Articles | Volume 18, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7709-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7709-2018
Research article
 | 
01 Jun 2018
Research article |  | 01 Jun 2018

How much of the global aerosol optical depth is found in the boundary layer and free troposphere?

Quentin Bourgeois, Annica M. L. Ekman, Jean-Baptiste Renard, Radovan Krejci, Abhay Devasthale, Frida A.-M. Bender, Ilona Riipinen, Gwenaël Berthet, and Jason L. Tackett

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Cited articles

Bender, F. A.-M., Engström, A., and Karlsson, J.: Factors Controlling Cloud Albedo in Marine Subtropical Stratocumulus Regions in Climate Models and Satellite Observations, J. Climate, 29, 3559–3587, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0095.1, 2016. a
Berrisford, P., Dee, D., Poli, P., Brugge, R., Fielding, K., Fuentes, M., Kallberg, P., Kobayashi, S., Uppala, S., and Simmons, A.: The ERA-Interim archive Version 2.0, ERA report series, 1, 1–16, 2011. a, b
Bourgeois, Q. and Bey, I.: Pollution transport efficiency toward the Arctic: Sensitivity to aerosol scavenging and source regions, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D08213, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD015096, 2011. a
Bourgeois, Q., Ekman, A. M. L., and Krejci, R.: Aerosol transport over the Andes from the Amazon Basin to the remote Pacific Ocean: A multiyear CALIOP assessment, J. Geophys. Res., 120, 8411–8425, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023254, 2015. a, b
Carrico, C. M., Petters, M. D., Kreidenweis, S. M., Sullivan, A. P., McMeeking, G. R., Levin, E. J. T., Engling, G., Malm, W. C., and Collett Jr., J. L.: Water uptake and chemical composition of fresh aerosols generated in open burning of biomass, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 5165–5178, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-5165-2010, 2010. a
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The altitude of aerosols is crucial as they can impact cloud formation and radiation. In this study, satellite observations have been used to characterize the global aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the boundary layer and the free troposphere. The free troposphere contributes 39 % to the global AOD during daytime. Overall, the results have implications for the description of budgets, sources, sinks and transport of aerosol particles as presently described in the atmospheric model.
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