Articles | Volume 14, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-537-2014
© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-537-2014
© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Jan 2014
Research article |
| 20 Jan 2014
Two hundred fifty years of aerosols and climate: the end of the age of aerosols
S. J. Smith
Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 5825 University Research Court, Suite 3500, College Park, MD 20740, USA
T. C. Bond
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 205 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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Leyang Feng, Steven J. Smith, Caleb Braun, Monica Crippa, Matthew J. Gidden, Rachel Hoesly, Zbigniew Klimont, Margreet van Marle, Maarten van den Berg, and Guido R. van der Werf
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Adria K. Schwarber, Steven J. Smith, Corinne A. Hartin, Benjamin Aaron Vega-Westhoff, and Ryan Sriver
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Matthew J. Gidden, Keywan Riahi, Steven J. Smith, Shinichiro Fujimori, Gunnar Luderer, Elmar Kriegler, Detlef P. van Vuuren, Maarten van den Berg, Leyang Feng, David Klein, Katherine Calvin, Jonathan C. Doelman, Stefan Frank, Oliver Fricko, Mathijs Harmsen, Tomoko Hasegawa, Petr Havlik, Jérôme Hilaire, Rachel Hoesly, Jill Horing, Alexander Popp, Elke Stehfest, and Kiyoshi Takahashi
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We present a suite of nine scenarios of future emissions trajectories of anthropogenic sources for use in CMIP6. Integrated assessment model results are provided for each scenario with consistent transitions from the historical data to future trajectories. We find that the set of scenarios enables the exploration of a variety of warming pathways. A wide range of scenario data products are provided for the CMIP6 scientific community including global, regional, and gridded emissions datasets.
Stephanie Fiedler, Bjorn Stevens, Matthew Gidden, Steven J. Smith, Keywan Riahi, and Detlef van Vuuren
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Yang Yang, Steven J. Smith, Hailong Wang, Catrin M. Mills, and Philip J. Rasch
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Katherine Calvin, Pralit Patel, Leon Clarke, Ghassem Asrar, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Ryna Yiyun Cui, Alan Di Vittorio, Kalyn Dorheim, Jae Edmonds, Corinne Hartin, Mohamad Hejazi, Russell Horowitz, Gokul Iyer, Page Kyle, Sonny Kim, Robert Link, Haewon McJeon, Steven J. Smith, Abigail Snyder, Stephanie Waldhoff, and Marshall Wise
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Rachel M. Hoesly, Steven J. Smith, Leyang Feng, Zbigniew Klimont, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Tyler Pitkanen, Jonathan J. Seibert, Linh Vu, Robert J. Andres, Ryan M. Bolt, Tami C. Bond, Laura Dawidowski, Nazar Kholod, June-ichi Kurokawa, Meng Li, Liang Liu, Zifeng Lu, Maria Cecilia P. Moura, Patrick R. O'Rourke, and Qiang Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 369–408, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-369-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-369-2018, 2018
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Historical emission trends are key inputs to Earth systems and atmospheric chemistry models. We present a new data set of historical (1750–2014) anthropogenic gases (CO, CH4, NH3, NOx, SO2, NMVOCs, BC, OC, and CO2) developed with the Community Emissions Data System (CEDS). This improves on existing inventories as it uses consistent methods and data across emissions species, has annual resolution for a longer and more recent time series, and is designed to be transparent and reproducible.
Yang Yang, Hailong Wang, Steven J. Smith, Richard Easter, Po-Lun Ma, Yun Qian, Hongbin Yu, Can Li, and Philip J. Rasch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8903–8922, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8903-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8903-2017, 2017
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Sulfate has significant impacts on air quality and climate. Local sulfate pollution could result from remote influences, making domestic mitigation efforts inefficient. Using CESM with a sulfur source-tagging technique, we found that, over regions with relatively low emissions, sulfate concentrations are primarily attributed to non-local sources and sulfate indirect radiative forcing over the Southern Hemisphere is more sensitive to emission perturbation than the polluted Northern Hemisphere.
Yang Yang, Hailong Wang, Steven J. Smith, Po-Lun Ma, and Philip J. Rasch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4319–4336, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4319-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4319-2017, 2017
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The source attributions of black carbon (BC) in China are quantified using the Community Earth System Model by source tagging. BC impacts neighboring regions greatly. Transport is important in increasing BC during regional polluted days. Emissions outside China contribute 35 % of BC direct radiative forcing in China. Efficiency analysis shows that reduction in BC emissions over eastern China could have a greater benefit for regional air quality in China, especially in the winter haze season.
William J. Collins, Jean-François Lamarque, Michael Schulz, Olivier Boucher, Veronika Eyring, Michaela I. Hegglin, Amanda Maycock, Gunnar Myhre, Michael Prather, Drew Shindell, and Steven J. Smith
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 585–607, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-585-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-585-2017, 2017
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We have designed a set of climate model experiments called the Aerosol Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP). These are designed to quantify the climate and air quality impacts of aerosols and chemically reactive gases in the climate models that are used to simulate past and future climate. We hope that many climate modelling centres will choose to run these experiments to help understand the contribution of aerosols and chemistry to climate change.
Bjorn Stevens, Stephanie Fiedler, Stefan Kinne, Karsten Peters, Sebastian Rast, Jobst Müsse, Steven J. Smith, and Thorsten Mauritsen
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 433–452, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-433-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-433-2017, 2017
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A simple analytic description of aerosol optical properties and their main effects on clouds is developed and described. The analytic description is easy to use and easy to modify and should aid experimentation to help understand how aerosol radiative and cloud interactions effect climate and circulation. The climatology is recommended for adoption by models participating in the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project.
Yuqiang Zhang, Jared H. Bowden, Zachariah Adelman, Vaishali Naik, Larry W. Horowitz, Steven J. Smith, and J. Jason West
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9533–9548, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9533-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9533-2016, 2016
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Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esdd-5-1-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/esdd-5-1-2014, 2014
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
S. J. Smith and A. Rothwell
Biogeosciences, 10, 6323–6337, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-6323-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-6323-2013, 2013
Marielle Saunois, Adrien Martinez, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Zhang, Peter A. Raymond, Pierre Regnier, Josep G. Canadell, Robert B. Jackson, Prabir K. Patra, Philippe Bousquet, Philippe Ciais, Edward J. Dlugokencky, Xin Lan, George H. Allen, David Bastviken, David J. Beerling, Dmitry A. Belikov, Donald R. Blake, Simona Castaldi, Monica Crippa, Bridget R. Deemer, Fraser Dennison, Giuseppe Etiope, Nicola Gedney, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Meredith A. Holgerson, Peter O. Hopcroft, Gustaf Hugelius, Akihiko Ito, Atul K. Jain, Rajesh Janardanan, Matthew S. Johnson, Thomas Kleinen, Paul B. Krummel, Ronny Lauerwald, Tingting Li, Xiangyu Liu, Kyle C. McDonald, Joe R. Melton, Jens Mühle, Jurek Müller, Fabiola Murguia-Flores, Yosuke Niwa, Sergio Noce, Shufen Pan, Robert J. Parker, Changhui Peng, Michel Ramonet, William J. Riley, Gerard Rocher-Ros, Judith A. Rosentreter, Motoki Sasakawa, Arjo Segers, Steven J. Smith, Emily H. Stanley, Joël Thanwerdas, Hanqin Tian, Aki Tsuruta, Francesco N. Tubiello, Thomas S. Weber, Guido R. van der Werf, Douglas E. J. Worthy, Yi Xi, Yukio Yoshida, Wenxin Zhang, Bo Zheng, Qing Zhu, Qiuan Zhu, and Qianlai Zhuang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 1873–1958, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-1873-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-1873-2025, 2025
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Methane (CH4) is the second most important human-influenced greenhouse gas in terms of climate forcing after carbon dioxide (CO2). A consortium of multi-disciplinary scientists synthesise and update the budget of the sources and sinks of CH4. This edition benefits from important progress in estimating emissions from lakes and ponds, reservoirs, and streams and rivers. For the 2010s decade, global CH4 emissions are estimated at 575 Tg CH4 yr-1, including ~65 % from anthropogenic sources.
William Lamb, Robbie Andrew, Matthew Jones, Zebedee Nicholls, Glen Peters, Chris Smith, Marielle Saunois, Giacomo Grassi, Julia Pongratz, Steven Smith, Francesco Tubiello, Monica Crippa, Matthew Gidden, Pierre Friedlingstein, Jan Minx, and Piers Forster
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-188, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-188, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
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This study explores why global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions estimates vary. Key reasons include different coverage of gases and sectors, varying definitions of anthropogenic land use change emissions, and the Paris Agreement not covering all emission sources. The study highlights three main ways emissions data is reported, each with different objectives and resulting in varying global emission totals. It emphasizes the need for transparency in choosing datasets and setting assessment scopes.
Diego Guizzardi, Monica Crippa, Tim Butler, Terry Keating, Rosa Wu, Jacek W. Kamiński, Jeroen Kuenen, Junichi Kurokawa, Satoru Chatani, Tazuko Morikawa, George Pouliot, Jacinthe Racine, Michael D. Moran, Zbigniew Klimont, Patrick M. Manseau, Rabab Mashayekhi, Barron H. Henderson, Steven J. Smith, Rachel Hoesly, Marilena Muntean, Manjola Banja, Edwin Schaaf, Federico Pagani, Jung-Hun Woo, Jinseok Kim, Enrico Pisoni, Junhua Zhang, David Niemi, Mourad Sassi, Annie Duhamel, Tabish Ansari, Kristen Foley, Guannan Geng, Yifei Chen, and Qiang Zhang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-601, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-601, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
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The global air pollution emission mosaic HTAP_v3.1 is the state-of-the-art database for addressing the evolution of a set of policy-relevant air pollutants over the past 2 decades. The inventory is made by the harmonization and blending of seven regional inventories, gapfilled using the most recent release of EDGAR (EDGARv8). By incorporating the best available local information, the HTAP_v3.1 mosaic inventory can be used for policy-relevant studies at both regional and global levels.
Kalyn Dorheim, Skylar Gering, Robert Gieseke, Corinne Hartin, Leeya Pressburger, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, Steven J. Smith, Claudia Tebaldi, Dawn L. Woodard, and Ben Bond-Lamberty
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4855–4869, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4855-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4855-2024, 2024
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Hector is an easy-to-use, global climate–carbon cycle model. With its quick run time, Hector can provide climate information from a run in a fraction of a second. Hector models on a global and annual basis. Here, we present an updated version of the model, Hector V3. In this paper, we document Hector’s new features. Hector V3 is capable of reproducing historical observations, and its future temperature projections are consistent with those of more complex models.
Antonin Soulie, Claire Granier, Sabine Darras, Nicolas Zilbermann, Thierno Doumbia, Marc Guevara, Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, Sekou Keita, Cathy Liousse, Monica Crippa, Diego Guizzardi, Rachel Hoesly, and Steven J. Smith
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2261–2279, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2261-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2261-2024, 2024
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Anthropogenic emissions are the result of transportation, power generation, industrial, residential and commercial activities as well as waste treatment and agriculture practices. This work describes the new CAMS-GLOB-ANT gridded inventory of 2000–2023 anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. The methodology to generate the emissions is explained and the datasets are analysed and compared with publicly available global and regional inventories for selected world regions.
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Joanna Joiner, Sungyeon Choi, Zhining Tao, K. Emma Knowland, Steven J. Smith, Daniel Q. Tong, Siqi Ma, Zachary T. Fasnacht, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3717–3728, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3717-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3717-2024, 2024
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Using satellite data, we developed a coupled method independent of the chemical transport model to map NOx emissions across US cities. After validating our technique with synthetic data, we charted NOx emissions from 2018–2021 in 39 cities. Our results closely matched EPA estimates but also highlighted some inconsistencies in both magnitude and spatial distribution. This research can help refine strategies for monitoring and managing air quality.
Hamza Ahsan, Hailong Wang, Jingbo Wu, Mingxuan Wu, Steven J. Smith, Susanne Bauer, Harrison Suchyta, Dirk Olivié, Gunnar Myhre, Hitoshi Matsui, Huisheng Bian, Jean-François Lamarque, Ken Carslaw, Larry Horowitz, Leighton Regayre, Mian Chin, Michael Schulz, Ragnhild Bieltvedt Skeie, Toshihiko Takemura, and Vaishali Naik
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14779–14799, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14779-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14779-2023, 2023
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We examine the impact of the assumed effective height of SO2 injection, SO2 and BC emission seasonality, and the assumed fraction of SO2 emissions injected as SO4 on climate and chemistry model results. We find that the SO2 injection height has a large impact on surface SO2 concentrations and, in some models, radiative flux. These assumptions are a
hiddensource of inter-model variability and may be leading to bias in some climate model results.
Anita M. Avery, Mariam Fawaz, Leah R. Williams, Tami Bond, and Timothy B. Onasch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8837–8854, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8837-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8837-2023, 2023
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Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of fuels like wood which occurs during combustion or as an isolated process. During combustion, some pyrolysis products are emitted directly, while others are oxidized in the combustion process. This work describes the chemical composition of particle-phase pyrolysis products in order to investigate both the uncombusted emissions from wildfires and the fuel that participates in combustion.
Monica Crippa, Diego Guizzardi, Tim Butler, Terry Keating, Rosa Wu, Jacek Kaminski, Jeroen Kuenen, Junichi Kurokawa, Satoru Chatani, Tazuko Morikawa, George Pouliot, Jacinthe Racine, Michael D. Moran, Zbigniew Klimont, Patrick M. Manseau, Rabab Mashayekhi, Barron H. Henderson, Steven J. Smith, Harrison Suchyta, Marilena Muntean, Efisio Solazzo, Manjola Banja, Edwin Schaaf, Federico Pagani, Jung-Hun Woo, Jinseok Kim, Fabio Monforti-Ferrario, Enrico Pisoni, Junhua Zhang, David Niemi, Mourad Sassi, Tabish Ansari, and Kristen Foley
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2667–2694, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2667-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2667-2023, 2023
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This study responds to the global and regional atmospheric modelling community's need for a mosaic of air pollutant emissions with global coverage, long time series, spatially distributed data at a high time resolution, and a high sectoral resolution in order to enhance the understanding of transboundary air pollution. The mosaic approach to integrating official regional emission inventories with a global inventory based on a consistent methodology ensures policy-relevant results.
Robin N. Thor, Mariano Mertens, Sigrun Matthes, Mattia Righi, Johannes Hendricks, Sabine Brinkop, Phoebe Graf, Volker Grewe, Patrick Jöckel, and Steven Smith
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 1459–1466, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-1459-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-1459-2023, 2023
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We report on an inconsistency in the latitudinal distribution of aviation emissions between two versions of a data product which is widely used by researchers. From the available documentation, we do not expect such an inconsistency. We run a chemistry–climate model to compute the effect of the inconsistency in emissions on atmospheric chemistry and radiation and find that the radiative forcing associated with aviation ozone is 7.6 % higher when using the less recent version of the data.
Steven J. Smith, Erin E. McDuffie, and Molly Charles
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13201–13218, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13201-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13201-2022, 2022
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Emissions into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants, quantified in emission inventories, impact human health, ecosystems, and the climate. We review how air pollutant and GHG inventory activities have historically been structured and their different uses and requirements. We discuss the benefits of increasing coordination between air pollutant and GHG inventory development efforts, but also caution that there are differences in appropriate methodologies and applications.
Sumanta Sarkhel, Gunter Stober, Jorge L. Chau, Steven M. Smith, Christoph Jacobi, Subarna Mondal, Martin G. Mlynczak, and James M. Russell III
Ann. Geophys., 40, 179–190, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-179-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-179-2022, 2022
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A rare gravity wave event was observed on the night of 25 April 2017 over northern Germany. An all-sky airglow imager recorded an upward-propagating wave at different altitudes in mesosphere with a prominent wave front above 91 km and faintly observed below. Based on wind and satellite-borne temperature profiles close to the event location, we have found the presence of a leaky thermal duct layer in 85–91 km. The appearance of this duct layer caused the wave amplitudes to diminish below 91 km.
Fei Liu, Zhining Tao, Steffen Beirle, Joanna Joiner, Yasuko Yoshida, Steven J. Smith, K. Emma Knowland, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1333–1349, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1333-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1333-2022, 2022
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In this work, we present a novel method to infer NOx emissions and lifetimes based on tropospheric NO2 observations together with reanalysis wind fields for cities located in polluted backgrounds. We evaluate the accuracy of the method using synthetic NO2 observations derived from a high-resolution model simulation. Our work provides an estimate for uncertainties in satellite-derived emissions inferred from chemical transport model (CTM)-independent approaches.
Jan C. Minx, William F. Lamb, Robbie M. Andrew, Josep G. Canadell, Monica Crippa, Niklas Döbbeling, Piers M. Forster, Diego Guizzardi, Jos Olivier, Glen P. Peters, Julia Pongratz, Andy Reisinger, Matthew Rigby, Marielle Saunois, Steven J. Smith, Efisio Solazzo, and Hanqin Tian
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5213–5252, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5213-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5213-2021, 2021
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We provide a synthetic dataset on anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 1970–2018 with a fast-track extension to 2019. We show that GHG emissions continued to rise across all gases and sectors. Annual average GHG emissions growth slowed, but absolute decadal increases have never been higher in human history. We identify a number of data gaps and data quality issues in global inventories and highlight their importance for monitoring progress towards international climate goals.
Mariam Fawaz, Anita Avery, Timothy B. Onasch, Leah R. Williams, and Tami C. Bond
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15605–15618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15605-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15605-2021, 2021
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Biomass burning is responsible for 90 % of the emissions of primary organic aerosols to the atmosphere. Emissions from biomass burning sources are considered chaotic. In this work, we developed a controlled experimental approach to understand the controlling factors in emission. Our results showed that emissions are repeatable and deterministic and that emissions from wood can be constrained.
Kalyn Dorheim, Steven J. Smith, and Ben Bond-Lamberty
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 365–375, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-365-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-365-2021, 2021
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Simple climate models are frequently used in research and decision-making communities because of their tractability and low computational cost. Simple climate models are diverse, including highly idealized and process-based models. Here we present a hybrid approach that combines the strength of two types of simple climate models in a flexible framework. This hybrid approach has provided insights into the climate system and opens an avenue for investigating radiative forcing uncertainties.
Erin E. McDuffie, Steven J. Smith, Patrick O'Rourke, Kushal Tibrewal, Chandra Venkataraman, Eloise A. Marais, Bo Zheng, Monica Crippa, Michael Brauer, and Randall V. Martin
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3413–3442, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3413-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3413-2020, 2020
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Global emission inventories are vital to understanding the impacts of air pollution on the environment, human health, and society. We update the open-source Community Emissions Data System (CEDS) to provide global gridded emissions of seven key air pollutants from 1970–2017 for 11 source sectors and multiple fuel types, including coal, solid biofuel, and liquid oil and natural gas. This dataset includes both monthly global gridded emissions and annual national totals.
Zebedee R. J. Nicholls, Malte Meinshausen, Jared Lewis, Robert Gieseke, Dietmar Dommenget, Kalyn Dorheim, Chen-Shuo Fan, Jan S. Fuglestvedt, Thomas Gasser, Ulrich Golüke, Philip Goodwin, Corinne Hartin, Austin P. Hope, Elmar Kriegler, Nicholas J. Leach, Davide Marchegiani, Laura A. McBride, Yann Quilcaille, Joeri Rogelj, Ross J. Salawitch, Bjørn H. Samset, Marit Sandstad, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, Ragnhild B. Skeie, Christopher J. Smith, Steve Smith, Katsumasa Tanaka, Junichi Tsutsui, and Zhiang Xie
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 5175–5190, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-5175-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-5175-2020, 2020
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Computational limits mean that we cannot run our most comprehensive climate models for all applications of interest. In such cases, reduced complexity models (RCMs) are used. Here, researchers working on 15 different models present the first systematic community effort to evaluate and compare RCMs: the Reduced Complexity Model Intercomparison Project (RCMIP). Our research ensures that users of RCMs can more easily evaluate the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of their tools.
Malte Meinshausen, Zebedee R. J. Nicholls, Jared Lewis, Matthew J. Gidden, Elisabeth Vogel, Mandy Freund, Urs Beyerle, Claudia Gessner, Alexander Nauels, Nico Bauer, Josep G. Canadell, John S. Daniel, Andrew John, Paul B. Krummel, Gunnar Luderer, Nicolai Meinshausen, Stephen A. Montzka, Peter J. Rayner, Stefan Reimann, Steven J. Smith, Marten van den Berg, Guus J. M. Velders, Martin K. Vollmer, and Ray H. J. Wang
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 3571–3605, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3571-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3571-2020, 2020
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This study provides the future greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations under the new set of so-called SSP scenarios (the successors of the IPCC SRES and previous representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios). The projected CO2 concentrations range from 350 ppm for low-emission scenarios by 2150 to more than 2000 ppm under the high-emission scenarios. We also provide concentrations, latitudinal gradients, and seasonality for most of the other 42 considered GHGs.
Leyang Feng, Steven J. Smith, Caleb Braun, Monica Crippa, Matthew J. Gidden, Rachel Hoesly, Zbigniew Klimont, Margreet van Marle, Maarten van den Berg, and Guido R. van der Werf
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 461–482, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-461-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-461-2020, 2020
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We describe the methods used for generating gridded emission datasets produced for use by the modeling community, particularly for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). The development of three sets of gridded data (historical open burning, historical anthropogenic, and future scenarios) was coordinated to produce consistent data over 1750–2100. We discuss the methodologies used to produce these data along with limitations and potential for future work.
Hongbin Yu, Yang Yang, Hailong Wang, Qian Tan, Mian Chin, Robert C. Levy, Lorraine A. Remer, Steven J. Smith, Tianle Yuan, and Yingxi Shi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 139–161, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-139-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-139-2020, 2020
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Emissions and long-range transport of mineral dust and
combustion-related aerosol from burning fossil fuels and biomass vary from year to year, driven by the evolution of the economy and changes in meteorological conditions and environmental regulations. This study offers both satellite and model perspectives on interannual variability and possible trends in combustion aerosol and dust in major continental outflow regions over the past 15 years (2003–2017).
Adria K. Schwarber, Steven J. Smith, Corinne A. Hartin, Benjamin Aaron Vega-Westhoff, and Ryan Sriver
Earth Syst. Dynam., 10, 729–739, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-729-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-729-2019, 2019
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Simple climate models (SCMs) underlie many important scientific and decision-making endeavors. This illustrates the need for their use to be rooted in a clear understanding of their fundamental responses. In this study, we provide a comprehensive assessment of model performance by evaluating the fundamental responses of several SCMs. We find biases in some responses, which have implications for decision science. We conclude by recommending a standard set of validation tests for any SCM.
Brigitte Rooney, Ran Zhao, Yuan Wang, Kelvin H. Bates, Ajay Pillarisetti, Sumit Sharma, Seema Kundu, Tami C. Bond, Nicholas L. Lam, Bora Ozaltun, Li Xu, Varun Goel, Lauren T. Fleming, Robert Weltman, Simone Meinardi, Donald R. Blake, Sergey A. Nizkorodov, Rufus D. Edwards, Ankit Yadav, Narendra K. Arora, Kirk R. Smith, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7719–7742, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7719-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7719-2019, 2019
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Approximately 3 billion people worldwide cook with solid fuels, such as wood, charcoal, and agricultural residues, that are often combusted in inefficient cookstoves. Here, we simulate the distribution of the two major health-damaging outdoor pollution species (PM2.5 and O3) using state-of-the-science emissions databases and atmospheric chemical transport models to estimate the impact of household combustion on ambient air quality in India.
Matthew J. Gidden, Keywan Riahi, Steven J. Smith, Shinichiro Fujimori, Gunnar Luderer, Elmar Kriegler, Detlef P. van Vuuren, Maarten van den Berg, Leyang Feng, David Klein, Katherine Calvin, Jonathan C. Doelman, Stefan Frank, Oliver Fricko, Mathijs Harmsen, Tomoko Hasegawa, Petr Havlik, Jérôme Hilaire, Rachel Hoesly, Jill Horing, Alexander Popp, Elke Stehfest, and Kiyoshi Takahashi
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 1443–1475, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-1443-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-1443-2019, 2019
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We present a suite of nine scenarios of future emissions trajectories of anthropogenic sources for use in CMIP6. Integrated assessment model results are provided for each scenario with consistent transitions from the historical data to future trajectories. We find that the set of scenarios enables the exploration of a variety of warming pathways. A wide range of scenario data products are provided for the CMIP6 scientific community including global, regional, and gridded emissions datasets.
Stephanie Fiedler, Bjorn Stevens, Matthew Gidden, Steven J. Smith, Keywan Riahi, and Detlef van Vuuren
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 989–1007, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-989-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-989-2019, 2019
Yang Yang, Steven J. Smith, Hailong Wang, Catrin M. Mills, and Philip J. Rasch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2405–2420, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2405-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2405-2019, 2019
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Black carbon (BC) particles exert a potentially large warming influence on the
Earth system. We evaluate regional climate responses, non-linearity, and short-term transient responses to BC emission perturbations. We found that climate responses do not scale linearity with emissions and BC impacts temperature much faster than greenhouse gas forcing. Removing present-day BC emissions results in discernible surface temperature changes for only limited regions of the globe.
Katherine Calvin, Pralit Patel, Leon Clarke, Ghassem Asrar, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Ryna Yiyun Cui, Alan Di Vittorio, Kalyn Dorheim, Jae Edmonds, Corinne Hartin, Mohamad Hejazi, Russell Horowitz, Gokul Iyer, Page Kyle, Sonny Kim, Robert Link, Haewon McJeon, Steven J. Smith, Abigail Snyder, Stephanie Waldhoff, and Marshall Wise
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 677–698, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-677-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-677-2019, 2019
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This paper describes GCAM v5.1, an open source model that represents the linkages between energy, water, land, climate, and economic systems. GCAM examines the future evolution of these systems through the end of the 21st century. It can be used to examine, for example, how changes in population, income, or technology cost might alter crop production, energy demand, or water withdrawals, or how changes in one region’s demand for energy affect energy, water, and land in other regions.
Rachel M. Hoesly, Steven J. Smith, Leyang Feng, Zbigniew Klimont, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Tyler Pitkanen, Jonathan J. Seibert, Linh Vu, Robert J. Andres, Ryan M. Bolt, Tami C. Bond, Laura Dawidowski, Nazar Kholod, June-ichi Kurokawa, Meng Li, Liang Liu, Zifeng Lu, Maria Cecilia P. Moura, Patrick R. O'Rourke, and Qiang Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 369–408, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-369-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-369-2018, 2018
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Historical emission trends are key inputs to Earth systems and atmospheric chemistry models. We present a new data set of historical (1750–2014) anthropogenic gases (CO, CH4, NH3, NOx, SO2, NMVOCs, BC, OC, and CO2) developed with the Community Emissions Data System (CEDS). This improves on existing inventories as it uses consistent methods and data across emissions species, has annual resolution for a longer and more recent time series, and is designed to be transparent and reproducible.
Francisco Mena, Tami C. Bond, and Nicole Riemer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9399–9415, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9399-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9399-2017, 2017
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We estimate how biofuel burning may contribute to cloud droplet numbers by modeling the evolution of the size and composition of each particle in a biofuel burning plume from emission until it reaches ambient temperature and humidity. Condensation of semi-volatile gases homogenizes composition so that particles without water affinity can form cloud droplets. Coagulation barely changes properties relevant to clouds, except for limiting the number of emitted particles or enhancing homogenization.
Yang Yang, Hailong Wang, Steven J. Smith, Richard Easter, Po-Lun Ma, Yun Qian, Hongbin Yu, Can Li, and Philip J. Rasch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8903–8922, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8903-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8903-2017, 2017
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Sulfate has significant impacts on air quality and climate. Local sulfate pollution could result from remote influences, making domestic mitigation efforts inefficient. Using CESM with a sulfur source-tagging technique, we found that, over regions with relatively low emissions, sulfate concentrations are primarily attributed to non-local sources and sulfate indirect radiative forcing over the Southern Hemisphere is more sensitive to emission perturbation than the polluted Northern Hemisphere.
Yang Yang, Hailong Wang, Steven J. Smith, Po-Lun Ma, and Philip J. Rasch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4319–4336, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4319-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4319-2017, 2017
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The source attributions of black carbon (BC) in China are quantified using the Community Earth System Model by source tagging. BC impacts neighboring regions greatly. Transport is important in increasing BC during regional polluted days. Emissions outside China contribute 35 % of BC direct radiative forcing in China. Efficiency analysis shows that reduction in BC emissions over eastern China could have a greater benefit for regional air quality in China, especially in the winter haze season.
William J. Collins, Jean-François Lamarque, Michael Schulz, Olivier Boucher, Veronika Eyring, Michaela I. Hegglin, Amanda Maycock, Gunnar Myhre, Michael Prather, Drew Shindell, and Steven J. Smith
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 585–607, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-585-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-585-2017, 2017
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We have designed a set of climate model experiments called the Aerosol Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP). These are designed to quantify the climate and air quality impacts of aerosols and chemically reactive gases in the climate models that are used to simulate past and future climate. We hope that many climate modelling centres will choose to run these experiments to help understand the contribution of aerosols and chemistry to climate change.
Bjorn Stevens, Stephanie Fiedler, Stefan Kinne, Karsten Peters, Sebastian Rast, Jobst Müsse, Steven J. Smith, and Thorsten Mauritsen
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 433–452, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-433-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-433-2017, 2017
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A simple analytic description of aerosol optical properties and their main effects on clouds is developed and described. The analytic description is easy to use and easy to modify and should aid experimentation to help understand how aerosol radiative and cloud interactions effect climate and circulation. The climatology is recommended for adoption by models participating in the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project.
Yuqiang Zhang, Jared H. Bowden, Zachariah Adelman, Vaishali Naik, Larry W. Horowitz, Steven J. Smith, and J. Jason West
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9533–9548, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9533-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9533-2016, 2016
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Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can also improve air quality. We estimate the co-benefits of global GHG mitigation for US air quality in 2050 at fine resolution by downscaling from a previous global study. Foreign GHG mitigation under RCP4.5 contributes more to the US O3 reduction (76 % of the total) than domestic mitigation and contributes 26 % of the PM2.5 reduction. Therefore, the US gains significantly greater air quality co-benefits by coordinating GHG controls internationally.
L. Fierce, N. Riemer, and T. C. Bond
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3173–3191, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3173-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3173-2015, 2015
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The timescale for particles containing black carbon to age from hydrophobic to hygroscopic strongly influences black carbon's atmospheric lifetime and climate impact. This paper identifies the minimal set of independent variables needed to explain variance in this aging timescale. This work distills the complex interactions captured by a particle-resolved aerosol model to a few input variables and is a first step toward developing physically based parameterizations of aerosol aging.
F. Yan, E. Winijkul, D. G. Streets, Z. Lu, T. C. Bond, and Y. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 5709–5733, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5709-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5709-2014, 2014
S. J. Smith
Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esdd-5-1-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/esdd-5-1-2014, 2014
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
S. J. Smith and A. Rothwell
Biogeosciences, 10, 6323–6337, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-6323-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-6323-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Response of the link between the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the East Asian winter monsoon to Asian anthropogenic sulfate aerosols
Modeling urban pollutant transport at multiple resolutions: impacts of turbulent mixing
Regional variability of aerosol impacts on clouds and radiation in global kilometer-scale simulations
A novel method to quantify the uncertainty contribution of aerosol–radiation interaction factors
Exploring the aerosol activation properties in coastal shallow convection using cloud- and particle-resolving models
Machine-learning-assisted inference of the particle charge fraction and the ion-induced nucleation rates during new particle formation events
Modeling CMAQ dry deposition treatment over the western Pacific: a distinct characteristic of mineral dust and anthropogenic aerosols
Impact of post-monsoon crop residue burning on PM2.5 over northern India: optimizing emissions using a high-density in situ surface observation network
Modeling simulation of aerosol light absorption over the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region: the impact of mixing state and aging processes
An investigation of the impact of Canadian wildfires on US air quality using model, satellite, and ground measurements
How to trace the origins of short-lived atmospheric species: an Arctic example
An updated microphysical model for particle activation in contrails: the role of volatile plume particles
Dust-producing weather patterns of the North American Great Plains
High-resolution air quality maps for Bucharest using a mixed-effects modeling framework
Interdecadal shift in the impact of winter land-sea thermal contrasts on following spring transcontinental dust transport pathways in North Africa
Anthropogenic and Natural Causes for the Interannual Variation of PM2.5 in East Asia During Summer Monsoon Periods From 2008 to 2018
Mechanistic insights into nitric acid-enhanced iodic acid particle nucleation in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere
Construction and application of a pollen emissions model based on phenology and random forests
An uncertain future for the climate and health impacts of anthropogenic aerosols in Africa
The impact of uncertainty in black carbon's refractive index on simulated optical depth and radiative forcing
Gas-phase collision rate enhancement factors for acid-base clusters up to 2 nm in diameter from atomistic simulation and the interacting hard sphere model
How well are aerosol–cloud interactions represented in climate models? – Part 2: Isolating the aerosol impact on clouds following the 2014–15 Holuhraun eruption
Characterization of brown carbon absorption in different European environments through source contribution analysis
Accounting for the black carbon aging process in a two-way coupled meteorology–air quality model
The effectiveness of solar radiation management using fine sea spray across multiple climatic regions
A global dust emission dataset for estimating dust radiative forcings in climate models
Tropospheric aerosols over the western North Atlantic Ocean during the winter and summer deployments of ACTIVATE 2020: life cycle, transport, and distribution
Spatial and temporal evolution of future atmospheric reactive nitrogen deposition in China under different climate change mitigation strategies
Steady-state mixing state of black carbon aerosols from a particle-resolved model
Direct radiative forcing of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol and the influencing factors over China
Distinctive dust weather intensities in North China resulted from two types of atmospheric circulation anomalies
Biomass burning emission analysis based on MODIS aerosol optical depth and AeroCom multi-model simulations: implications for model constraints and emission inventories
The effect of organic nucleation on the indirect radiative forcing with a semi-explicit chemical mechanism for highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs)
Quasi-weekly oscillation of regional PM2.5 transport over China driven by the synoptic-scale disturbance of the East Asian winter monsoon circulation
Solar radiation estimation in West Africa: impact of dust conditions during the 2021 dry season
Homogeneous ice nucleation in adsorbed water films: A theoretical approach
Gaps in our understanding of ice-nucleating particle sources exposed by global simulation of the UK Earth System Model
The role of interfacial tension in the size-dependent phase separation of atmospheric aerosol particles
Saharan dust linked to European hail events
Impact of Topographic Wind Conditions on Dust Particle Size Distribution: Insights from a Regional Dust Reanalysis Dataset
Uncovering the Impact of Urban Functional Zones on Air Quality in China
Seasonal differences in observed versus modeled new particle formation over boreal regions
Warming effects of reduced sulfur emissions from shipping
The key role of atmospheric absorption in the Asian summer monsoon response to dust emissions in CMIP6 models
Multi-model effective radiative forcing of the 2020 sulfur cap for shipping
Representation of iron aerosol size distributions of anthropogenic emissions is critical in evaluating atmospheric soluble iron input to the ocean
Radiative and climate effects of aerosol scattering in long-wave radiation based on global climate modeling
Revealing dominant patterns of aerosol regimes in the lower troposphere and their evolution from preindustrial times to the future in global climate model simulations
Improving estimation of a record-breaking east Asian dust storm emission with lagged aerosol Ångström exponent observations
Impact of biomass burning aerosols (BBA) on the tropical African climate in an ocean–atmosphere–aerosol coupled climate model
Zixuan Jia, Massimo A. Bollasina, Wenjun Zhang, and Ying Xiang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8805–8820, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8805-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8805-2025, 2025
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Using multi-model mean data from regional aerosol perturbation experiments, we find that increased Asian sulfate aerosols strengthen the link between ENSO (El Niño–Southern Oscillation) and the East Asian winter monsoon. In coupled simulations, aerosol-induced broad cooling increases the ENSO amplitude by affecting the tropical Pacific mean state, contributing to the increase in monsoon interannual variability. These results provide important implications to reduce uncertainties in future projections of regional extreme variability.
Zining Yang, Qiuyan Du, Qike Yang, Chun Zhao, Gudongze Li, Zihan Xia, Mingyue Xu, Renmin Yuan, Yubin Li, Kaihui Xia, Jun Gu, and Jiawang Feng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8831–8857, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8831-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8831-2025, 2025
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This study investigates the impact of turbulent mixing on black carbon (BC) concentrations in urban areas simulated at 25, 5, and 1 km resolutions. Significant variations in BC and turbulent mixing occur mainly at night. Higher resolutions reduce BC overestimation due to enhanced mixing coefficients and vertical wind fluxes. Small-scale eddies at higher resolutions increase the BC lifetime and column concentrations. Land use and terrain variations across multiple resolutions affect turbulent mixing.
Ross J. Herbert, Andrew I. L. Williams, Philipp Weiss, Duncan Watson-Parris, Elisabeth Dingley, Daniel Klocke, and Philip Stier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7789–7814, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7789-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7789-2025, 2025
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Clouds exist at scales that climate models struggle to represent, limiting our knowledge of how climate change may impact clouds. Here we use a new kilometer-scale global model representing an important step towards the necessary scale. We focus on how aerosol particles modify clouds, radiation, and precipitation. We find the magnitude and manner of responses tend to vary from region to region, highlighting the potential of global kilometer-scale simulations and a need to represent aerosols in climate models.
Bishuo He and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7765–7776, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7765-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7765-2025, 2025
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Factor uncertainty analysis helps us understand the impacts of factors on complex systems. Traditional methods have many limitations. This study introduces a new method to measure how each factor contributes to uncertainty. It gains insights into the role of each variable and works for all multi-factor systems. As an application, we analyzed how aerosols affect solar radiation and identified the key factors. These analyses can improve our understanding of the role of aerosols in climate change.
Ge Yu, Yueya Wang, Zhe Wang, and Xiaoming Shi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7527–7542, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7527-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7527-2025, 2025
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Studying the cloud-forming capacity of aerosols is crucial in climate research. The PartMC model can provide detailed particle information and help these studies. This model is integrated with the ideal meteorological Cloud Model 1 (CM1) to simulate the aerosols at cloud-forming locations. Significant changes are revealed in the hygroscopicity distribution of aerosols within ascending air parcels. Additionally, different ascent times also affect aerosol aging processes.
Pan Wang, Yue Zhao, Jiandong Wang, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Jingkun Jiang, and Chenxi Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7431–7446, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7431-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7431-2025, 2025
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We developed a numerical model to investigate the evolution of the charge state of newly formed atmospheric particles. Based on the simulation results, we successfully employed neural networks to predict particle charge states and estimate ion-induced nucleation rates. This study provides new insights into the dynamics of particle charging and introduces advanced methods for evaluating ion-induced nucleation in atmospheric research.
Steven Soon-Kai Kong, Joshua S. Fu, Neng-Huei Lin, Guey-Rong Sheu, and Wei-Syun Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7245–7268, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7245-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7245-2025, 2025
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The accuracy of the chemical transport model, a key focus of our research, is strongly dependent on the dry deposition parameterization. Our findings show that the refined CMAQ dust model correlated well with ground-based and high-altitude in situ measurements by implementing the suggested dry deposition schemes. Furthermore, we reveal the mixing state of two types of aerosols at the upper level, a finding supported by both the optimized model and measurements.
Mizuo Kajino, Kentaro Ishijima, Joseph Ching, Kazuyo Yamaji, Rio Ishikawa, Tomoki Kajikawa, Tanbir Singh, Tomoki Nakayama, Yutaka Matsumi, Koyo Kojima, Taisei Machida, Takashi Maki, Prabir K. Patra, and Sachiko Hayashida
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7137–7160, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7137-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7137-2025, 2025
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Air pollution in Delhi during the post-monsoon period is severe, and association with intensive crop residue burning (CRB) over Punjab state has attracted attention. However, the relationship has been unclear as the CRB emissions conventionally derived from satellites were underestimated due to clouds or thick smoke/haze over the region. We evaluated the impact of CRB on PM2.5 to be about 50 %, based on a combination of numerical modeling and an observation network using low-cost sensors we installed.
Huiyun Du, Jie Li, Xueshun Chen, Gabriele Curci, Fangqun Yu, Yele Sun, Xu Dao, Song Guo, Zhe Wang, Wenyi Yang, Lianfang Wei, and Zifa Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5665–5681, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5665-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5665-2025, 2025
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Inadequate consideration of mixing states and coatings on black carbon (BC) hinders aerosol radiation forcing quantification. Core–shell mixing aligns well with observations, but partial internal mixing is a more realistic representation. We used a microphysics module to determine the fraction of embedded BC and coating aerosols, constraining the mixing state. This reduced absorption enhancement by 30 %–43 % in northern China, offering insights into BC's radiative effects.
Zhixin Xue, Nair Udaysankar, and Sundar A. Christopher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5497–5517, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5497-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5497-2025, 2025
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Canadian wildfires in August 2018 significantly increased surface air pollution across the United States (US) – by up to 69 % in some areas. Using model, satellite, and ground measurements, the study highlights how weather patterns and long-range smoke transport drive pollution. The northwestern US was most affected by Canadian wildfire smoke, while the northeastern US experienced the least impact. These findings indicate the growing concern that wildfire smoke poses to air quality across the US.
Anderson Da Silva, Louis Marelle, Jean-Christophe Raut, Yvette Gramlich, Karolina Siegel, Sophie L. Haslett, Claudia Mohr, and Jennie L. Thomas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5331–5354, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5331-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5331-2025, 2025
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Particle sources in polar climates are unclear, affecting climate representation in models. This study introduces an evaluated method for tracking particles with backward modeling. Tests on simulated particles allowed us to show that traditional detection methods often misidentify sources. An improved method that accurately traces the origins of aerosol particles in the Arctic is presented. The study recommends using this enhanced method for better source identification of atmospheric species.
Joel Ponsonby, Roger Teoh, Bernd Kärcher, and Marc Stettler
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1717, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1717, 2025
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Aerosol emissions from aircraft engines contribute to the formation of contrails, which have a climate impact comparable to that of aviation’s CO2 emissions. We show that emissions of volatile particulate matter – from fuel sulphur, unburned fuel, and lubrication oil – can increase the number of ice particles formed within a contrail, and therefore have an important role in the climate impacts of aviation. This has implications for emissions regulation and climate mitigation strategies.
Stuart Evans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4833–4845, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4833-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4833-2025, 2025
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This study of the North American Great Plains identifies the various weather patterns responsible for blowing dust in all parts of the region using a weather pattern classification. In the southwestern plains passing cold fronts are the primary cause of dust; in the understudied northern plains, summertime patterns and southerly pre-frontal winds are most important in the west and east, respectively. These results are valuable to understanding and forecasting dust in this complex source region.
Camelia Talianu, Jeni Vasilescu, Doina Nicolae, Alexandru Ilie, Andrei Dandocsi, Anca Nemuc, and Livio Belegante
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4639–4654, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4639-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4639-2025, 2025
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For Bucharest, Romania's capital, mobile measurements during two intensive campaigns and mixed-effect LUR (land-use regression) models to derive seasonal maps of near-surface PM10, NO2 and UFPs (ultrafine particles) have successfully been used. The model's performance was evaluated, demonstrating its potential for high-resolution mapping in other cities with well-characterized urban structures and diverse in situ monitoring stations.
Qi Wen, Yan Li, Mengying Du, Wenjun Song, Linbo Wei, Zhilan Wang, and Xu Li
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-826, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-826, 2025
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We find that, through an interdecadal phase-locking effect of sea-land thermal forcing-North Atlantic Oscillation-Westerly Jet coupling, springtime dust from North Africa is more likely to be transported eastwards (extending into North America) after the late 1990s, whereas before that time westward transport paths for dust were more frequent. Subject to thermal forcing, wind speed and drought contribute to dust emissions in the two periods, respectively.
Danyang Ma, Min Xie, Huan He, Tijian Wang, Mengzhu Xi, Lingyun Feng, Shuxian Zhang, and Shitong Chen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-10, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-10, 2025
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The PM2.5 concentration in China underwent significant changes in 2013. We examined the underlying causes from three perspectives: anthropogenic pollutant emissions, meteorological conditions, and CO2 concentration variations. Our study highlighted the importance of considering the role of CO2 on vegetation when predicting PM2.5 concentrations and developing corresponding control strategies.
Jing Li, An Ning, Ling Liu, Fengyang Bai, Qishen Huang, Pai Liu, Xiucong Deng, Yunhong Zhang, and Xiuhui Zhang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1194, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1194, 2025
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Iodic acid (IA) particles are frequently observed in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS), yet their formation mechanism remains unclear. Nitric acid (NA) and ammonia (NH3) are key nucleation precursors in the UTLS. This study investigates the IA–NA–NH3 system using a theoretical approach. Our proposed nucleation mechanism highlights the crucial role of NA in IA nucleation, providing molecular-level evidence for the missing sources of IA particles in the UTLS.
Jiangtao Li, Xingqin An, Zhaobin Sun, Caihua Ye, Qing Hou, Yuxin Zhao, and Zhe Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3583–3602, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3583-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3583-2025, 2025
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Climate change and pollution have intensified pollen allergies. We developed a pollen emissions model using phenology and random forests. Key factors affecting annual pollen emissions include temperature, relative humidity and sunshine hours. Pollen dispersal starts around 10 August, peaks around 30 August and ends by 25 September, lasting about 45 d. Over time, annual pollen emissions exhibit significant fluctuations and a downward trend.
Joe Adabouk Amooli, Marianne T. Lund, Sourangsu Chowdhury, Gunnar Myhre, Ane N. Johansen, Bjørn H. Samset, and Daniel M. Westervelt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-948, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-948, 2025
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We analyze various projections of African aerosol emissions and their potential impacts on climate and public health. We find that future emissions vary widely across emission projections, with differences in sectoral emission distributions. Using the Oslo chemical transport model, we show that air pollution exposure in some regions of Africa could increase significantly by 2050, increasing pollution-related deaths, with most scenarios projecting aerosol-induced warming over sub-Saharan Africa.
Ruth A. R. Digby, Knut von Salzen, Adam H. Monahan, Nathan P. Gillett, and Jiangnan Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3109–3130, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3109-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3109-2025, 2025
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The refractive index of black carbon (BCRI), which determines how much energy black carbon absorbs and scatters, is difficult to measure, and different climate models use different values. We show that varying the BCRI across commonly used values can increase absorbing aerosol optical depth by 42 % and the warming effect from interactions between black carbon and radiation by 47 %, an appreciable fraction of the overall spread between models reported in recent literature assessments.
Valtteri Tikkanen, Huan Yang, Hanna Vehkamäki, and Bernhard Reischl
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-507, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-507, 2025
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Collisions of neutral molecules and clusters is the prevalent pathway in atmospheric new particle formation. In heavily polluted urban areas, where clusters are formed rapidly and in large number, cluster-cluster collisions also become relevant. We calculate cluster-cluster collision rates from atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and an interacting hard sphere model. Not accounting for long-range attractive interactions underestimates collision and particle formation rates significantly.
George Jordan, Florent Malavelle, Jim Haywood, Ying Chen, Ben Johnson, Daniel Partridge, Amy Peace, Eliza Duncan, Duncan Watson-Parris, David Neubauer, Anton Laakso, Martine Michou, and Pierre Nabat
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-835, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-835, 2025
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The 2014–15 Holuhraun eruption created a vast aerosol plume that acted as a natural experiment to assess how well climate models capture changes in cloud properties due to increased aerosol. We find that the models accurately represent the observed shift to smaller, more numerous cloud droplets. However, the models diverge in their aerosol induced changes to large-scale cloud properties, particularly cloud liquid water content. Our study shows that Holuhraun had a cooling effect on the Earth.
Hector Navarro-Barboza, Jordi Rovira, Vincenzo Obiso, Andrea Pozzer, Marta Via, Andres Alastuey, Xavier Querol, Noemi Perez, Marjan Savadkoohi, Gang Chen, Jesus Yus-Díez, Matic Ivancic, Martin Rigler, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Stergios Vratolis, Olga Zografou, Maria Gini, Benjamin Chazeau, Nicolas Marchand, Andre S. H. Prevot, Kaspar Dallenbach, Mikael Ehn, Krista Luoma, Tuukka Petäjä, Anna Tobler, Jaroslaw Necki, Minna Aurela, Hilkka Timonen, Jarkko Niemi, Olivier Favez, Jean-Eudes Petit, Jean-Philippe Putaud, Christoph Hueglin, Nicolas Pascal, Aurélien Chauvigné, Sébastien Conil, Marco Pandolfi, and Oriol Jorba
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2667–2694, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2667-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2667-2025, 2025
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Brown carbon (BrC) absorbs ultraviolet (UV) and visible light, influencing climate. This study explores BrC's imaginary refractive index (k) using data from 12 European sites. Residential emissions are a major organic aerosol (OA) source in winter, while secondary organic aerosol (SOA) dominates in summer. Source-specific k values were derived, improving model accuracy. The findings highlight BrC's climate impact and emphasize source-specific constraints in atmospheric models.
Yuzhi Jin, Jiandong Wang, Chao Liu, David C. Wong, Golam Sarwar, Kathleen M. Fahey, Shang Wu, Jiaping Wang, Jing Cai, Zeyuan Tian, Zhouyang Zhang, Jia Xing, Aijun Ding, and Shuxiao Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2613–2630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2613-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2613-2025, 2025
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Black carbon (BC) affects climate and the environment, and its aging process alters its properties. Current models, like WRF-CMAQ, lack full accounting for it. We developed the WRF-CMAQ-BCG model to better represent BC aging by introducing bare and coated BC species and their conversion. The WRF-CMAQ-BCG model introduces the capability to simulate BC mixing states and bare and coated BC wet deposition, and it improves the accuracy of BC mass concentration and aerosol optics.
Zhe Song, Shaocai Yu, Pengfei Li, Ningning Yao, Lang Chen, Yuhai Sun, Boqiong Jiang, and Daniel Rosenfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2473–2494, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2473-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2473-2025, 2025
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Our results with injected sea salt aerosols for five open oceans show that sea salt aerosols with low injection amounts dominate shortwave radiation, mainly through indirect effects. As indirect aerosol effects saturate with increasing injection rates, direct effects exceed indirect effects. This implies that marine cloud brightening is best implemented in areas with extensive cloud cover, while aerosol direct scattering effects remain dominant when clouds are scarce.
Danny M. Leung, Jasper F. Kok, Longlei Li, David M. Lawrence, Natalie M. Mahowald, Simone Tilmes, and Erik Kluzek
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2311–2331, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2311-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2311-2025, 2025
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This study derives a gridded dust emission dataset for 1841–2000 by employing a combination of observed dust from core records and reanalyzed global dust cycle constraints. We evaluate the ability of global models to replicate the observed historical dust variability by using the emission dataset to force a historical simulation in an Earth system model. We show that prescribing our emissions forces the model to better match observations than other mechanistic models.
Hongyu Liu, Bo Zhang, Richard H. Moore, Luke D. Ziemba, Richard A. Ferrare, Hyundeok Choi, Armin Sorooshian, David Painemal, Hailong Wang, Michael A. Shook, Amy Jo Scarino, Johnathan W. Hair, Ewan C. Crosbie, Marta A. Fenn, Taylor J. Shingler, Chris A. Hostetler, Gao Chen, Mary M. Kleb, Gan Luo, Fangqun Yu, Mark A. Vaughan, Yongxiang Hu, Glenn S. Diskin, John B. Nowak, Joshua P. DiGangi, Yonghoon Choi, Christoph A. Keller, and Matthew S. Johnson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2087–2121, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2087-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2087-2025, 2025
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We use the GEOS-Chem model to simulate aerosol distributions and properties over the western North Atlantic Ocean (WNAO) during the winter and summer deployments in 2020 of the NASA ACTIVATE mission. Model results are evaluated against aircraft, ground-based, and satellite observations. The improved understanding of life cycle, composition, transport pathways, and distribution of aerosols has important implications for characterizing aerosol–cloud–meteorology interactions over WNAO.
Mingrui Ma, Jiachen Cao, Dan Tong, Bo Zheng, and Yu Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2147–2166, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2147-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2147-2025, 2025
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We combined two global climate change pathways and three national emission control scenarios to analyze the future evolution of reactive nitrogen (Nr) deposition till the 2060s in China with air quality modeling. We show China’s clean air and carbon neutrality policies would overcome the adverse effects of climate change and efficiently reduce Nr deposition. The outflow of Nr fluxes from mainland China to the west Pacific would also be clearly reduced from continuous stringent emission controls.
Zhouyang Zhang, Jiandong Wang, Jiaping Wang, Nicole Riemer, Chao Liu, Yuzhi Jin, Zeyuan Tian, Jing Cai, Yueyue Cheng, Ganzhen Chen, Bin Wang, Shuxiao Wang, and Aijun Ding
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1869–1881, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1869-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1869-2025, 2025
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Black carbon (BC) exerts notable warming effects. We use a particle-resolved model to investigate the long-term behavior of the BC mixing state, revealing its compositions, coating thickness distribution, and optical properties all stabilize with a characteristic time of less than 1 d. This study can effectively simplify the description of the BC mixing state, which facilitates the precise assessment of the optical properties of BC aerosols in global and chemical transport models.
Shuangqin Yang, Yusi Liu, Li Chen, Nan Cao, Jing Wang, and Shuang Gao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3705, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3705, 2025
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Black carbon, primary brown carbon, and secondary brown carbon are the leading light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols (LACs) that contribute significantly to climate change. We modified the GEOS-Chem model to simulate the climate change by LACs based on local emission inventory, and explored the impacts of LACs properties and atmospheric variables on the corresponding DRFs in seven regions of China. The study confirms the warming effect of LACs and deepens our knowledge of their climatic effects.
Qianyi Huo, Zhicong Yin, Xiaoqing Ma, and Huijun Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1711–1724, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1711-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1711-2025, 2025
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Dust days during the spring seasons of 2015–2023 in North China were classified into Mongolian cyclone and cold high types depending on the presence of the Mongolian cyclone. The Mongolian cyclone type led to more frequent and severe dust weather, indicated by PM10 concentrations. To comprehensively forecast the two types of dust weather, a common predictor was established based on 500 hPa anomalous circulation systems, offering insights for dust weather forecasting and climate prediction.
Mariya Petrenko, Ralph Kahn, Mian Chin, Susanne E. Bauer, Tommi Bergman, Huisheng Bian, Gabriele Curci, Ben Johnson, Johannes W. Kaiser, Zak Kipling, Harri Kokkola, Xiaohong Liu, Keren Mezuman, Tero Mielonen, Gunnar Myhre, Xiaohua Pan, Anna Protonotariou, Samuel Remy, Ragnhild Bieltvedt Skeie, Philip Stier, Toshihiko Takemura, Kostas Tsigaridis, Hailong Wang, Duncan Watson-Parris, and Kai Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1545–1567, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1545-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1545-2025, 2025
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We compared smoke plume simulations from 11 global models to each other and to satellite smoke amount observations aimed at constraining smoke source strength. In regions where plumes are thick and background aerosol is low, models and satellites compare well. However, the input emission inventory tends to underestimate in many places, and particle property and loss rate assumptions vary enormously among models, causing uncertainties that require systematic in situ measurements to resolve.
Xinyue Shao, Minghuai Wang, Xinyi Dong, Yaman Liu, Stephen R. Arnold, Leighton A. Regayre, Duseong S. Jo, Wenxiang Shen, Hao Wang, Man Yue, Jingyi Wang, Wenxin Zhang, and Ken S. Carslaw
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4135, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4135, 2025
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This study uses a global chemistry-climate model to investigate how new particle formation (NPF) from highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) contributes to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in both preindustrial (PI) and present-day (PD) environments, and its impact on aerosol indirect radiative forcing. The findings highlight the crucial role of biogenic emissions in climate change, providing new insights for carbon-neutral scenarios and enhancing understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions.
Yongqing Bai, Tianliang Zhao, Kai Meng, Yue Zhou, Jie Xiong, Xiaoyun Sun, Lijuan Shen, Yanyu Yue, Yan Zhu, Weiyang Hu, and Jingyan Yao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1273–1287, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1273-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1273-2025, 2025
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We proposed a composite statistical method to identify the quasi-weekly oscillation (QWO) of regional PM2.5 transport over China in winter from 2015 to 2019. The QWO of regional PM2.5 transport is constrained by synoptic-scale disturbances of the East Asian winter monsoon circulation with the periodic activities of the Siberian high, providing a new insight into the understanding of regional pollutant transport with meteorological drivers in atmospheric environment changes.
Léo Clauzel, Sandrine Anquetin, Christophe Lavaysse, Gilles Bergametti, Christel Bouet, Guillaume Siour, Rémy Lapere, Béatrice Marticorena, and Jennie Thomas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 997–1021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-997-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-997-2025, 2025
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Solar energy production in West Africa is set to rise and needs accurate solar radiation estimates which are affected by desert dust. This work analyses a March 2021 dust event using a modelling strategy incorporating desert dust. Results show that considering desert dust cuts errors in solar radiation estimates by 75 % and reduces surface solar radiation by 18 %. This highlights the importance of incorporating dust aerosols into solar forecasting for better accuracy.
Ari Laaksonen, Golnaz Roudsari, Ana A. Piedehierro, and André Welti
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4095, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4095, 2025
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The mechanisms of ice nucleation at temperatures below 235 K have remained unclear for the past century. We suggest that ice nucleation is caused by the freezing of water adsorbed on aerosol surfaces. To test this hypothesis, we derived theoretical equations to predict the exact atmospheric conditions under which ice nucleation occurs. Our predictions agree well with experiments. The new theory thus provides a basis for an improved description of ice nucleation in the atmosphere.
Ross J. Herbert, Alberto Sanchez-Marroquin, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Kirsty J. Pringle, Stephen R. Arnold, Benjamin J. Murray, and Kenneth S. Carslaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 291–325, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-291-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-291-2025, 2025
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Aerosol particles that help form ice in clouds vary in number and type around the world and with time. However, in many weather and climate models cloud ice is not linked to aerosols that are known to nucleate ice. Here we report the first steps towards representing ice-nucleating particles within the UK Earth System Model. We conclude that in addition to ice nucleation by sea spray and mineral components of soil dust, we also need to represent ice nucleation by the organic components of soils.
Ryan Schmedding and Andreas Zuend
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 327–346, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-327-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-327-2025, 2025
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Four different approaches for computing the interfacial tension between liquid phases in aerosol particles were tested for particles with diameters from 10 nm to more than 5 μm. Antonov's rule led to the strongest reductions in the onset relative humidity of liquid–liquid phase separation and reproduced measured interfacial tensions for highly immiscible systems. A modified form of the Butler equation was able to best reproduce measured interfacial tensions in more miscible systems.
Killian P. Brennan and Lena Wilhelm
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3924, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3924, 2024
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In this study, we discovered that natural dust carried into Europe significantly increases the likelihood of hailstorms. By analyzing dust data, weather records, and hail reports, we found that moderate dust levels lead to more frequent hail, while very high or low dust amounts reduce it. Adding dust information into statistical models improved forecasting skills. We aimed to understand how dust affects hailstorms.
Xinyue Huang, Wenyu Gao, and Hosein Foroutan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3076, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3076, 2024
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This study investigates the relationship between wind-blown dust aerosols size distribution and wind conditions over topography at a regional scale, utilizing 10 years of dust reanalysis data. Linear regression models suggest that higher wind speeds and steeper land slopes, particularly under uphill winds, are associated with increased fractions of coarser dust particles. Moreover, these positive correlations weaken during summer and afternoon events, likely related to the haboob storms.
Lulu Yuan, Wenchao Han, Jiachen Meng, Yang Wang, Haojie Yu, and Wenze Li
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3350, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3350, 2024
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This study utilizes multi-source data to reveal the impact of various urban functional zones in China on the spatial distribution of pollutants. The findings indicate that the residential and commercial zones see notable air quality gains, but the improvement of air quality in the transportation zone is the least considerable. Moreover, the industrial zone has the most seasonal air quality variation. Therefore, air pollution prevention policies should consider differences in functional zones.
Carl Svenhag, Pontus Roldin, Tinja Olenius, Robin Wollesen de Jonge, Sara Blichner, Daniel Yazgi, and Moa Sporre
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3626, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3626, 2024
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This study investigates the model representation of how particles are formed and grow in the atmosphere. Using modeled and observed data from two boreal forest stations in 2018, we identify key factors for NPF to improve particle-climate predictions in the global EC-Earth3 model. Comparisons with the detailed ADCHEM model show that adding ammonia improves particle growth predictions, though EC-Earth3 still highly underestimates the number of particles during warmer months.
Masaru Yoshioka, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Ben B. B. Booth, Colin P. Morice, and Ken S. Carslaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13681–13692, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13681-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13681-2024, 2024
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A 2020 regulation has reduced sulfur emissions from shipping by about 80 %, leading to a decrease in atmospheric aerosols that have a cooling effect primarily by affecting cloud properties and amounts. Our climate model simulations predict a global temperature increase of 0.04 K over the next 3 decades as a result, which could contribute to surpassing the Paris Agreement's 1.5 °C target. Reduced aerosols may have also contributed to the recent temperature spikes.
Alcide Zhao, Laura J. Wilcox, and Claire L. Ryder
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13385–13402, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13385-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13385-2024, 2024
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Climate models include desert dust aerosols, which cause atmospheric heating and can change circulation patterns. We assess the effect of dust on the Indian and east Asian summer monsoons through multi-model experiments isolating the effect of dust in current climate models for the first time. Dust atmospheric heating results in a southward shift of western Pacific equatorial rainfall and an enhanced Indian summer monsoon. This shows the importance of accurate dust representation in models.
Ragnhild Bieltvedt Skeie, Rachael Byrom, Øivind Hodnebrog, Caroline Jouan, and Gunnar Myhre
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13361–13370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13361-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13361-2024, 2024
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In 2020, new regulations by the International Maritime Organization regarding sulfur emissions came into force, reducing emissions of SO2 from the shipping sector by approximately 80 %. In this study, we use multiple models to calculate how much the Earth energy balance changed due to the emission reduction or the so-called effective radiative forcing. The calculated effective radiative forcing is weak, comparable to the effect of the increase in CO2 over the last 2 to 3 years.
Mingxu Liu, Hitoshi Matsui, Douglas S. Hamilton, Sagar D. Rathod, Kara D. Lamb, and Natalie M. Mahowald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13115–13127, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13115-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13115-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric aerosol deposition provides bioavailable iron to promote marine primary production, yet the estimates of its fluxes remain highly uncertain. This study, by performing global aerosol simulations, demonstrates that iron-containing particle size upon emission is a critical factor in regulating soluble iron input to open oceans. Further observational constraints on this are needed to reduce modeling uncertainties.
Thomas Drugé, Pierre Nabat, Martine Michou, and Marc Mallet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3659, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3659, 2024
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Aerosol scattering in long-wave radiation is often neglected in climate models. In this study, we analyze its impact through a physical modeling of this process in the CNRM ARPEGE-Climat model. It mainly leads to surface LW radiation increases across Sahara, Sahel and Arabian Peninsula, resulting in daily minimum near-surface temperature rises. Other changes in atmospheric fields are also simulated.
Jingmin Li, Mattia Righi, Johannes Hendricks, Christof G. Beer, Ulrike Burkhardt, and Anja Schmidt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12727–12747, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12727-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12727-2024, 2024
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Aiming to understand underlying patterns and trends in aerosols, we characterize the spatial patterns and long-term evolution of lower tropospheric aerosols by clustering multiple aerosol properties from preindustrial times to the year 2050 under three Shared
Socioeconomic Pathway scenarios. The results provide a clear and condensed picture of the spatial extent and distribution of aerosols for different time periods and emission scenarios.
Socioeconomic Pathway scenarios. The results provide a clear and condensed picture of the spatial extent and distribution of aerosols for different time periods and emission scenarios.
Yueming Cheng, Tie Dai, Junji Cao, Daisuke Goto, Jianbing Jin, Teruyuki Nakajima, and Guangyu Shi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12643–12659, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12643-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12643-2024, 2024
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In March 2021, east Asia experienced an outbreak of severe dust storms after an absence of 1.5 decades. Here, we innovatively used the time-lagged ground-based aerosol size information with the fixed-lag ensemble Kalman smoother to optimize dust emission and reproduce the dust storm. This work is valuable for not only the quantification of health damage, aviation risks, and profound impacts on the Earth's system but also revealing the climatic driving force and the process of desertification.
Marc Mallet, Aurore Voldoire, Fabien Solmon, Pierre Nabat, Thomas Drugé, and Romain Roehrig
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12509–12535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12509-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12509-2024, 2024
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This study investigates the interactions between smoke aerosols and climate in tropical Africa using a coupled ocean–atmosphere–aerosol climate model. The work shows that smoke plumes have a significant impact by increasing the low-cloud fraction, decreasing the ocean and continental surface temperature and reducing the precipitation of coastal western Africa. It also highlights the role of the ocean temperature response and its feedbacks for the September–November season.
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