Arctic spring and summertime aerosol optical depth baseline from long-term observations and model reanalyses – Part 1: Climatology and trend

Xian, Peng; Zhang, Jianglong; O'Neill, Norm T.; Toth, Travis D.; Sorenson, Blake; Colarco, Peter R.; Kipling, Zak; Hyer, Edward J.; Campbell, James R.; Reid, Jeffrey S.; Ranjbar, Keyvan

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9915-2022

Articles | Volume 22, issue 15

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9915-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9915-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 15

Research article

|

03 Aug 2022

Research article |

| 03 Aug 2022

Arctic spring and summertime aerosol optical depth baseline from long-term observations and model reanalyses – Part 1: Climatology and trend

Peng Xian, Jianglong Zhang, Norm T. O'Neill, Travis D. Toth, Blake Sorenson, Peter R. Colarco, Zak Kipling, Edward J. Hyer, James R. Campbell, Jeffrey S. Reid, and Keyvan Ranjbar

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9915-2022-supplement

Data sets

Terra Product Descriptions: MCDAODHD The Naval Research Laboratory and the University of North Dakota/MODIS Adaptive Processing System (MODAPS) https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCDAODHD.NRT.061

Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Level 2 Aerosol parameters Verion 3 NASA https://doi.org/10.5067/TERRA/MISR/MIL2ASAE_L2.003-23

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 Aerosol Profile, V4-20 NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/LID_L2_05KMAPRO-STANDARD-V4-20

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 5 km Aerosol Layer Data, V4-20 NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/LID_L2_05KMALAY-STANDARD-V4-20

MERRA-2 tavgM_2d_aer_Nx: 2d, Monthly mean, Time-averaged, Single-Level, Assimilation, Aerosol Diagnostics V5.12.4 Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) https://doi.org/10.5067/FH9A0MLJPC7N

Short summary

The study provides baseline Arctic spring and summertime aerosol optical depth climatology, trend, and extreme event statistics from 2003 to 2019 using a combination of aerosol reanalyses, remote sensing, and ground observations. Biomass burning smoke has an overwhelming contribution to black carbon (an efficient climate forcer) compared to anthropogenic sources. Burning's large interannual variability and increasing summer trend have important implications for the Arctic climate.