Articles | Volume 22, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11065-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11065-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
31 Aug 2022
Research article |
| 31 Aug 2022
| 31 Aug 2022
A decadal assessment of the climatology of aerosol and cloud properties over South Africa
Abdulaziz Tunde Yakubu
Discipline of Physics, School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa
Naven Chetty
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Discipline of Physics, School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa
Related authors
Abdulaziz T. Yakubu, Danitza Klopper, Henno Havenga, Roelof Burger, Paola Formenti, and Stuart J. Piketh
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1827, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1827, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Low-level inversions experienced along the Namibia coast and adjacent ocean have implications for air pollutant dispersion and low clouds. These affect air quality, human health, radiative forcing and climate change. We used reanalysis and satellite datasets to understand inversion properties over the region. The result shows inversion prominence at night and in winter, seasonally influences pollutant trapping and initiates stratocumulus clouds formation, but is not liable for their extent.
Abdulaziz T. Yakubu, Danitza Klopper, Henno Havenga, Roelof Burger, Paola Formenti, and Stuart J. Piketh
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1827, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1827, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Low-level inversions experienced along the Namibia coast and adjacent ocean have implications for air pollutant dispersion and low clouds. These affect air quality, human health, radiative forcing and climate change. We used reanalysis and satellite datasets to understand inversion properties over the region. The result shows inversion prominence at night and in winter, seasonally influences pollutant trapping and initiates stratocumulus clouds formation, but is not liable for their extent.
Cited articles
Abdou, W. A., Diner, D. J., Martonchik, J. V., Bruegge, C. J., Kahn, R. A., Gaitley, B. J., Crean, K. A., Remer, L. A., and Holben, B.: Comparison of coincident Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aerosol optical depths over land and ocean scenes containing Aerosol Robotic Network sites, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D10S07, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004jd004693, 2005. a, b
Ackerman, A. S., Toon, O. B., Stevens, D. E., Heymsfield, A. J., Ramanathan, V., and Welton, E. J.: Reduction of Tropical Cloudiness by Soot, Science, 288, 1042–1047, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.288.5468.1042, 2000. a
Albrecht, B. A.: Aerosols, Cloud Microphysics, and Fractional Cloudiness, Science, 245, 1227–1230, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.245.4923.1227, 1989. a, b, c
Alizadeh-Choobari, O. and Gharaylou, M.: Aerosol impacts on radiative and microphysical properties of clouds and precipitation formation, Atmos. Res., 185, 53–64, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2016.10.021, 2017. a
Chen, Y.-C., Xue, L., Lebo, Z. J., Wang, H., Rasmussen, R. M., and Seinfeld, J. H.: A comprehensive numerical study of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in marine stratocumulus, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 9749–9769, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-9749-2011, 2011. a
Chen, Y.-C., Christensen, M. W., Xue, L., Sorooshian, A., Stephens, G. L., Rasmussen, R. M., and Seinfeld, J. H.: Occurrence of lower cloud albedo in ship tracks, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 8223–8235, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-8223-2012, 2012. a
Chen, Y.-C., Christensen, M. W., Diner, D. J., and Garay, M. J.: Aerosol-cloud interactions in ship tracks using Terra MODIS/MISR, J. Geophys. Res., 120, 2819–2833, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014jd022736, 2015. a, b, c
Christensen, M. W. and Stephens, G. L.: Microphysical and macrophysical responses of marine stratocumulus polluted by underlying ships: 2. Impacts of haze on precipitating clouds, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D11203, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011jd017125, 2012. a, b, c
Costantino, L. and Bréon, F.-M.: Aerosol indirect effect on warm clouds over South-East Atlantic, from co-located MODIS and CALIPSO observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 69–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-69-2013, 2013. a
de Meij, A. and Lelieveld, J.: Evaluating aerosol optical properties observed by ground-based and satellite remote sensing over the Mediterranean and the Middle East in 2006, Atmos. Res., 99, 415–433, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2010.11.005, 2011. a
Diner, D. J., Beckert, J. C., Reilly, T. H., Bruegge, C. J., Conel, J. E., Kahn, R. A., Martonchik, J. V., Ackerman, T. P., Davies, R., Gerstl, S. A. W., Gordon, H. R., Muller, J. P., Myneni, R. B., Sellers, P. J., Pinty, B., and Verstraete, M. M.: Multiangle Image Spectroradiometer (MISR) instrument description and experiment overview, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 36, 1072–1087, https://doi.org/10.1109/36.700992, 1998. a
Fan, J., Leung, L. R., Rosenfeld, D., Chen, Q., Li, Z., Zhang, J., and Yan, H.: Microphysical effects determine macrophysical response for aerosol impacts on deep convective clouds, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110, E4581–E4590, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1316830110, 2013. a
Fan, J. W., Leung, L. R., Li, Z. Q., Morrison, H., Chen, H. B., Zhou, Y. Q., Qian, Y., and Wang, Y.: Aerosol impacts on clouds and precipitation in eastern China: Results from bin and bulk microphysics, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D00K36, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011jd016537, 2012. a
Feingold, G., Hill, A. A., and Jiang, H.: The Influence of Entrainment and Mixing Assumption on Aerosol–Cloud Interactions in Marine Stratocumulus, J. Atmos. Sci., 66, 1450–1464, https://doi.org/10.1175/2008jas2909.1, 2009. a
Formenti, P., Winkler, H., Fourie, P., Piketh, S., Makgopa, B., Helas, G., and Andreae, M. O.: Aerosol optical depth over a remote semi-arid region of South Africa from spectral measurements of the daytime solar extinction and the nighttime stellar extinction, Atmos. Res., 62, 11–32, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-8095(02)00021-2, 2002. a, b, c, d, e
Freiman, M. T. and Piketh, S. J.: Air transport into and out of the industrial Highveld region of South Africa, J. Appl. Meteorol., 42, 994–1002, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(2003)042<0994:Atiaoo>2.0.Co;2, 2003. a
Freud, E. and Rosenfeld, D.: Linear relation between convective cloud drop number concentration and depth for rain initiation, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 117, D02207, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011jd016457, 2012. a
Gryspeerdt, E., Stier, P., and Partridge, D. G.: Satellite observations of cloud regime development: the role of aerosol processes, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1141–1158, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1141-2014, 2014. a
Gustafson Jr., W. I., Berg, L. K., Easter, R. C., and Ghan, S. J.: The Explicit-Cloud Parameterized-Pollutant hybrid approach for aerosol–cloud interactions in multiscale modeling framework models: tracer transport results, Environ. Res. Lett., 3, 025005, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/3/2/025005, 2008. a
Haywood, J. and Boucher, O.: Estimates of the direct and indirect radiative forcing due to tropospheric aerosols: A review, Rev. Geophys., 38, 513–543, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999rg000078, 2000. a
HDFEOS: MOD Python and MISR Python, HDFEOS [code], https://hdfeos.org/zoo/, last access: March 2021. a
Ichoku, C., Remer, L. A., Kaufman, Y. J., Levy, R. C., Chu, D., Tanré, D., and Holben, B. N.: MODIS observation of aerosols and estimation of aerosol radiative forcing over Southern Africa during SAFARI 2000, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 8499, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002366, 2003. a
IPCC: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Forth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Report, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978 0521 88009-1, 2007. a
IPCC: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324, 2013. a, b, c
Jacobson, M. Z.: Investigating cloud absorption effects: Global absorption properties of black carbon, tar balls, and soil dust in clouds and aerosols, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 117, D06205, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011jd017218, 2012. a
Jiang, J. H., Su, H., Massie, S. T., Colarco, P. R., Schoeberl, M. R., and Platnick, S.: Aerosol-CO relationship and aerosol effect on ice cloud particle size: Analyses from Aura Microwave Limb Sounder and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer observations, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D20207, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009jd012421, 2009. a
Jones, T. A. and Christopher, S. A.: Statistical properties of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in South America, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 2287–2305, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-2287-2010, 2010. a
Kahn, R., Nelson, D., Garay, M., Levy, R., Bull, M., Diner, D., Martonchik, J., Paradise, S. R., Hansen, E., and Remer, L.: MISR Aerosol product attributes, and statistical comparisons with MODIS, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 47, 4095–4114, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2009.2023115, 2009. a
Kahn, R. A. and Gaitley, B. J.: An analysis of global aerosol type as retrieved by MISR, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 120, 4248–4281, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023322, 2015. a
Kahn, R. A., Gaitley, B. J., Garay, M. J., Diner, D. J., Eck, T. F., Smirnov, A., and Holben, B. N.: Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer global aerosol product assessment by comparison with the Aerosol Robotic Network, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D23209, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010jd014601, 2010. a, b
Kalashnikova, O. V., Garay, M. J., Martonchik, J. V., and Diner, D. J.: MISR Dark Water aerosol retrievals: operational algorithm sensitivity to particle non-sphericity, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2131–2154, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2131-2013, 2013. a
Koren, I., Remer, L. A., Altaratz, O., Martins, J. V., and Davidi, A.: Aerosol-induced changes of convective cloud anvils produce strong climate warming, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 5001–5010, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-5001-2010, 2010. a
Koren, I., Dagan, G., and Altaratz, O.: From aerosol-limited to invigoration of warm convective clouds, Science, 344, 1143–1146, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1252595, 2014. a
Kulmala, M., Asmi, A., Lappalainen, H. K., Carslaw, K. S., Pöschl, U., Baltensperger, U., Hov, Ø., Brenquier, J.-L., Pandis, S. N., Facchini, M. C., Hansson, H.-C., Wiedensohler, A., and O'Dowd, C. D.: Introduction: European Integrated Project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality interactions (EUCAARI) – integrating aerosol research from nano to global scales, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 2825–2841, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-2825-2009, 2009. a
Lebo, Z. J., Morrison, H., and Seinfeld, J. H.: Are simulated aerosol-induced effects on deep convective clouds strongly dependent on saturation adjustment?, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 9941–9964, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-9941-2012, 2012. a
Liu, Y., Wu, W., Jensen, M. P., and Toto, T.: Relationship between cloud radiative forcing, cloud fraction and cloud albedo, and new surface-based approach for determining cloud albedo, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 7155–7170, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-7155-2011, 2011. a
Lohmann, U. and Feichter, J.: Global indirect aerosol effects: a review, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 715–737, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-5-715-2005, 2005. a
Magi, B. I., Ginoux, P., Ming, Y., and Ramaswamy, V.: Evaluation of tropical and extratropical Southern Hemisphere African aerosol properties simulated by a climate model, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D14204, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008jd011128, 2009. a
Martonchik, J., Diner, D., Kahn, R., Gaitley, B., and Holben, B. N.: Comparison of MISR and AERONET aerosol optical depths over desert sites, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L16102, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL019807, 2004. a
Muller, R., Behrendt, T., Hammer, A., and Kemper, A.: A new algorithm for the satellite537 based retrieval of solar surface irradiance in spectral bands, Remote Sens.-Basel, 4, 622–647, 2012. a
Nair, P. R. and Moorthy, K. K.: Effects of changes in atmospheric water vapor content on physical properties of atmospheric aerosols at a coastal station, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phy., 60, 563–572, https://doi.org/10.1016/s1364-6826(98)00009-1, 1998. a
NASA: LARC MIL3MAE_4, NASA [data set], https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/ (last access: May 2021), 2021a. a
NASA: LAADS MOD08_M3, NASA [data set], https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/ (last access: May 2021), 2021b. a
Niu, F. and Li, Z.: Systematic variations of cloud top temperature and precipitation rate with aerosols over the global tropics, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 8491–8498, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-8491-2012, 2012. a, b
Piketh, S. J., Swap, R. J., Maenhaut, W., Annegam, H. J., and Formenti, P.: Chemical evidence of long-range atmospheric transport over southern Africa, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, 4817, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002jd002056, 2002. a
Pilinis, C., Seinfeld, J. H., and Grosjean, D.: Water content of atmospheric aerosols, Atmos. Environ. (1967), 23, 1601–1606, https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(89)90419-8, 1989. a, b
Quaas, J., Ming, Y., Menon, S., Takemura, T., Wang, M., Penner, J. E., Gettelman, A., Lohmann, U., Bellouin, N., Boucher, O., Sayer, A. M., Thomas, G. E., McComiskey, A., Feingold, G., Hoose, C., Kristjánsson, J. E., Liu, X., Balkanski, Y., Donner, L. J., Ginoux, P. A., Stier, P., Grandey, B., Feichter, J., Sednev, I., Bauer, S. E., Koch, D., Grainger, R. G., Kirkevåg, A., Iversen, T., Seland, Ø., Easter, R., Ghan, S. J., Rasch, P. J., Morrison, H., Lamarque, J.-F., Iacono, M. J., Kinne, S., and Schulz, M.: Aerosol indirect effects – general circulation model intercomparison and evaluation with satellite data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 8697–8717, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-8697-2009, 2009. a
Ramanathan, V., Crutzen, P. J., Kiehl, J. T., and Rosenfeld, D.: Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle, Science, 294, 2119–2124, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1064034, 2001. a
Rosenfeld, D., Kaufman, Y. J., and Koren, I.: Switching cloud cover and dynamical regimes from open to closed Benard cells in response to the suppression of precipitation by aerosols, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 2503–2511, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-2503-2006, 2006. a
Rosenfeld, D., Andreae, M. O., Asmi, A., Chin, M., de Leeuw, G., Donovan, D. P., Kahn, R., Kinne, S., Kivekäs, N., Kulmala, M., Lau, W., Schmidt, K. S., Suni, T., Wagner, T., Wild, M., and Quaas, J.: Global observations of aerosol-cloud-precipitation-climate interactions, Rev. Geophys., 52, 750–808, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013rg000441, 2014. a
SAWS: Daily-Precipitation/Temperature/Wind speed, SAWS [data set], https://www.weathersa.co.za/, last access: March 2017.
Shie, C. L., Tao, W. K., and Simpson, J.: A note on the relationship between temperature and water vapor over oceans, including sea surface temperature effects, Adv. Atmos. Sci., 23, 141–148, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-006-0014-5, 2006. a
Smirnov, A., Holben, B. N., Dubovik, O., Frouin, R., Eck, T. F., and Slutsker, I.: Maritime component in aerosol optical models derived from Aerosol Robotic Network data, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 108, D14033, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002jd002701, 2003. a
Smith, C. J., Bright, J. M., and Crook, R.: Cloud cover effect of clear-sky index distributions and differences between human and automatic cloud observations, Sol. Energy, 144, 10–21, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.12.055, 2017. a
Sorooshian, A., MacDonald, A. B., Dadashazar, H., Bates, K. H., Coggon, M. M., Craven, J. S., Crosbie, E., Hersey, S. P., Hodas, N., Lin, J. J., Negron Marty, A., Maudlin, L. C., Metcalf, A. R., Murphy, S. M., Padro, L. T., Prabhakar, G., Rissman, T. A., Shingler, T., Varutbangkul, V., Wang, Z., Woods, R. K., Chuang, P. Y., Nenes, A., Jonsson, H. H., Flagan, R. C., and Seinfeld, J. H.: A multi-year data set on aerosol-cloud-precipitation-meteorology interactions for marine stratocumulus clouds, Sci. Data, 5, 180026, https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.26, 2018. a
Stephens, G. L.: On the Relationship between Water-Vapor over the Oceans and Sea-Surface Temperature, J. Climate, 3, 634–645, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1990)003<0634:Otrbwv>2.0.Co;2, 1990. a
Stevens, B. and Feingold, G.: Untangling aerosol effects on clouds and precipitation in a buffered system, Nature, 461, 607–613, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08281, 2009. a
Ten Hoeve, J. E., Remer, L. A., and Jacobson, M. Z.: Microphysical and radiative effects of aerosols on warm clouds during the Amazon biomass burning season as observed by MODIS: impacts of water vapor and land cover, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 3021–3036, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-3021-2011, 2011. a
Twomey, S.: Influence of Pollution on Shortwave Albedo of Clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 34, 1149–1152, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1977)034<1149:Tiopot>2.0.Co;2, 1977. a, b, c
Wicking-Baird, M., De Villiers, M., and Dutkiewicz, R.: Cape Town brown haze study, Report 182, Energy Research Institute, University of Cape Town, https://open.uct.ac.za/handle/11427/23910 (last access: 23 August 2022), 1997. a
Witek, M. L., Garay, M. J., Diner, D. J., Bull, M. A., and Seidel, F. C.: New approach to the retrieval of AOD and its uncertainty from MISR observations over dark water, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 429–439, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-429-2018, 2018. a
Wood, R.: Cancellation of aerosol indirect effects in marine stratocumulus through cloud thinning, J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 2657–2669, https://doi.org/10.1175/Jas3942.1, 2007.
a
Wu, Z. J., Chen, J., Wang, Y., Zhu, Y. S., Liu, Y. C., Yao, B., Zhang, Y. H., and Hu, M.: Interactions between water vapor and atmospheric aerosols have key roles in air quality and climate change, Nat. Sci. Rev., 5, 452–454, https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwy063, 2018. a
Yakubu, A. T. and Chetty, N.: Optical properties of atmospheric aerosol over Cape Town, Western Cape of South Africa: Role of biomass burning, Atmósfera, 34, 395–416, https://doi.org/10.20937/ATM.52811, 2020.
a, b, c
Yang, X., Ferrat, M., and Li, Z.: New evidence of orographic precipitation suppression by aerosols in central China, Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 119, 17–29, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-012-0221-9, 2013. a
Zhao, T.-B.: Correlation between Atmospheric Water Vapor and Diurnal Temperature Range over China, Atmos. Ocean. Sci. Lett., 7, 369–379, https://doi.org/10.3878/j.issn.1674-2834.14.0005, 2014. a
Short summary
This study examined the source of atmospheric aerosols and their role in forming clouds and rainfall over South Africa. The research provided answers to the cause of low precipitation, mainly linked to drought and water shortages experienced over the region. Further insight into the cause of occasional flooding that occurs in other parts of the area is provided. Finally, the study described the relationship between aerosol–cloud precipitation based on observation over the region.
This study examined the source of atmospheric aerosols and their role in forming clouds and...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint