Articles | Volume 15, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-8809-2015
© Author(s) 2015. 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-15-8809-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
12 Aug 2015
Research article |
| 12 Aug 2015
The anthropogenic contribution to atmospheric black carbon concentrations in southern Africa: a WRF-Chem modeling study
F. Kuik
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) Potsdam, Germany
Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) Potsdam, Germany
now at: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
J. P. Beukes
Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
P. G. Van Zyl
Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
M. Josipovic
Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
V. Vakkari
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
L. Laakso
Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
G. T. Feig
South African Weather Service, Pretoria, South Africa
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Christoffer Hallgren, Heiner Körnich, Stefan Ivanell, Ville Vakkari, and Erik Sahlée
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Manuel Schlund, Birgit Hassler, Axel Lauer, Bouwe Andela, Patrick Jöckel, Rémi Kazeroni, Saskia Loosveldt Tomas, Brian Medeiros, Valeriu Predoi, Stéphane Sénési, Jérôme Servonnat, Tobias Stacke, Javier Vegas-Regidor, Klaus Zimmermann, and Veronika Eyring
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Matti Räsänen, Mika Aurela, Ville Vakkari, Johan P. Beukes, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Pieter G. Van Zyl, Miroslav Josipovic, Stefan J. Siebert, Tuomas Laurila, Markku Kulmala, Lauri Laakso, Janne Rinne, Ram Oren, and Gabriel Katul
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5773–5791, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5773-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5773-2022, 2022
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The productivity of semiarid grazed grasslands is linked to the variation in rainfall and transpiration. By combining carbon dioxide and water flux measurements, we show that the annual transpiration is nearly constant during wet years while grasses react quickly to dry spells and drought, which reduce transpiration. The planning of annual grazing strategies could consider the early-season rainfall frequency that was linked to the portion of annual transpiration.
Constance K. Segakweng, Pieter G. van Zyl, Cathy Liousse, Johan P. Beukes, Jan-Stefan Swartz, Eric Gardrat, Maria Dias-Alves, Brigitte Language, Roelof P. Burger, and Stuart J. Piketh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10291–10317, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10291-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10291-2022, 2022
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A detailed size-resolved assessment of the chemical characteristics of outdoor and indoor aerosols collected in low-income urban settlements in South Africa indicated the significance of household combustion for cooking and space heating – an important source of pollutants in the developing world – to atmospheric chemical composition. The regional impact of industrial sources in the highly industrialised and densely populated north-eastern interior of South Africa was also evident.
Carlton Xavier, Metin Baykara, Robin Wollesen de Jonge, Barbara Altstädter, Petri Clusius, Ville Vakkari, Roseline Thakur, Lisa Beck, Silvia Becagli, Mirko Severi, Rita Traversi, Radovan Krejci, Peter Tunved, Mauro Mazzola, Birgit Wehner, Mikko Sipilä, Markku Kulmala, Michael Boy, and Pontus Roldin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10023–10043, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10023-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10023-2022, 2022
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The focus of this work is to study and improve our understanding of processes involved in the formation and growth of new particles in a remote Arctic marine environment. We run the 1D model ADCHEM along air mass trajectories arriving at Ny-Ålesund in May 2018. The model finds that ion-mediated H2SO4–NH3 nucleation can explain the observed new particle formation at Ny-Ålesund. The growth of particles is driven via H2SO4 condensation and formation of methane sulfonic acid in the aqueous phase.
Mathew Sebastian, Sobhan Kumar Kompalli, Vasudevan Anil Kumar, Sandhya Jose, S. Suresh Babu, Govindan Pandithurai, Sachchidanand Singh, Rakesh K. Hooda, Vijay K. Soni, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Ville Vakkari, Eija Asmi, Daniel M. Westervelt, Antti-Pekka Hyvärinen, and Vijay P. Kanawade
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4491–4508, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4491-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4491-2022, 2022
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Characteristics of particle number size distributions and new particle formation in six locations in India were analyzed. New particle formation occurred frequently during the pre-monsoon (spring) season and it significantly modulates the shape of the particle number size distributions. The contribution of newly formed particles to cloud condensation nuclei concentrations was ~3 times higher in urban locations than in mountain background locations.
Clémence Rose, Martine Collaud Coen, Elisabeth Andrews, Yong Lin, Isaline Bossert, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Thomas Tuch, Alfred Wiedensohler, Markus Fiebig, Pasi Aalto, Andrés Alastuey, Elisabeth Alonso-Blanco, Marcos Andrade, Begoña Artíñano, Todor Arsov, Urs Baltensperger, Susanne Bastian, Olaf Bath, Johan Paul Beukes, Benjamin T. Brem, Nicolas Bukowiecki, Juan Andrés Casquero-Vera, Sébastien Conil, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Olivier Favez, Harald Flentje, Maria I. Gini, Francisco Javier Gómez-Moreno, Martin Gysel-Beer, Anna Gannet Hallar, Ivo Kalapov, Nikos Kalivitis, Anne Kasper-Giebl, Melita Keywood, Jeong Eun Kim, Sang-Woo Kim, Adam Kristensson, Markku Kulmala, Heikki Lihavainen, Neng-Huei Lin, Hassan Lyamani, Angela Marinoni, Sebastiao Martins Dos Santos, Olga L. Mayol-Bracero, Frank Meinhardt, Maik Merkel, Jean-Marc Metzger, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Jakub Ondracek, Marco Pandolfi, Noemi Pérez, Tuukka Petäjä, Jean-Eudes Petit, David Picard, Jean-Marc Pichon, Veronique Pont, Jean-Philippe Putaud, Fabienne Reisen, Karine Sellegri, Sangeeta Sharma, Gerhard Schauer, Patrick Sheridan, James Patrick Sherman, Andreas Schwerin, Ralf Sohmer, Mar Sorribas, Junying Sun, Pierre Tulet, Ville Vakkari, Pieter Gideon van Zyl, Fernando Velarde, Paolo Villani, Stergios Vratolis, Zdenek Wagner, Sheng-Hsiang Wang, Kay Weinhold, Rolf Weller, Margarita Yela, Vladimir Zdimal, and Paolo Laj
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17185–17223, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17185-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17185-2021, 2021
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Aerosol particles are a complex component of the atmospheric system the effects of which are among the most uncertain in climate change projections. Using data collected at 62 stations, this study provides the most up-to-date picture of the spatial distribution of particle number concentration and size distribution worldwide, with the aim of contributing to better representation of aerosols and their interactions with clouds in models and, therefore, better evaluation of their impact on climate.
Anna Franck, Dmitri Moisseev, Ville Vakkari, Matti Leskinen, Janne Lampilahti, Veli-Matti Kerminen, and Ewan O'Connor
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7341–7353, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7341-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7341-2021, 2021
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We proposed a method to derive a convective boundary layer height, using insects in radar observations, and we investigated the consistency of these retrievals among different radar frequencies (5, 35 and 94 GHz). This method can be applied to radars at other measurement stations and serve as additional way to estimate the boundary layer height during summer. The entrainment zone was also observed by the 5 GHz radar above the boundary layer in the form of a Bragg scatter layer.
Martti Honkanen, Jens Daniel Müller, Jukka Seppälä, Gregor Rehder, Sami Kielosto, Pasi Ylöstalo, Timo Mäkelä, Juha Hatakka, and Lauri Laakso
Ocean Sci., 17, 1657–1675, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1657-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1657-2021, 2021
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The exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) between the sea and the atmosphere is regulated by the gradient of CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) between the sea and the air. The daily variation of the seawater pCO2 recorded at the fixed station Utö in the Baltic Sea was found to be mainly biologically driven. Calculation of the annual net exchange of CO2 between the sea and atmosphere based on daily measurements of pCO2 carried out using the same sampling time every day could introduce a bias of up to 12 %.
Philipp G. Eger, Luc Vereecken, Rolf Sander, Jan Schuladen, Nicolas Sobanski, Horst Fischer, Einar Karu, Jonathan Williams, Ville Vakkari, Tuukka Petäjä, Jos Lelieveld, Andrea Pozzer, and John N. Crowley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14333–14349, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14333-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14333-2021, 2021
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We determine the impact of pyruvic acid photolysis on the formation of acetaldehyde and peroxy radicals during summer and autumn in the Finnish boreal forest using a data-constrained box model. Our results are dependent on the chosen scenario in which the overall quantum yield and the photolysis products are varied. We highlight that pyruvic acid photolysis can be an important contributor to acetaldehyde and peroxy radical formation in remote, forested regions.
Christoffer Hallgren, Stefan Ivanell, Heiner Körnich, Ville Vakkari, and Erik Sahlée
Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 1205–1226, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-1205-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-1205-2021, 2021
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As wind power becomes more popular, there is a growing demand for accurate power production forecasts. In this paper we investigated different methods to improve wind power forecasts for an offshore location in the Baltic Sea, using both simple and more advanced techniques. The performance of the methods is evaluated for different weather conditions. Smoothing the forecast was found to be the best method in general, but we recommend selecting which method to use based on the forecasted weather.
Katja Weigel, Lisa Bock, Bettina K. Gier, Axel Lauer, Mattia Righi, Manuel Schlund, Kemisola Adeniyi, Bouwe Andela, Enrico Arnone, Peter Berg, Louis-Philippe Caron, Irene Cionni, Susanna Corti, Niels Drost, Alasdair Hunter, Llorenç Lledó, Christian Wilhelm Mohr, Aytaç Paçal, Núria Pérez-Zanón, Valeriu Predoi, Marit Sandstad, Jana Sillmann, Andreas Sterl, Javier Vegas-Regidor, Jost von Hardenberg, and Veronika Eyring
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3159–3184, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3159-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3159-2021, 2021
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This work presents new diagnostics for the Earth System Model Evaluation Tool (ESMValTool) v2.0 on the hydrological cycle, extreme events, impact assessment, regional evaluations, and ensemble member selection. The ESMValTool v2.0 diagnostics are developed by a large community of scientists aiming to facilitate the evaluation and comparison of Earth system models (ESMs) with a focus on the ESMs participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP).
Janne Lampilahti, Katri Leino, Antti Manninen, Pyry Poutanen, Anna Franck, Maija Peltola, Paula Hietala, Lisa Beck, Lubna Dada, Lauriane Quéléver, Ronja Öhrnberg, Ying Zhou, Madeleine Ekblom, Ville Vakkari, Sergej Zilitinkevich, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Tuukka Petäjä, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7901–7915, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7901-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7901-2021, 2021
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Using airborne measurements we observed increased number concentrations of sub-25 nm particles in the upper residual layer. These particles may be entrained into the well-mixed boundary layer and observed at the surface. We attribute our observations to new particle formation in the topmost part of the residual layer.
Stephanie Bohlmann, Xiaoxia Shang, Ville Vakkari, Elina Giannakaki, Ari Leskinen, Kari E. J. Lehtinen, Sanna Pätsi, and Mika Komppula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7083–7097, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7083-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7083-2021, 2021
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Measurements of the multi-wavelength Raman polarization lidar PollyXT and a Halo Photonics StreamLine Doppler lidar have been combined with measurements of pollen type and concentration using a traditional pollen trap at the rural forest site in Vehmasmäki, Finland. Depolarization ratios were measured at three wavelengths. High depolarization ratios were detected during an event with high birch and spruce pollen concentrations and a wavelength dependence of the depolarization ratio was observed.
Ville Vakkari, Holger Baars, Stephanie Bohlmann, Johannes Bühl, Mika Komppula, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, and Ewan James O'Connor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5807–5820, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5807-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5807-2021, 2021
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The depolarization ratio is a valuable parameter for aerosol categorization from remote sensing measurements. Here, we introduce particle depolarization ratio measurements at the 1565 nm wavelength, which is substantially longer than previously utilized wavelengths and enhances our capabilities to study the wavelength dependency of the particle depolarization ratio.
David Brus, Jani Gustafsson, Ville Vakkari, Osku Kemppinen, Gijs de Boer, and Anne Hirsikko
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 517–533, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-517-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-517-2021, 2021
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This paper summarizes Finnish Meteorological Institute and Kansas State University unmanned aerial vehicle measurements during the summer 2018 Lower Atmospheric Process Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE) campaign in the San Luis Valley, providing an overview of the rotorcraft deployed, payloads, scientific goals and flight strategies and presenting observations of atmospheric thermodynamics and aerosol and gas parameters in the vertical column.
Marta Wenta, David Brus, Konstantinos Doulgeris, Ville Vakkari, and Agnieszka Herman
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 33–42, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-33-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-33-2021, 2021
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Representations of the atmospheric boundary layer over sea ice are a challenge for numerical weather prediction models. To increase our understanding of the relevant processes, a field campaign was carried out over the sea ice in the Baltic Sea from 27 February to 2 March 2020. Observations included 27 unmanned aerial vehicle flights, four photogrammetry missions, and shore-based automatic weather station and lidar wind measurements. The dataset obtained is used to validate model results.
Manuel Schlund, Axel Lauer, Pierre Gentine, Steven C. Sherwood, and Veronika Eyring
Earth Syst. Dynam., 11, 1233–1258, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-1233-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-1233-2020, 2020
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As an important measure of climate change, the Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) describes the change in surface temperature after a doubling of the atmospheric CO2 concentration. Climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) show a wide range in ECS. Emergent constraints are a technique to reduce uncertainties in ECS with observational data. Emergent constraints developed with data from CMIP phase 5 show reduced skill and higher ECS ranges when applied to CMIP6 data.
Jan-Stefan Swartz, Pieter G. van Zyl, Johan P. Beukes, Corinne Galy-Lacaux, Avishkar Ramandh, and Jacobus J. Pienaar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10637–10665, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10637-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10637-2020, 2020
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Statistical modelling of interdependencies between local, regional and global parameters on long-term trends of atmospheric SO2, NO2 and O2 within proximity of the pollution hotspot in South Africa indicated that changes in meteorological conditions and/or variances in source influences contributed to temporal variability. The impact of increased anthropogenic activities and energy demand was evident, while the El Niño–Southern Oscillation made a significant contribution to O3 levels.
Axel Lauer, Veronika Eyring, Omar Bellprat, Lisa Bock, Bettina K. Gier, Alasdair Hunter, Ruth Lorenz, Núria Pérez-Zanón, Mattia Righi, Manuel Schlund, Daniel Senftleben, Katja Weigel, and Sabrina Zechlau
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 4205–4228, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4205-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4205-2020, 2020
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The Earth System Model Evaluation Tool is a community software tool designed for evaluation and analysis of climate models. New features of version 2.0 include analysis scripts for important large-scale features in climate models, diagnostics for extreme events, regional model and impact evaluation. In this paper, newly implemented climate metrics, emergent constraints for climate-relevant feedbacks and diagnostics for future model projections are described and illustrated with examples.
Paolo Laj, Alessandro Bigi, Clémence Rose, Elisabeth Andrews, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Martine Collaud Coen, Yong Lin, Alfred Wiedensohler, Michael Schulz, John A. Ogren, Markus Fiebig, Jonas Gliß, Augustin Mortier, Marco Pandolfi, Tuukka Petäja, Sang-Woo Kim, Wenche Aas, Jean-Philippe Putaud, Olga Mayol-Bracero, Melita Keywood, Lorenzo Labrador, Pasi Aalto, Erik Ahlberg, Lucas Alados Arboledas, Andrés Alastuey, Marcos Andrade, Begoña Artíñano, Stina Ausmeel, Todor Arsov, Eija Asmi, John Backman, Urs Baltensperger, Susanne Bastian, Olaf Bath, Johan Paul Beukes, Benjamin T. Brem, Nicolas Bukowiecki, Sébastien Conil, Cedric Couret, Derek Day, Wan Dayantolis, Anna Degorska, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Prodromos Fetfatzis, Olivier Favez, Harald Flentje, Maria I. Gini, Asta Gregorič, Martin Gysel-Beer, A. Gannet Hallar, Jenny Hand, Andras Hoffer, Christoph Hueglin, Rakesh K. Hooda, Antti Hyvärinen, Ivo Kalapov, Nikos Kalivitis, Anne Kasper-Giebl, Jeong Eun Kim, Giorgos Kouvarakis, Irena Kranjc, Radovan Krejci, Markku Kulmala, Casper Labuschagne, Hae-Jung Lee, Heikki Lihavainen, Neng-Huei Lin, Gunter Löschau, Krista Luoma, Angela Marinoni, Sebastiao Martins Dos Santos, Frank Meinhardt, Maik Merkel, Jean-Marc Metzger, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Nhat Anh Nguyen, Jakub Ondracek, Noemi Pérez, Maria Rita Perrone, Jean-Eudes Petit, David Picard, Jean-Marc Pichon, Veronique Pont, Natalia Prats, Anthony Prenni, Fabienne Reisen, Salvatore Romano, Karine Sellegri, Sangeeta Sharma, Gerhard Schauer, Patrick Sheridan, James Patrick Sherman, Maik Schütze, Andreas Schwerin, Ralf Sohmer, Mar Sorribas, Martin Steinbacher, Junying Sun, Gloria Titos, Barbara Toczko, Thomas Tuch, Pierre Tulet, Peter Tunved, Ville Vakkari, Fernando Velarde, Patricio Velasquez, Paolo Villani, Sterios Vratolis, Sheng-Hsiang Wang, Kay Weinhold, Rolf Weller, Margarita Yela, Jesus Yus-Diez, Vladimir Zdimal, Paul Zieger, and Nadezda Zikova
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4353–4392, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4353-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4353-2020, 2020
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The paper establishes the fiducial reference of the GAW aerosol network providing the fully characterized value chain to the provision of four climate-relevant aerosol properties from ground-based sites. Data from almost 90 stations worldwide are reported for a reference year, 2017, providing a unique and very robust view of the variability of these variables worldwide. Current gaps in the GAW network are analysed and requirements for the Global Climate Monitoring System are proposed.
Jill S. Johnson, Leighton A. Regayre, Masaru Yoshioka, Kirsty J. Pringle, Steven T. Turnock, Jo Browse, David M. H. Sexton, John W. Rostron, Nick A. J. Schutgens, Daniel G. Partridge, Dantong Liu, James D. Allan, Hugh Coe, Aijun Ding, David D. Cohen, Armand Atanacio, Ville Vakkari, Eija Asmi, and Ken S. Carslaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9491–9524, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9491-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9491-2020, 2020
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We use over 9000 monthly aggregated grid-box measurements of aerosol to constrain the uncertainty in the HadGEM3-UKCA climate model. Measurements of AOD, PM2.5, particle number concentrations, sulfate and organic mass concentrations are compared to 1 million
variantsof the model using an implausibility metric. Despite many compensating effects in the model, the procedure constrains the probability distributions of many parameters, and direct radiative forcing uncertainty is reduced by 34 %.
Veronika Eyring, Lisa Bock, Axel Lauer, Mattia Righi, Manuel Schlund, Bouwe Andela, Enrico Arnone, Omar Bellprat, Björn Brötz, Louis-Philippe Caron, Nuno Carvalhais, Irene Cionni, Nicola Cortesi, Bas Crezee, Edouard L. Davin, Paolo Davini, Kevin Debeire, Lee de Mora, Clara Deser, David Docquier, Paul Earnshaw, Carsten Ehbrecht, Bettina K. Gier, Nube Gonzalez-Reviriego, Paul Goodman, Stefan Hagemann, Steven Hardiman, Birgit Hassler, Alasdair Hunter, Christopher Kadow, Stephan Kindermann, Sujan Koirala, Nikolay Koldunov, Quentin Lejeune, Valerio Lembo, Tomas Lovato, Valerio Lucarini, François Massonnet, Benjamin Müller, Amarjiit Pandde, Núria Pérez-Zanón, Adam Phillips, Valeriu Predoi, Joellen Russell, Alistair Sellar, Federico Serva, Tobias Stacke, Ranjini Swaminathan, Verónica Torralba, Javier Vegas-Regidor, Jost von Hardenberg, Katja Weigel, and Klaus Zimmermann
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 3383–3438, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3383-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3383-2020, 2020
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The Earth System Model Evaluation Tool (ESMValTool) is a community diagnostics and performance metrics tool designed to improve comprehensive and routine evaluation of earth system models (ESMs) participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). It has undergone rapid development since the first release in 2016 and is now a well-tested tool that provides end-to-end provenance tracking to ensure reproducibility.
Mattia Righi, Bouwe Andela, Veronika Eyring, Axel Lauer, Valeriu Predoi, Manuel Schlund, Javier Vegas-Regidor, Lisa Bock, Björn Brötz, Lee de Mora, Faruk Diblen, Laura Dreyer, Niels Drost, Paul Earnshaw, Birgit Hassler, Nikolay Koldunov, Bill Little, Saskia Loosveldt Tomas, and Klaus Zimmermann
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1179–1199, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1179-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1179-2020, 2020
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This paper describes the second major release of ESMValTool, a community diagnostic and performance metrics tool for the evaluation of Earth system models. This new version features a brand new design, with an improved interface and a revised preprocessor. It takes advantage of state-of-the-art computational libraries and methods to deploy efficient and user-friendly data processing, improving the performance over its predecessor by more than a factor of 30.
Matti Räsänen, Mika Aurela, Ville Vakkari, Johan P. Beukes, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Pieter G. Van Zyl, Miroslav Josipovic, Stefan J. Siebert, Tuomas Laurila, Markku Kulmala, Lauri Laakso, Janne Rinne, Ram Oren, and Gabriel Katul
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-651, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-651, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
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The annual ET is approximately equal to precipitation during six measured years for grazed savanna grassland. The computed annual transpiration was highly constrained when rainfall was near or above the long-term mean but was reduced during severe drought year. The developed methodologies can be used in a wide range of arid and semi-arid ecosystems.
Arnaud P. Praplan, Toni Tykkä, Dean Chen, Michael Boy, Ditte Taipale, Ville Vakkari, Putian Zhou, Tuukka Petäjä, and Heidi Hellén
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 14431–14453, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14431-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14431-2019, 2019
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Our study shows that, despite our best efforts and recent progress, our knowledge of the chemical composition of the air under the canopy of a boreal forest still cannot be fully characterized. The discrepancy between the measured total reactivity of the air and the reactivity derived from the known chemical composition highlights the need to better understand the emissions from vegetation, but also other sources, such as the forest soil.
Simo Hakala, Mansour A. Alghamdi, Pauli Paasonen, Ville Vakkari, Mamdouh I. Khoder, Kimmo Neitola, Lubna Dada, Ahmad S. Abdelmaksoud, Hisham Al-Jeelani, Ibrahim I. Shabbaj, Fahd M. Almehmadi, Anu-Maija Sundström, Heikki Lihavainen, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Jenni Kontkanen, Markku Kulmala, Tareq Hussein, and Antti-Pekka Hyvärinen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10537–10555, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10537-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10537-2019, 2019
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Atmospheric aerosols have significant effects on human health and the climate. A large fraction of these aerosols originate from new particle formation, where atmospheric vapors form small nanosized particles that grow into larger sizes, thus becoming climatically relevant. We show that large amounts of fast-growing particles are formed frequently at a site located in western Saudi Arabia and that these particles are likely connected to strong nearby emissions from human activities.
Ville Vakkari, Antti J. Manninen, Ewan J. O'Connor, Jan H. Schween, Pieter G. van Zyl, and Eleni Marinou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 839–852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-839-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-839-2019, 2019
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Commercially available Doppler lidars have been proven to be efficient tools for studying winds and turbulence in the planetary boundary layer. However, in many cases low signal is still a limiting factor for utilising measurements by these devices. Here, we present a novel post-processing algorithm for Halo Stream Line Doppler lidars, which enables an improvement in sensitivity of a factor of 5 or more.
Tracey Leah Laban, Pieter Gideon van Zyl, Johan Paul Beukes, Ville Vakkari, Kerneels Jaars, Nadine Borduas-Dedekind, Miroslav Josipovic, Anne Mee Thompson, Markku Kulmala, and Lauri Laakso
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15491–15514, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15491-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15491-2018, 2018
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Surface O3 was measured at four sites in the north-eastern interior of South Africa, which revealed that O3 is a regional problem in continental South Africa, with elevated O3 levels found at rural background and industrial sites. Increased O3 concentrations were associated with high CO levels predominantly related to regional biomass burning, while the O3 production regime was established to be predominantly VOC limited. Increased O3 is associated with strong seasonality of precursor sources.
Ulpu Leijala, Jan-Victor Björkqvist, Milla M. Johansson, Havu Pellikka, Lauri Laakso, and Kimmo K. Kahma
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 2785–2799, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-18-2785-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-18-2785-2018, 2018
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The coastal flooding risks based on the combined effect of sea level variations and wind-generated waves are estimated for the present, 2050 and 2100. The variability of the wave conditions between the two case study locations in the Helsinki archipelago leads to a difference in the safe building levels of up to 1 m. The rising mean sea level in the Gulf of Finland and the uncertainty of the associated scenarios contribute to the flooding risks notably in 2100.
Tuomo Nieminen, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Tuukka Petäjä, Pasi P. Aalto, Mikhail Arshinov, Eija Asmi, Urs Baltensperger, David C. S. Beddows, Johan Paul Beukes, Don Collins, Aijun Ding, Roy M. Harrison, Bas Henzing, Rakesh Hooda, Min Hu, Urmas Hõrrak, Niku Kivekäs, Kaupo Komsaare, Radovan Krejci, Adam Kristensson, Lauri Laakso, Ari Laaksonen, W. Richard Leaitch, Heikki Lihavainen, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Zoltán Németh, Wei Nie, Colin O'Dowd, Imre Salma, Karine Sellegri, Birgitta Svenningsson, Erik Swietlicki, Peter Tunved, Vidmantas Ulevicius, Ville Vakkari, Marko Vana, Alfred Wiedensohler, Zhijun Wu, Annele Virtanen, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14737–14756, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14737-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14737-2018, 2018
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Atmospheric aerosols have diverse effects on air quality, human health, and global climate. One important source of aerosols is their formation via nucleation and growth in the atmosphere. We have analyzed long-term observations of regional new particle formation events around the globe and provide a comprehensive view on the characteristics of this phenomenon in diverse environments. The results are useful in developing more realistic representation of atmospheric aerosols in global models.
Heidi Hellén, Arnaud P. Praplan, Toni Tykkä, Ilona Ylivinkka, Ville Vakkari, Jaana Bäck, Tuukka Petäjä, Markku Kulmala, and Hannele Hakola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13839–13863, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13839-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13839-2018, 2018
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Exceptionally large ambient air concentration datasets of VOCs were measured in a boreal forest. For the first time concentration of the main sesquiterpene (β-caryophyllene) emitted by the local trees was also measured. Sesquiterpenes were found to have a major impact on local atmospheric chemistry, even though their concentrations were 30 times lower than the monoterpene concentrations. In addition, sesquiterpenes are expected to have a high impact on local secondary organic aerosol production.
Martti Honkanen, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Tuomas Laurila, Timo Mäkelä, Juha Hatakka, Sami Kielosto, and Lauri Laakso
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5335–5350, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5335-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5335-2018, 2018
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The exchange rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) between the atmosphere and the sea is typically small compared to the fluxes observed in the terrestrial ecosystems, causing technical challenges for the measurements of the CO2 sea–air fluxes. In this paper, we examine CO2 sea–air flux measurements carried out on a fixed station on an island. The problems generated by water vapor interference and unmet theoretical assumptions of the eddy covariance method are addressed.
Lauri Laakso, Santtu Mikkonen, Achim Drebs, Anu Karjalainen, Pentti Pirinen, and Pekka Alenius
Ocean Sci., 14, 617–632, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-617-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-617-2018, 2018
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Meteorological observations at Utö Atmospheric and Marine Research Station, the Baltic Sea, started in 1881 and seawater temperature and salinity observations in 1900. Based on the dataset of more than 100 years of observations, we see an increase in atmospheric temperature after the 1980s, in line with reduced sea ice cover. We also found an increase in seawater temperatures, modulated by changes in salinities. The results indicate that the climate at Utö may have shifted into a new phase.
Friderike Kuik, Andreas Kerschbaumer, Axel Lauer, Aurelia Lupascu, Erika von Schneidemesser, and Tim M. Butler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8203–8225, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8203-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8203-2018, 2018
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Modelled NOx concentrations are often underestimated compared to observations, and measurement studies show that reported NOx emissions in urban areas are often too low when the contribution from traffic is largest. This modelling study quantifies the underestimation of traffic NOx emissions in the Berlin–Brandenburg and finds that they are underestimated by ca. 50 % in the core urban area. More research is needed in order to more accurately understand real-world NOx emissions from traffic.
Andrea Mues, Axel Lauer, Aurelia Lupascu, Maheswar Rupakheti, Friderike Kuik, and Mark G. Lawrence
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2067–2091, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2067-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2067-2018, 2018
Axel Lauer, Colin Jones, Veronika Eyring, Martin Evaldsson, Stefan Hagemann, Jarmo Mäkelä, Gill Martin, Romain Roehrig, and Shiyu Wang
Earth Syst. Dynam., 9, 33–67, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-33-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-33-2018, 2018
Andrea Mues, Maheswar Rupakheti, Christoph Münkel, Axel Lauer, Heiko Bozem, Peter Hoor, Tim Butler, and Mark G. Lawrence
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8157–8176, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8157-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8157-2017, 2017
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Ceilometer measurements taken in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, were used to study the temporal and spatial evolution of the mixing layer height in the valley. This provides important information on the vertical structure of the atmosphere and can thus also help to understand the mixing of air pollutants (e.g. black carbon) in the valley. The seasonal and diurnal cycles of the mixing layer were found to be highly dependent on meteorology and mainly anticorrelated to black carbon concentrations.
Kgaugelo Euphinia Chiloane, Johan Paul Beukes, Pieter Gideon van Zyl, Petra Maritz, Ville Vakkari, Miroslav Josipovic, Andrew Derick Venter, Kerneels Jaars, Petri Tiitta, Markku Kulmala, Alfred Wiedensohler, Catherine Liousse, Gabisile Vuyisile Mkhatshwa, Avishkar Ramandh, and Lauri Laakso
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6177–6196, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6177-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6177-2017, 2017
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This paper presents atmospheric black carbon (BC) data collected in South Africa (SA). In general, BC level were higher than in the developed world. At one site, five sources were identified, with household combustion as well as savannah and grassland fires the most significant sources during winter and spring, while coal-fired power stations, pyrometallurgical smelters and traffic contributed year round.
Andrew D. Venter, Pieter G. van Zyl, Johan P. Beukes, Micky Josipovic, Johan Hendriks, Ville Vakkari, and Lauri Laakso
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4251–4263, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4251-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4251-2017, 2017
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Size-resolved trace metal concentrations were determined at a regional background site impacted by the major pollutant source regions in the interior of South Africa, which include a region holding a large number of pyrometallurgical smelters. ≥70% of trace metal species were in the smaller size fractions, indicating the influence of industrial activities, while the influence of wind-blown dust was reflected in the PM2.5–10 size fraction. Annual average Ni and As exceeded European standards.
Matti Räsänen, Mika Aurela, Ville Vakkari, Johan P. Beukes, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Pieter G. Van Zyl, Miroslav Josipovic, Andrew D. Venter, Kerneels Jaars, Stefan J. Siebert, Tuomas Laurila, Janne Rinne, and Lauri Laakso
Biogeosciences, 14, 1039–1054, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1039-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1039-2017, 2017
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This study presents measurements of carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and a grazed savanna grassland ecosystem for 3 years. We find that the yearly variation in carbon dioxide balance is largely determined by the changes in the early wet season balance (September to November) and in the mid-growing season balance (December to January).
Kerneels Jaars, Pieter G. van Zyl, Johan P. Beukes, Heidi Hellén, Ville Vakkari, Micky Josipovic, Andrew D. Venter, Matti Räsänen, Leandra Knoetze, Dirk P. Cilliers, Stefan J. Siebert, Markku Kulmala, Janne Rinne, Alex Guenther, Lauri Laakso, and Hannele Hakola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 15665–15688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15665-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15665-2016, 2016
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Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) – important in tropospheric ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation – were measured at a savannah grassland in South Africa. Results presented are the most extensive for this type of landscape. Compared to other parts of the world, monoterpene levels were similar, while very low isoprene levels led to significantly lower total BVOC levels. BVOC levels were an order of magnitude lower compared to anthropogenic VOC levels measured at Welgegund.
Friderike Kuik, Axel Lauer, Galina Churkina, Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon, Daniel Fenner, Kathleen A. Mar, and Tim M. Butler
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 4339–4363, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-4339-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-4339-2016, 2016
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The study evaluates the performance of a setup of the Weather Research and Forecasting model with chemistry and aerosols (WRF–Chem) for the Berlin–Brandenburg region of Germany. Its sensitivity to updating urban input parameters based on structural data for Berlin is tested, specifying land use classes on a sub-grid scale, downscaling the original emissions to a resolution of ca. 1 km by 1 km for Berlin based on proxy data and model resolution.
Carolina Cavazos Guerra, Axel Lauer, Andreas B. Herber, Tim M. Butler, Annette Rinke, and Klaus Dethloff
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2016-942, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2016-942, 2016
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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Accurate description of the Arctic atmosphere is a challenge for the modelling comunity. We evaluate the performance of the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) in the Eurasian Arctic and analyse the implications of data to initialise the model and a land surface scheme. The results show that biases can be related to the quality of data used and in the case of black carbon concentrations, to emission data. More long term measurements are need for model Validation in the area.
Elina Giannakaki, Pieter G. van Zyl, Detlef Müller, Dimitris Balis, and Mika Komppula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 8109–8123, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8109-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8109-2016, 2016
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Optical and microphysical properties of different aerosol types over South Africa measured with a multi-wavelength polarization Raman lidar are presented. Aerosol characterization of elevated layers was performed. This study could assist in bridging existing gaps relating to aerosol properties over South Africa.
Simone Dietmüller, Patrick Jöckel, Holger Tost, Markus Kunze, Catrin Gellhorn, Sabine Brinkop, Christine Frömming, Michael Ponater, Benedikt Steil, Axel Lauer, and Johannes Hendricks
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 2209–2222, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-2209-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-2209-2016, 2016
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Four new radiation related submodels (RAD, AEROPT, CLOUDOPT, and ORBIT) are available within the MESSy framework now. They are largely based on the original radiation scheme of ECHAM5. RAD simulates radiative transfer, AEROPT calculates aerosol optical properties, CLOUDOPT calculates cloud optical properties, and ORBIT is responsible for Earth orbit calculations. Multiple diagnostic calls of the radiation routine are possible, so radiative forcing can be calculated during the model simulation.
Fanni Mylläri, Eija Asmi, Tatu Anttila, Erkka Saukko, Ville Vakkari, Liisa Pirjola, Risto Hillamo, Tuomas Laurila, Anna Häyrinen, Jani Rautiainen, Heikki Lihavainen, Ewan O'Connor, Ville Niemelä, Jorma Keskinen, Miikka Dal Maso, and Topi Rönkkö
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 7485–7496, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7485-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7485-2016, 2016
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The primary emissions of a coal-fired power plant were highly affected by the flue-gas cleaning technologies. The primary emission results were used as input values for a Gaussian plume model and the model correlated well with the atmospheric measurements from the flue-gas plume. Concentrations of newly formed particles in the flue gas plume were higher than the primary particle concentration, and thus the source of particle-forming precursors should be characterized in more detail.
Veronika Eyring, Mattia Righi, Axel Lauer, Martin Evaldsson, Sabrina Wenzel, Colin Jones, Alessandro Anav, Oliver Andrews, Irene Cionni, Edouard L. Davin, Clara Deser, Carsten Ehbrecht, Pierre Friedlingstein, Peter Gleckler, Klaus-Dirk Gottschaldt, Stefan Hagemann, Martin Juckes, Stephan Kindermann, John Krasting, Dominik Kunert, Richard Levine, Alexander Loew, Jarmo Mäkelä, Gill Martin, Erik Mason, Adam S. Phillips, Simon Read, Catherine Rio, Romain Roehrig, Daniel Senftleben, Andreas Sterl, Lambertus H. van Ulft, Jeremy Walton, Shiyu Wang, and Keith D. Williams
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 1747–1802, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1747-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1747-2016, 2016
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A community diagnostics and performance metrics tool for the evaluation of Earth system models (ESMs) in CMIP has been developed that allows for routine comparison of single or multiple models, either against predecessor versions or against observations.
Holger Baars, Thomas Kanitz, Ronny Engelmann, Dietrich Althausen, Birgit Heese, Mika Komppula, Jana Preißler, Matthias Tesche, Albert Ansmann, Ulla Wandinger, Jae-Hyun Lim, Joon Young Ahn, Iwona S. Stachlewska, Vassilis Amiridis, Eleni Marinou, Patric Seifert, Julian Hofer, Annett Skupin, Florian Schneider, Stephanie Bohlmann, Andreas Foth, Sebastian Bley, Anne Pfüller, Eleni Giannakaki, Heikki Lihavainen, Yrjö Viisanen, Rakesh Kumar Hooda, Sérgio Nepomuceno Pereira, Daniele Bortoli, Frank Wagner, Ina Mattis, Lucja Janicka, Krzysztof M. Markowicz, Peggy Achtert, Paulo Artaxo, Theotonio Pauliquevis, Rodrigo A. F. Souza, Ved Prakesh Sharma, Pieter Gideon van Zyl, Johan Paul Beukes, Junying Sun, Erich G. Rohwer, Ruru Deng, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, and Felix Zamorano
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5111–5137, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5111-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5111-2016, 2016
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The findings from more than 10 years of global aerosol lidar measurements with Polly systems are summarized, and a data set of optical properties for specific aerosol types is given. An automated data retrieval algorithm for continuous Polly lidar observations is presented and discussed by means of a Saharan dust advection event in Leipzig, Germany. Finally, a statistic on the vertical aerosol distribution including the seasonal variability at PollyNET locations around the globe is presented.
Antti J. Manninen, Ewan J. O'Connor, Ville Vakkari, and Tuukka Petäjä
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 817–827, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-817-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-817-2016, 2016
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Current commercially available Doppler lidars provide a cost-effective solution for measuring vertical and horizontal wind velocities, and the co- and cross-polarised backscatter profiles. However, the background noise behaviour becomes a limiting factor for the instrument sensitivity in low aerosol load regions. In this paper we present a correction method which can improve the data availability up to 50 % and greatly improves the calculation of turbulent properties in weak signal regimes.
J.-V. Björkqvist, H. Pettersson, L. Laakso, K. K. Kahma, H. Jokinen, and P. Kosloff
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 5, 17–25, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-17-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-5-17-2016, 2016
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We identified a previously unknown artefact in the Datawell DWR-G4 wave buoy, which measures the GPS signal to resolve surface water waves. The artefact interferes with the part of the measurements containing information about the longer waves and must be removed to obtain accurate readings. We presented a correction method and found it to be accurate based on a comparison to measurements from a larger wave buoy that measures the movements of the device without using the GPS signal.
E. Asmi, V. Kondratyev, D. Brus, T. Laurila, H. Lihavainen, J. Backman, V. Vakkari, M. Aurela, J. Hatakka, Y. Viisanen, T. Uttal, V. Ivakhov, and A. Makshtas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1271–1287, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1271-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1271-2016, 2016
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Aerosol number size distributions were measured in Arctic Russia continuously during 4 years. The particles' seasonal characteristics and sources were identified based on these data. In early spring, elevated concentrations were detected during episodes of Arctic haze and during days of secondary particle formation. In summer, Siberian forests biogenic emissions had a significant impact on particle number and mass. These are the first such results obtained from the region.
E. W. Butt, A. Rap, A. Schmidt, C. E. Scott, K. J. Pringle, C. L. Reddington, N. A. D. Richards, M. T. Woodhouse, J. Ramirez-Villegas, H. Yang, V. Vakkari, E. A. Stone, M. Rupakheti, P. S. Praveen, P. G. van Zyl, J. P. Beukes, M. Josipovic, E. J. S. Mitchell, S. M. Sallu, P. M. Forster, and D. V. Spracklen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 873–905, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-873-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-873-2016, 2016
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We estimate the impact of residential emissions (cooking and heating) on atmospheric aerosol, human health, and climate. We find large contributions to annual mean ambient PM2.5 in residential sources regions resulting in significant but uncertain global premature mortality when key uncertainties in emission flux are considered. We show that residential emissions exert an uncertain global radiative effect and suggest more work is needed to characterise residential emissions climate importance.
A. D. Venter, J. P. Beukes, P. G. van Zyl, E.-G. Brunke, C. Labuschagne, F. Slemr, R. Ebinghaus, and H. Kock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10271–10280, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10271-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10271-2015, 2015
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Statistical techniques applied to continuous high-resolution Hg data and back-trajectory analyses showed lower GEM concentrations originating from the sparsely populated semi-arid interior of SA and the marine environment, whereas higher GEM concentrations coincided with trade routes and industrial activities along the coast. Multi-linear regression indicated the relation of GEM with other atmospheric parameters. Measured and MLR data confirm a decline in GEM concentrations at CPT GAW station.
Z. L. Lüthi, B. Škerlak, S.-W. Kim, A. Lauer, A. Mues, M. Rupakheti, and S. Kang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 6007–6021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6007-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6007-2015, 2015
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The Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau region (HTP) is regularly exposed to polluted air masses that might influence glaciers as well as climate on regional to global scales. We found that atmospheric brown clouds from South Asia reach the HTP by crossing the Himalayas not only through the major north--south river valleys but rather over large areas by being lifted and advected at mid-troposheric levels. The transport is enabled by a combination of synoptic and local meteorological settings.
E. Giannakaki, A. Pfüller, K. Korhonen, T. Mielonen, L. Laakso, V. Vakkari, H. Baars, R. Engelmann, J. P. Beukes, P. G. Van Zyl, M. Josipovic, P. Tiitta, K. Chiloane, S. Piketh, H. Lihavainen, K. E. J. Lehtinen, and M. Komppula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5429–5442, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5429-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5429-2015, 2015
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In this study we summarize 1 year of Raman lidar observations over South Africa. The analyses of lidar measurements presented here could assist in bridging existing gaps in the knowledge of vertical distribution of aerosols above South Africa, since limited long-term data of this type are available for this region. For the first time, we have been able to cover the full seasonal cycle on geometrical characteristics and optical properties of free tropospheric aerosol layers in the region.
A.-M. Sundström, A. Nikandrova, K. Atlaskina, T. Nieminen, V. Vakkari, L. Laakso, J. P. Beukes, A. Arola, P. G. van Zyl, M. Josipovic, A. D. Venter, K. Jaars, J. J. Pienaar, S. Piketh, A. Wiedensohler, E. K. Chiloane, G. de Leeuw, and M. Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 4983–4996, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4983-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4983-2015, 2015
V. Vakkari, E. J. O'Connor, A. Nisantzi, R. E. Mamouri, and D. G. Hadjimitsis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1875–1885, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1875-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1875-2015, 2015
J. Backman, A. Virkkula, V. Vakkari, J. P. Beukes, P. G. Van Zyl, M. Josipovic, S. Piketh, P. Tiitta, K. Chiloane, T. Petäjä, M. Kulmala, and L. Laakso
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 4285–4298, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4285-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4285-2014, 2014
K. Tsigaridis, N. Daskalakis, M. Kanakidou, P. J. Adams, P. Artaxo, R. Bahadur, Y. Balkanski, S. E. Bauer, N. Bellouin, A. Benedetti, T. Bergman, T. K. Berntsen, J. P. Beukes, H. Bian, K. S. Carslaw, M. Chin, G. Curci, T. Diehl, R. C. Easter, S. J. Ghan, S. L. Gong, A. Hodzic, C. R. Hoyle, T. Iversen, S. Jathar, J. L. Jimenez, J. W. Kaiser, A. Kirkevåg, D. Koch, H. Kokkola, Y. H Lee, G. Lin, X. Liu, G. Luo, X. Ma, G. W. Mann, N. Mihalopoulos, J.-J. Morcrette, J.-F. Müller, G. Myhre, S. Myriokefalitakis, N. L. Ng, D. O'Donnell, J. E. Penner, L. Pozzoli, K. J. Pringle, L. M. Russell, M. Schulz, J. Sciare, Ø. Seland, D. T. Shindell, S. Sillman, R. B. Skeie, D. Spracklen, T. Stavrakou, S. D. Steenrod, T. Takemura, P. Tiitta, S. Tilmes, H. Tost, T. van Noije, P. G. van Zyl, K. von Salzen, F. Yu, Z. Wang, Z. Wang, R. A. Zaveri, H. Zhang, K. Zhang, Q. Zhang, and X. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 10845–10895, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10845-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10845-2014, 2014
K. Jaars, J. P. Beukes, P. G. van Zyl, A. D. Venter, M. Josipovic, J. J. Pienaar, V. Vakkari, H. Aaltonen, H. Laakso, M. Kulmala, P. Tiitta, A. Guenther, H. Hellén, L. Laakso, and H. Hakola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 7075–7089, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7075-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7075-2014, 2014
K. Korhonen, E. Giannakaki, T. Mielonen, A. Pfüller, L. Laakso, V. Vakkari, H. Baars, R. Engelmann, J. P. Beukes, P. G. Van Zyl, A. Ramandh, L. Ntsangwane, M. Josipovic, P. Tiitta, G. Fourie, I. Ngwana, K. Chiloane, and M. Komppula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 4263–4278, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4263-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4263-2014, 2014
P. Tiitta, V. Vakkari, P. Croteau, J. P. Beukes, P. G. van Zyl, M. Josipovic, A. D. Venter, K. Jaars, J. J. Pienaar, N. L. Ng, M. R. Canagaratna, J. T. Jayne, V.-M. Kerminen, H. Kokkola, M. Kulmala, A. Laaksonen, D. R. Worsnop, and L. Laakso
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1909–1927, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1909-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1909-2014, 2014
A. I. Partanen, A. Laakso, A. Schmidt, H. Kokkola, T. Kuokkanen, J.-P. Pietikäinen, V.-M. Kerminen, K. E. J. Lehtinen, L. Laakso, and H. Korhonen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 12059–12071, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12059-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12059-2013, 2013
A. Hirsikko, V. Vakkari, P. Tiitta, J. Hatakka, V.-M. Kerminen, A.-M. Sundström, J. P. Beukes, H. E. Manninen, M. Kulmala, and L. Laakso
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 5523–5532, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5523-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5523-2013, 2013
V. Vakkari, J. P. Beukes, H. Laakso, D. Mabaso, J. J. Pienaar, M. Kulmala, and L. Laakso
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 1751–1770, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1751-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1751-2013, 2013
L. Riuttanen, M. Dal Maso, G. de Leeuw, I. Riipinen, L. Sogacheva, V. Vakkari, L. Laakso, and M. Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-13-4289-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-13-4289-2013, 2013
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
J. Leppä, S. Gagné, L. Laakso, H. E. Manninen, K. E. J. Lehtinen, M. Kulmala, and V.-M. Kerminen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 463–486, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-463-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-463-2013, 2013
A.-P. Hyvärinen, V. Vakkari, L. Laakso, R. K. Hooda, V. P. Sharma, T. S. Panwar, J. P. Beukes, P. G. van Zyl, M. Josipovic, R. M. Garland, M. O. Andreae, U. Pöschl, and A. Petzold
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 81–90, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-81-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-81-2013, 2013
V.-M. Kerminen, M. Paramonov, T. Anttila, I. Riipinen, C. Fountoukis, H. Korhonen, E. Asmi, L. Laakso, H. Lihavainen, E. Swietlicki, B. Svenningsson, A. Asmi, S. N. Pandis, M. Kulmala, and T. Petäjä
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 12037–12059, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-12037-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-12037-2012, 2012
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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Short summary
The numerical model WRF-Chem is used to estimate the contribution of anthropogenic emissions to BC, aerosol optical depth and atmospheric heating rates over southern Africa. An evaluation of the model with observational data including long-term BC measurements shows that the basic meteorology is reproduced reasonably well but simulated near-surface BC concentrations are underestimated by up to 50%. It is found that up to 100% of the BC in highly industrialized regions is of anthropogenic origin.
The numerical model WRF-Chem is used to estimate the contribution of anthropogenic emissions to...
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