Evaluation of SO2, SO42− and an updated SO2 dry deposition parameterization in the United Kingdom Earth System Model

Hardacre, Catherine; Mulcahy, Jane P.; Pope, Richard J.; Jones, Colin G.; Rumbold, Steven T.; Li, Can; Johnson, Colin; Turnock, Steven T.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18465-2021

Articles | Volume 21, issue 24

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18465-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18465-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 21, issue 24

Research article

|

20 Dec 2021

Research article |

| 20 Dec 2021

Evaluation of SO₂, SO₄²⁻ and an updated SO₂ dry deposition parameterization in the United Kingdom Earth System Model

Catherine Hardacre, Jane P. Mulcahy, Richard J. Pope, Colin G. Jones, Steven T. Rumbold, Can Li, Colin Johnson, and Steven T. Turnock

Data sets

Introduction to the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and observed atmospheric composition change during 1972–2009 (http://ebas.nilu.no/) K. Tørseth, W. Aas, K. Breivik, A. M. Fjæraa, M. Fiebig, A. G. Hjellbrekke, C. Lund Myhre, S. Solberg, and K. E. Yttri https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-5447-2012

MOHC UKESM1.0-LL model output prepared for CMIP6 CMIP historical CMIP historical Y. Tang, S. Rumbold, R. Ellis, D. Kelley, J. Mulcahy, A. Sellar, J. Walton, and C. Jones https://doi.org/10.22033/ESGF/CMIP6.6113

WCRP CMIP6 ESGF Node Earth System CoG sponsors and partners https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/projects/cmip6/

Model code and software

RoseCylc NCAS Computational Modelling services NCAS Computational Modelling Services http://cms.ncas.ac.uk/wiki/RoseCylc

Short summary

We investigate UKESM1's ability to represent the sulfur (S) cycle in the recent historical period. The S cycle is a key driver of historical radiative forcing. Earth system models such as UKESM1 should represent the S cycle well so that we can have confidence in their projections of future climate. We compare UKESM1 to observations of sulfur compounds, finding that the model generally performs well. We also identify areas for UKESM1’s development, focussing on how SO₂ is removed from the air.