Articles | Volume 24, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2077-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2077-2024
Research article
 | 
19 Feb 2024
Research article |  | 19 Feb 2024

How well do Earth system models reproduce the observed aerosol response to rapid emission reductions? A COVID-19 case study

Ruth A. R. Digby, Nathan P. Gillett, Adam H. Monahan, Knut von Salzen, Antonis Gkikas, Qianqian Song, and Zhibo Zhang

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Cited articles

Acharya, P., Barik, G., Gayen, B. K., Bar, S., Maiti, A., Sarkar, A., Ghosh, S., De, S. K., and Sreekesh, S.: Revisiting the Levels of Aerosol Optical Depth in South-Southeast Asia, Europe and USA amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Satellite Observations, Environ. Res., 193, 110514, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110514, 2021. a, b
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Al-Abadleh, H. A., Lysy, M., Neil, L., Patel, P., Mohammed, W., and Khalaf, Y.: Rigorous Quantification of Statistical Significance of the COVID-19 Lockdown Effect on Air Quality: The Case from Ground-Based Measurements in Ontario, Canada, J. Hazard. Mat., 413, 125445, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125445, 2021. a
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The COVID-19 lockdowns reduced aerosol emissions. We ask whether these reductions affected regional aerosol optical depth (AOD) and compare the observed changes to predictions from Earth system models. Only India has an observed AOD reduction outside of typical variability. Models overestimate the response in some regions, but when key biases have been addressed, the agreement is improved. Our results suggest that current models can realistically predict the effects of future emission changes.
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