S. Romakkaniemi
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Particle Deposition ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Climatic Effects ◽  
Cloud Drop ◽  
Cloud Albedo ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Modification of cloud albedo by controlled emission of sea spray particles into the atmosphere has been suggested as a possible geoengineering option to slow global warming. Previous global studies have imposed changes in cloud drop concentration in low level clouds to explore the radiative and climatic effects. Here, we use a global aerosol transport model to quantify how an imposed flux of sea spray particles affects the natural aerosol processes, the particle size distribution, and concentrations of cloud drops. We assume that the proposed fleet of vessels emits sea spray particles with a wind speed-dependent flux into four regions of persistent stratocumulus cloud off the western coasts of continents. The model results show that fractional changes in cloud drop number concentration (CDNC) vary substantially between the four regions because of differences in wind speed (which affects the spray efficiency of the vessels), transport and particle deposition rates, and because of variations in aerosols from natural and anthropogenic sources. Using spray emission rates comparable to those implied by previous studies we find that the predicted CDNC changes are very small (maximum 20%) and in one of the four regions even negative. The weak or negative effect is because the added particles suppress the in-cloud supersaturation and prevent existing aerosol particles from forming cloud drops. A scenario with five times higher emissions (considerably higher than previously assumed) increases CDNC on average by 45–163%, but median concentrations are still below the 375 cm−3 assumed in previous studies. An inadvertent effect of the spray emissions is that sulphur dioxide concentrations are suppressed by 1–2% in the seeded regions and sulphuric acid vapour by 64–68% due to chemical reactions on the additional salt particles. The impact of this suppression on existing aerosol is negligible in the model, but should be investigated further in the real environment so that inadvertent impacts can be excluded.

scholarly journals Enhancement of marine cloud albedo via controlled sea spray injections: a global model study of the influence of emission rates, microphysics and transport

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 4133-4143 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Korhonen ◽  
K. S. Carslaw ◽  
S. Romakkaniemi
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Particle Deposition ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Climatic Effects ◽  
Cloud Drop ◽  
Cloud Albedo ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Modification of cloud albedo by controlled emission of sea spray particles into the atmosphere has been suggested as a possible geoengineering option to slow global warming. Previous global studies have imposed changes in cloud drop concentration in low level clouds to explore the radiative and climatic effects. Here, we use a global aerosol transport model to quantify how an imposed flux of sea spray particles affects the natural aerosol processes, the particle size distribution, and concentrations of cloud drops. We assume that the proposed fleet of vessels emits sea spray particles with a wind speed-dependent flux into four regions of persistent stratocumulus cloud off the western coasts of continents. The model results show that fractional changes in cloud drop number concentration (CDNC) vary substantially between the four regions because of differences in wind speed (which affects the spray efficiency of the vessels), transport and particle deposition rates, and because of variations in aerosols from natural and anthropogenic sources. Using spray emission rates comparable to those implied by previous studies we find that the predicted CDNC changes are very small (maximum 20%) and in one of the four regions even negative. The weak or negative effect is because the added particles suppress the in-cloud supersaturation and prevent existing aerosol particles from forming cloud drops. A scenario with five times higher emissions (considerably higher than previously assumed) increases CDNC on average by 45–163%, but median concentrations are still below the 375 cm−3 assumed in previous studies. An inadvertent effect of the spray emissions is that sulphur dioxide concentrations are suppressed by 1–2% in the seeded regions and sulphuric acid vapour by 64–68% due to chemical reactions on the additional salt particles. The impact of this suppression on existing aerosol is negligible in the model, but should be investigated further in the real environment so that inadvertent impacts can be excluded.

scholarly journals Climatic effects of 1950–2050 changes in US anthropogenic aerosols – Part 1: Aerosol trends and radiative forcing

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 24085-24125 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Leibensperger ◽  
L. J. Mickley ◽  
D. J. Jacob ◽  
W.-T. Chen ◽  
J. H. Seinfeld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
So2 Emissions ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Climatic Effects ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosol ◽  
Direct Forcing

Abstract. We use the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model combined with the GISS general circulation model to calculate the aerosol direct and indirect (warm cloud) radiative forcings from US anthropogenic sources over the 1950–2050 period, based on historical emission inventories and future projections from the IPCC A1B scenario. The aerosol simulation is evaluated with observed spatial distributions and 1980–2010 trends of aerosol concentrations and wet deposition in the contiguous US. The radiative forcing from US anthropogenic aerosols is strongly localized over the eastern US. We find that it peaked in 1970–1990, with values over the eastern US (east of 100° W) of −2.0 W m−2 for direct forcing including contributions from sulfate (−2.0 W m−2), nitrate (−0.2 W m−2), organic carbon (−0.2 W m−2), and black carbon (+0.4 W m−2). The aerosol indirect effect is of comparable magnitude to the direct forcing. We find that the forcing declined sharply from 1990 to 2010 (by 0.8 W m−2 direct and 1.0 W m−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 may have already been realized by 2010, however some additional warming is expected through 2020. The small positive radiative forcing from US BC emissions (+0.3 W m−2 over the eastern US in 2010) suggests that an emission control strategy focused on BC would have only limited climate benefit.

Climatological Biomass Burning CO – Where it comes from and where it goes.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikos Daskalakis ◽  
Maria Kanakidou ◽  
Mihalis Vrekoussis ◽  
Laura Gallardo
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Source Regions ◽  
The World ◽  
Transport Patterns ◽  
The Impact

<p>Carbon Monoxide (CO) is an important atmospheric trace gas, and among the key O<sub>3</sub> precursors in the troposphere, alongside NO<sub>x</sub> and VOCs. It is among the most important sinks of OH radical in the atmosphere, which controls lifetime of CH<sub>4</sub> — a major greenhouse gas. Biomass burning sources contribute about 25% to the global emissions of CO, with the remaining CO being either emitted from anthropogenic sources, or being chemically formed in the atmosphere. Because of CO tropospheric lifetime is about two months; it can be transported in the atmosphere thus its sources have a hemispheric impact on atmospheric composition.</p><p>The extent of the impact of biomass burning to remote areas of the world through long range transport is here investigated using the global 3-dimensional chemistry transport model TM4-ECPL. For this, tagged biomass burning CO tracers from the 13 different HTAP (land) source regions are used in the model in order to evaluate the contribution of each source region to the CO concentrations in the 170 HTAP receptor regions that originate from biomass burning. The global simulations cover the period 1994—2015 in order to derive climatological transport patterns for CO and assess the contribution of each of the source regions to each of the receptor regions in the global troposphere. The CO simulations are evaluated by comparison with satellite observations from MOPITT and ground based observations from WDCGG. We show the significant impact of biomass burning emissions to the most remote regions of the world.</p>

scholarly journals Parameterization of oceanic whitecap fraction based on satellite observations

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (15) ◽  
pp. 21219-21269 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. M. A. Albert ◽  
M. D. Anguelova ◽  
A. M. M. Manders ◽  
M. Schaap ◽  
G. de Leeuw
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Regional Analysis ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Scale Assessment ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Speed Dependence

Abstract. In this study the utility of satellite-based whitecap fraction (W) values for the prediction of sea spray aerosol (SSA) emission rates is explored. More specifically, the study is aimed at improving the accuracy of the sea spray source function (SSSF) derived by using the whitecap method through the reduction of the uncertainties in the parameterization of W by better accounting for its natural variability. The starting point is a dataset containing W data, together with matching environmental and statistical data, for 2006. Whitecap fraction W was estimated from observations of the ocean surface brightness temperature TB by satellite-borne radiometers at two frequencies (10 and 37 GHz). A global scale assessment of the data set to evaluate the wind speed dependence of W revealed a quadratic correlation between W and U10, as well as a relatively larger spread in the 37 GHz data set. The latter could be attributed to secondary factors affecting W in addition to U10. To better visualize these secondary factors, a regional scale assessment over different seasons was performed. This assessment indicates that the influence of secondary factors on W is for the largest part imbedded in the exponent of the wind speed dependence. Hence no further improvement can be expected by looking at effects of other factors on the variation in W explicitly. From the regional analysis, a new globally applicable quadratic W(U10) parameterization was derived. An intrinsic correlation between W and U10 that could have been introduced while estimating W from TB was determined, evaluated and presumed to lie within the error margins of the newly derived W(U10) parameterization. The satellite-based parameterization was compared to parameterizations from other studies and was applied in a SSSF to estimate the global SSA emission rate. The thus obtained SSA production for 2006 of 4.1 × 1012 kg is within previously reported estimates. While recent studies that account for parameters other than U10 explicitly could be suitable to improve predictions of SSA emissions, we promote our new W(U10) parameterization as an alternative approach that implicitly accounts for these different parameters and helps to improve SSA emission estimates equally well.

Modelling of the offshore wind farm footprint on organic and mineral particle deposition flux

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeny Ivanov ◽  
Arthur Capet ◽  
Emil De Borger ◽  
Steven Degraer ◽  
Eric Delhez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Particle Deposition ◽  
Blue Mussel ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Deposition Flux ◽  
Mineral Particle ◽  
Southern Bight ◽  
Gravel Beds ◽  
The Impact

<p>Being an important source of renewable energy, offshore wind farms (OWFs) are currently flourishing in European coastal seas, with a largely unknown long-term impact on the environment. By providing hard substrate habitat to fouling species (such as the blue mussel), who filter water and excrete rapidly sinking fecal pellets, OWFs change the sediment composition and its carbon balance through biodeposition. </p><p>Here we coupled a hydrodynamic model (including tides), a wave model and a sediment transport model with a description of organic carbon dynamics. The coupled model was run for the Southern Bight of the North Sea under different scenarios: i) no OWFs; ii)  current OWF placement; and iii) several scenarios for future OWF placement in a new concession area, that differ in the number of installed monopiles and their placements.</p><p>Simulations showed that the tidal remobilization of mineral particles by the dominant current is orders of magnitude higher than their biodeposition from the OWFs. The total organic carbon (TOC) flux, however, appeared to be highly altered (up to 50%) by OWF biodeposition, especially in 5 km vicinity of the monopiles. At a greater distance (5 - 30 km away from the monopiles), the TOC biodeposition flux decreases. The majors alteration in the TOC flux is aligned with the major axis of the regional tidal current and the main direction of the residual current, with local residual gyres acting as TOC traps.</p><p>A future OWF, whose current concession zone overlaps a protected Natura 2000 area with its gravel beds acting as biodiversity hotspots, is expected to affect them through TOC biodeposition flux alteration. However, the magnitude of the impact appeared to be strongly dependent on the monopile placement, and very little on the number of monopiles. The gravel beds will experience a 50% TOC influx increase, if the monopiles are placed over them or just next to them, but already at 3 km distance this increase would be less than 10 %.</p>

scholarly journals Parameterization of oceanic whitecap fraction based on satellite observations

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (21) ◽  
pp. 13725-13751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique F. M. A. Albert ◽  
Magdalena D. Anguelova ◽  
Astrid M. M. Manders ◽  
Martijn Schaap ◽  
Gerrit de Leeuw
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Different Seasons ◽  
Sea Spray Aerosol ◽  
Intrinsic Correlation

Abstract. In this study, the utility of satellite-based whitecap fraction (W) data for the prediction of sea spray aerosol (SSA) emission rates is explored. More specifically, the study aims at evaluating how an account for natural variability of whitecaps in the W parameterization would affect SSA mass flux predictions when using a sea spray source function (SSSF) based on the discrete whitecap method. The starting point is a data set containing W data for 2006 together with matching wind speed U10 and sea surface temperature (SST) T. Whitecap fraction W was estimated from observations of the ocean surface brightness temperature TB by satellite-borne radiometers at two frequencies (10 and 37 GHz). A global-scale assessment of the data set yielded approximately quadratic correlation between W and U10. A new global W(U10) parameterization was developed and used to evaluate an intrinsic correlation between W and U10 that could have been introduced while estimating W from TB. A regional-scale analysis over different seasons indicated significant differences of the coefficients of regional W(U10) relationships. The effect of SST on W is explicitly accounted for in a new W(U10, T) parameterization. The analysis of W values obtained with the new W(U10) and W(U10, T) parameterizations indicates that the influence of secondary factors on W is for the largest part embedded in the exponent of the wind speed dependence. In addition, the W(U10, T) parameterization is able to partially model the spread (or variability) of the satellite-based W data. The satellite-based parameterization W(U10, T) was applied in an SSSF to estimate the global SSA emission rate. The thus obtained SSA production rate for 2006 of 4.4  ×  1012 kg year−1 is within previously reported estimates, however with distinctly different spatial distribution.

scholarly journals Parameterizations of Sea-Spray Impact on the Air–Sea Momentum and Heat Fluxes

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (12) ◽  
pp. 3781-3797 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-W. Bao ◽  
C. W. Fairall ◽  
S. A. Michelson ◽  
L. Bianco
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Surface Boundary ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Momentum And Heat Fluxes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper focuses on parameterizing the effect of sea spray at hurricane-strength winds on the momentum and heat fluxes in weather prediction models using the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (a common framework for the parameterizations of air–sea fluxes). In this scheme, the mass-density effect of sea spray is considered as an additional modification to the stratification of the near-surface profiles of wind, temperature, and moisture in the marine surface boundary layer (MSBL). The overall impact of sea-spray droplets on the mean profiles of wind, temperature, and moisture depends on the wind speed at the level of sea-spray generation. As the wind speed increases, the mean droplet size and the mass flux of sea-spray increase, rendering an increase of stability in the MSBL and the leveling-off of the surface drag. Sea spray also tends to increase the total air–sea sensible and latent heat fluxes at high winds. Results from sensitivity testing of the scheme in a numerical weather prediction model for an idealized case of hurricane intensification are presented along with a dynamical interpretation of the impact of the parameterized sea-spray physics on the structure of the hurricane boundary layer.

scholarly journals The observed influence of local anthropogenic pollution on northern Alaskan cloud properties

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Maahn ◽  
Gijs de Boer ◽  
Jessie M. Creamean ◽  
Graham Feingold ◽  
Greg M. McFarquhar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Radiative Properties ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Industrial Emissions ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Cloud Drop ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Cloud Properties ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Due to their importance for the radiation budget, liquid-containing clouds are a key component of the Arctic climate system. Depending on season, they can cool or warm the near-surface air. The radiative properties of these clouds depend strongly on cloud drop sizes, which are governed by the availability of cloud condensation nuclei. Here, we investigate how cloud drop sizes are modified in the presence of local emissions from industrial facilities at the North Slope of Alaska. For this, we use aircraft in-situ observations of clouds and aerosols from the 5th Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (DOE ARM) Program’s Airborne Carbon Measurements (ACME-V) campaign obtained in Summer 2015. Comparison of observations from an area with petroleum extraction facilities (Oliktok Point) with data from a reference area relatively free of anthropogenic sources (Utqiaġvik/Barrow) represents an opportunity to quantify the impact of local industrial emissions on cloud properties. In the presence of local industrial emissions, the mean effective radii of cloud droplets are reduced from 12.2 to 9.8 μm, which leads to a suppression of drizzle production and precipitation. At the same time, concentrations of refractory black carbon and condensation nuclei are enhanced below the clouds. These results demonstrate that the effects of anthropogenic pollution on local climate need to be considered when planning Arctic industrial infrastructure in a warming environment.

scholarly journals A multi-model assessment of the impact of sea spray geoengineering on cloud droplet number

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 11647-11663 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Pringle ◽  
K. S. Carslaw ◽  
T. Fan ◽  
G.W. Mann ◽  
A. Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
Geometric Standard Deviation ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Model Assessment ◽  
Cloud Drop ◽  
Global Models ◽  
Model Study ◽  
Stratocumulus Clouds ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Artificially increasing the albedo of marine boundary layer clouds by the mechanical emission of sea spray aerosol has been proposed as a geoengineering technique to slow the warming caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases. A previous global model study (Korhonen et al., 2010) found that only modest increases (< 20%) and sometimes even decreases in cloud drop number (CDN) concentrations would result from emission scenarios calculated using a windspeed dependent geoengineering flux parameterisation. Here we extend that work to examine the conditions under which decreases in CDN can occur, and use three independent global models to quantify maximum achievable CDN changes. We find that decreases in CDN can occur when at least three of the following conditions are met: the injected particle number is < 100 cm−3, the injected diameter is > 250–300 nm, the background aerosol loading is large (≥ 150 cm−3) and the in-cloud updraught velocity is low (< 0.2 m s−1). With lower background loadings and/or increased updraught velocity, significant increases in CDN can be achieved. None of the global models predict a decrease in CDN as a result of geoengineering, although there is considerable diversity in the calculated efficiency of geoengineering, which arises from the diversity in the simulated marine aerosol distributions. All three models show a small dependence of geoengineering efficiency on the injected particle size and the geometric standard deviation of the injected mode. However, the achievability of significant cloud drop enhancements is strongly dependent on the cloud updraught speed. With an updraught speed of 0.1 m s−1 a global mean CDN of 375 cm−3 (previously estimated to cancel the forcing caused by CO2 doubling) is achievable in only about 50% of grid boxes which have > 50% cloud cover, irrespective of the amount of aerosol injected. But at stronger updraft speeds (0.2 m s−1), higher values of CDN are achievable due to the elevated in-cloud supersaturations. Achieving a value of 375 cm−3 in regions dominated by stratocumulus clouds with relatively weak updrafts cannot be attained regardless of the number of injected particles, thereby limiting the efficacy of sea spray geoengineering.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document