Cloud, precipitation and radiation responses to large perturbations in global dimethyl sulfide

Fiddes, Sonya L.; Woodhouse, Matthew T.; Nicholls, Zebedee; Lane, Todd P.; Schofield, Robyn

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10177-2018

Articles | Volume 18, issue 14

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10177-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10177-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 14

Research article

|

17 Jul 2018

Research article |

| 17 Jul 2018

Cloud, precipitation and radiation responses to large perturbations in global dimethyl sulfide

Sonya L. Fiddes, Matthew T. Woodhouse, Zebedee Nicholls, Todd P. Lane, and Robyn Schofield

Data sets

Effects of dimethyl sulfide pertubations in ACCESSUKCA climate simulations v1.0 S. Fiddes https://doi.org/10.4225/41/5b35c03d52de9

CALIPSO-GOCCP CLlimServ ftp://ftp.climserv.ipsl.polytechnique.fr/cfmip/GOCCP/MapLowMidHigh/

EBAF-Surface Ed4.0 NASA https://doi.org/10.5067/Terra+Aqua/CERES/EBAF-Surface_L3B004.0

EBAF-TOA Ed4.0 NASA https://doi.org/10.5067/Terra+Aqua/CERES/EBAF-TOA_L3B004.0

TRMM (TMPA) Rainfall Estimate L3 3 hour 0.25 degree x 0.25 degree V7 Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) https://doi.org/10.5067/TRMM/TMPA/3H/7

Model code and software

FAIR – Finite Amplitude Impulse Response Model (multi-forcing version) (Version v1.3.2) C. Smith, R. Millar, Z. Nicholls, M. Allen, P. Forster, N. Leach, and L. Regayre https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1247898

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Short summary

The role of natural aerosol in the climate system is uncertain. A key contributor to marine aerosol is dimethyl sulfide (DMS), released by phytoplankton in the oceans. We study the effect of DMS on clouds and rain using a climate model with a detailed aerosol scheme. We show that DMS acts to reduce rainfall in cloud deck regions, leading to longer lived clouds and a large impact on solar energy reaching the surface. Further study of these areas will improve future climate projections.