Articles | Volume 20, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1901-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1901-2020
Research article
 | 
20 Feb 2020
Research article |  | 20 Feb 2020

Modeling the global radiative effect of brown carbon: a potentially larger heating source in the tropical free troposphere than black carbon

Aoxing Zhang, Yuhang Wang, Yuzhong Zhang, Rodney J. Weber, Yongjia Song, Ziming Ke, and Yufei Zou

Related authors

Duff burning from wildfires in a moist region: different impacts on PM2.5 and ozone
Aoxing Zhang, Yongqiang Liu, Scott Goodrick, and Marcus D. Williams
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 597–624, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-597-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-597-2022, 2022
Short summary

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
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
Short summary
Modeling urban pollutant transport at multiple resolutions: impacts of turbulent mixing
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
Short summary
Regional variability of aerosol impacts on clouds and radiation in global kilometer-scale simulations
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
Short summary
A novel method to quantify the uncertainty contribution of aerosol–radiation interaction factors
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
Short summary
Exploring the aerosol activation properties in coastal shallow convection using cloud- and particle-resolving models
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
Short summary

Cited articles

Akagi, S. K., Yokelson, R. J., Wiedinmyer, C., Alvarado, M. J., Reid, J. S., Karl, T., Crounse, J. D., and Wennberg, P. O.: Emission factors for open and domestic biomass burning for use in atmospheric models, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4039–4072, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-4039-2011, 2011. 
Alexander, D. T., Crozier, P. A., and Anderson, J. R.: Brown carbon spheres in East Asian outflow and their optical properties, Science, 321, 833–836, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1155296, 2008. 
Allen, R. J., Sherwood, S. C., Norris, J. R., and Zender, C. S.: Recent Northern Hemisphere tropical expansion primarily driven by black carbon and tropospheric ozone, Nature, 485, 350–354, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11097, 2012. 
Ångström, A.: The parameters of atmospheric turbidity, Tellus, 16, 64–75, 1964. 
Barth, M. C., Cantrell, C. A., Brune, W. H., Rutledge, S. A., Crawford, J. H., Huntrieser, H., Carey, L. D., MacGorman, D., Weisman, M., Pickering, K. E., and Bruning, E.: The deep convective clouds and chemistry (DC3) field campaign, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 96, 1281–1309, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00290.1, 2015. 
Download
Short summary
Black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) are light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols. We developed a module to simulate the emissions, atmospheric processing and direct radiative effect of BrC in the Community Earth System Model (CESM). We found that globally BrC is a significant absorber and is more centered in the tropical free troposphere compared to BC. The contribution of BrC heating to the Hadley circulation and latitudinal expansion of the tropics is comparable to BC heating.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint