Articles | Volume 16, issue 22
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14331-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14331-2016
Research article
 | 
17 Nov 2016
Research article |  | 17 Nov 2016

Observational evidence for aerosols increasing upper tropospheric humidity

Laura Riuttanen, Marja Bister, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Viju O. John, Anu-Maija Sundström, Miikka Dal Maso, Jouni Räisänen, Victoria A. Sinclair, Risto Makkonen, Filippo Xausa, Gerrit de Leeuw, and Markku Kulmala

Related authors

Long-range transport of biomass burning smoke to Finland in 2006
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

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
The role of refractive indices in measuring mineral dust with high-spectral-resolution infrared satellite sounders: application to the Gobi Desert
Perla Alalam, Fabrice Ducos, and Hervé Herbin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12277–12294, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12277-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12277-2024, 2024
Short summary
Influence of covariance of aerosol and meteorology on co-located precipitating and non-precipitating clouds over the Indo-Gangetic Plain
Nabia Gulistan, Khan Alam, and Yangang Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11333–11349, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11333-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11333-2024, 2024
Short summary
Light-absorbing black carbon and brown carbon components of smoke aerosol from DSCOVR EPIC measurements over North America and central Africa
Myungje Choi, Alexei Lyapustin, Gregory L. Schuster, Sujung Go, Yujie Wang, Sergey Korkin, Ralph Kahn, Jeffrey S. Reid, Edward J. Hyer, Thomas F. Eck, Mian Chin, David J. Diner, Olga Kalashnikova, Oleg Dubovik, Jhoon Kim, and Hans Moosmüller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10543–10565, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10543-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10543-2024, 2024
Short summary
The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015
Brian Harr, Bing Pu, and Qinjian Jin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8625–8651, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024, 2024
Short summary
California wildfire smoke contributes to a positive atmospheric temperature anomaly over the western United States
James L. Gomez, Robert J. Allen, and King-Fai Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6937–6963, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6937-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6937-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Andreae, M. O.: Correlation between cloud condensation nuclei concentration and aerosol optical thickness in remote and polluted regions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 543–556, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-543-2009, 2009.
Bister, M. and Kulmala, M.: Anthropogenic aerosols may have increased upper tropospheric humidity in the 20th century, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4577–4586, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-4577-2011, 2011.
Bonsignori, R.: The Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS): in-orbit performance assessment, Proc. SPIE 6744, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XI, 67440A, 2007.
Boucher, O., Randall, D., Artaxo, P., Bretherton, C., Feingold, G., Forster, P., Kerminen, V.-M., Kondo, Y., Liao, H., Lohmann, U., Rasch, P., Satheesh, S. K., Sherwood, S., Stevens, B., and Zhang, X. Y.: Clouds and Aerosols, in: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by: Stocker, T. F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor, M., Allen, S. K., Boschung, J., Nauels, A., Xia, Y., Bex, V., and Midgley, P. M., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 2013.
Buehler, S. A., Kuvatov, M., John, V. O., Milz, M., Soden, B. J., Jackson, D. L., and Notholt, J.: An upper tropospheric humidity data set from operational satellite microwave data, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D14110, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD009314, 2008.
Download
Short summary
Here we show observational evidence that aerosols increase upper tropospheric humidity (UTH) via changes in the microphysics of deep convection. Using remote sensing data over the ocean east of China in summer, we show that increased aerosol loads are associated with an UTH increase of 2.2 ± 1.5 in units of relative humidity. We show that humidification of aerosols or other meteorological covariation is very unlikely to be the cause for this result indicating relevance for the global climate.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint