The significant impact of aerosol vertical structure on lower atmosphere stability and its critical role in aerosol–planetary boundary layer (PBL) interactions

Su, Tianning; Li, Zhanqing; Li, Chengcai; Li, Jing; Han, Wenchao; Shen, Chuanyang; Tan, Wangshu; Wei, Jing; Guo, Jianping

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3713-2020

Articles | Volume 20, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3713-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3713-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 6

Research article

|

27 Mar 2020

Research article |

| 27 Mar 2020

The significant impact of aerosol vertical structure on lower atmosphere stability and its critical role in aerosol–planetary boundary layer (PBL) interactions

Tianning Su, Zhanqing Li, Chengcai Li, Jing Li, Wenchao Han, Chuanyang Shen, Wangshu Tan, Jing Wei, and Jianping Guo

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Final revised paper (published on 27 Mar 2020)
Preprint (discussion started on 30 Sep 2019)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'comments', Anonymous Referee #2, 23 Nov 2019
- AC1: 'Response to the comments by Reviewer 2', Zhanqing Li, 11 Jan 2020
RC2: 'Comments on "The conclusive impact of aerosols vertical structure on low-atmosphere stability and its critical role in aerosol–PBL interaction"', Anonymous Referee #1, 25 Nov 2019
- AC2: 'Response to the comments by Reviewer 1', Zhanqing Li, 11 Jan 2020

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Zhanqing Li on behalf of the Authors (11 Jan 2020) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (13 Feb 2020) by Aijun Ding

AR by Zhanqing Li on behalf of the Authors (21 Feb 2020) Manuscript

Post-review adjustments

AA: Author's adjustment | EA: Editor approval

AA by Zhanqing Li on behalf of the Authors (24 Mar 2020) Author's adjustment Manuscript

EA: Adjustments approved (24 Mar 2020) by Aijun Ding

Short summary

We study the role of aerosol vertical distribution in thermodynamic stability and PBL development. Under different aerosol vertical structures, the diurnal cycles of PBLH and PM_2.5 show distinct characteristics. Large differences in the heating rate affect atmospheric buoyancy and stability differently under different aerosol structures. As a result, the aerosol–PBL interaction can be strengthened by the inverse aerosol structure and potentially neutralized by the decreasing structure.