Articles | Volume 24, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2985-2024
© Author(s) 2024. 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-24-2985-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Mar 2024
Research article |
| 07 Mar 2024
| 07 Mar 2024
Improved estimates of smoke exposure during Australia fire seasons: importance of quantifying plume injection heights
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Loretta J. Mickley
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Michelle L. Bell
School of Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Tianjia Liu
Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
Jenny A. Fisher
Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522, Australia
Maria Val Martin
School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
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The Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) provides hourly measurements of NO2. We use the chemical transport model to find how emissions, chemistry, and transport drive the changes in NO2 observed by GEMS at different times of the day. In winter, the chemistry plays a minor role, and high daytime emissions dominate the diurnal variation in NO2, balanced by transport. In summer, emissions, chemistry, and transport play an important role in shaping the diurnal variation in NO2.
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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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Wildfire smoke can travel thousands of kilometers, affecting air quality far from the fire itself. This study looks at how two key factors – how much smoke is emitted & how high it rises – affect how smoke spreads. Using data from a major 2008 Siberian wildfire, four computer models were tested. Results show that models often inject smoke too low & remove it too quickly, missing high-altitude smoke seen by satellites. Better estimates of smoke height are crucial to improve air quality forecasts.
Hemraj Bhattarai, Maria Val Martin, Stephen Sitch, David H. Y. Yung, and Amos P. K. Tai
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-804, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-804, 2025
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Wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, posing various risks. We explore how future climate conditions will influence global wildfire activity and carbon emissions by 2100. Using advanced computer modeling, we found that while some regions remain stable, boreal forests will see a major rise in burned area and emissions. These changes are driven by drier conditions and increased vegetation growth, highlighting the urgent need for better fire management strategies.
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Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8607–8624, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8607-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8607-2024, 2024
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Laura Hyesung Yang, Daniel J. Jacob, Ruijun Dang, Yujin J. Oak, Haipeng Lin, Jhoon Kim, Shixian Zhai, Nadia K. Colombi, Drew C. Pendergrass, Ellie Beaudry, Viral Shah, Xu Feng, Robert M. Yantosca, Heesung Chong, Junsung Park, Hanlim Lee, Won-Jin Lee, Soontae Kim, Eunhye Kim, Katherine R. Travis, James H. Crawford, and Hong Liao
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Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6271–6284, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6271-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6271-2023, 2023
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We use the GEOS-Chem model to better understand the magnitude and trend in free tropospheric NO2 over the contiguous US. Model underestimate of background NO2 is largely corrected by considering aerosol nitrate photolysis. Increase in aircraft emissions affects satellite retrievals by altering the NO2 shape factor, and this effect is expected to increase in future. We show the importance of properly accounting for the free tropospheric background in interpreting NO2 observations from space.
James Weber, James A. King, Katerina Sindelarova, and Maria Val Martin
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 3083–3101, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-3083-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-3083-2023, 2023
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The emissions of volatile organic compounds from vegetation (BVOCs) influence atmospheric composition and contribute to certain gases and aerosols (tiny airborne particles) which play a role in climate change. BVOC emissions are likely to change in the future due to changes in climate and land use. Therefore, accurate simulation of BVOC emission is important, and this study describes an update to the simulation of BVOC emissions in the United Kingdom Earth System Model (UKESM).
Amy Christiansen, Loretta J. Mickley, Junhua Liu, Luke D. Oman, and Lu Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14751–14782, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14751-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14751-2022, 2022
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Understanding tropospheric ozone trends is crucial for accurate predictions of future air quality and climate, but drivers of trends are not well understood. We analyze global tropospheric ozone trends since 1980 using ozonesonde and surface measurements, and we evaluate two models for their ability to reproduce trends. We find observational evidence of increasing tropospheric ozone, but models underestimate these increases. This hinders our ability to estimate ozone radiative forcing.
Maria Paula Pérez-Peña, Jenny A. Fisher, Dylan B. Millet, Hisashi Yashiro, Ray L. Langenfelds, Paul B. Krummel, and Scott H. Kable
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12367–12386, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12367-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12367-2022, 2022
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We used two atmospheric models to test the implications of previously unexplored aldehyde photochemistry on the atmospheric levels of molecular hydrogen (H2). We showed that the new photochemistry from aldehydes produces more H2 over densely forested areas. Compared to the rest of the world, it is over these forested regions where the produced H2 is more likely to be removed. The results highlight that other processes that contribute to atmospheric H2 levels should be studied further.
Xiaotian Xu, Xu Feng, Haipeng Lin, Peng Zhang, Shaojian Huang, Zhengcheng Song, Yiming Peng, Tzung-May Fu, and Yanxu Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 3845–3859, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-3845-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-3845-2022, 2022
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Mercury is one of the most toxic pollutants in the environment, and wet deposition is a major process for atmospheric mercury to enter, causing ecological and human health risks. High-mercury wet deposition in the southeastern US has been a problem for many years. Here we employed a newly developed high-resolution WRF-GC model with the capability to simulate mercury to study this problem. We conclude that deep convection caused enhanced mercury wet deposition in the southeastern US.
Ka Ming Fung, Maria Val Martin, and Amos P. K. Tai
Biogeosciences, 19, 1635–1655, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1635-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1635-2022, 2022
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Fertilizer-induced ammonia detrimentally affects the environment by not only directly damaging ecosystems but also indirectly altering climate and soil fertility. To quantify these secondary impacts, we enabled CESM to simulate ammonia emission, chemical evolution, and deposition as a continuous cycle. If synthetic fertilizer use is to soar by 30 % from today's level, we showed that the counteracting impacts will increase the global ammonia emission by 3.3 Tg N per year.
Andrew Zammit-Mangion, Michael Bertolacci, Jenny Fisher, Ann Stavert, Matthew Rigby, Yi Cao, and Noel Cressie
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 45–73, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-45-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-45-2022, 2022
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We present a framework for estimating the sources and sinks (flux) of carbon dioxide from satellite data. The framework is statistical and yields measures of uncertainty alongside all estimates of flux and other parameters in the underlying model. It also allows us to generate other insights, such as the size of errors and biases in the data. The primary aim of this research was to develop a fully statistical flux inversion framework for use by atmospheric scientists.
Kai Wang, Yang Zhang, Shaocai Yu, David C. Wong, Jonathan Pleim, Rohit Mathur, James T. Kelly, and Michelle Bell
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 7189–7221, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-7189-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-7189-2021, 2021
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The two-way coupled WRF-CMAQ model accounting for complex chemistry–meteorology feedbacks has been applied to the long-term predictions of regional meteorology and air quality over the US. The model results show superior performance and importance of chemistry–meteorology feedbacks when compared to the offline coupled WRF and CMAQ simulations, which suggests that feedbacks should be considered along with other factors in developing future model applications to inform policy making.
Lee T. Murray, Eric M. Leibensperger, Clara Orbe, Loretta J. Mickley, and Melissa Sulprizio
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 5789–5823, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5789-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5789-2021, 2021
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Chemical-transport models are tools used to study air pollution and inform public policy. However, they are limited by the availability of archived meteorology. Here, we describe how the GEOS-Chem chemical-transport model may now be driven by meteorology archived from a state-of-the-art general circulation model for past and future climates, allowing it to be used to explore the impact of climate change on air pollution and atmospheric composition.
Beata Bukosa, Jenny Fisher, Nicholas Deutscher, and Dylan Jones
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-173, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-173, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
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Human activities led to rising levels of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO)) in the atmosphere, threatening our future. We use models and measurements to predict and understand the climatological impact of these gases. Here, we describe a new simulation in the GEOS-Chem model that uses a more accurate method to simulate CO2, CH4 and CO, through their chemical dependence. Relative to the original simulations our results agree better with measurements.
Xu Feng, Haipeng Lin, Tzung-May Fu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Jiawei Zhuang, Daniel J. Jacob, Heng Tian, Yaping Ma, Lijuan Zhang, Xiaolin Wang, Qi Chen, and Zhiwei Han
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3741–3768, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3741-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3741-2021, 2021
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WRF-GC is an online coupling of the WRF meteorological model and GEOS-Chem chemical transport model for regional atmospheric chemistry and air quality modeling. In WRF-GC v2.0, we implemented the aerosol–radiation interactions and aerosol–cloud interactions, as well as the capability to nest multiple domains for high-resolution simulations based on the modular framework of WRF-GC v1.0. This allows the GEOS-Chem users to investigate the meteorology–atmospheric chemistry interactions.
Yang Li, Loretta J. Mickley, and Jed O. Kaplan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 57–68, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-57-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-57-2021, 2021
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Climate models predict a shift toward warmer, drier environments in southwestern North America. Under future climate, the two main drivers of dust trends play opposing roles: (1) CO2 fertilization enhances vegetation and, in turn, decreases dust, and (2) increasing land use enhances dust emissions from northern Mexico. In the worst-case scenario, elevated dust concentrations spread widely over the domain by 2100 in spring, suggesting a large climate penalty on air quality and human health.
Erik Lutsch, Kimberly Strong, Dylan B. A. Jones, Thomas Blumenstock, Stephanie Conway, Jenny A. Fisher, James W. Hannigan, Frank Hase, Yasuko Kasai, Emmanuel Mahieu, Maria Makarova, Isamu Morino, Tomoo Nagahama, Justus Notholt, Ivan Ortega, Mathias Palm, Anatoly V. Poberovskii, Ralf Sussmann, and Thorsten Warneke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12813–12851, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12813-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12813-2020, 2020
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This paper describes the use of a network of 10 Arctic and midlatitude ground-based FTIR measurement sites to detect enhancements of the wildfire tracers carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and ethane from 2003 to 2018. A tagged CO GEOS-Chem simulation is used for source attribution and to evaluate the relative contribution of CO sources to the FTIR measurements. The use of FTIR measurements allowed for the emission ratios of hydrogen cyanide and ethane to be quantified.
Yang Li, Loretta J. Mickley, Pengfei Liu, and Jed O. Kaplan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8827–8838, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8827-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8827-2020, 2020
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Using a coupled vegetation–fire–climate modeling framework, we show a northward shift in forests and increased lightning fire activity in northern US states, including Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Our findings suggest a large climate penalty on ecosystem, air quality, visibility, and human health in a region valued for its national forests and parks. The fine-scale smoke PM predictions provided in this study should prove useful to human health and environmental assessments.
Haipeng Lin, Xu Feng, Tzung-May Fu, Heng Tian, Yaping Ma, Lijuan Zhang, Daniel J. Jacob, Robert M. Yantosca, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Elizabeth W. Lundgren, Jiawei Zhuang, Qiang Zhang, Xiao Lu, Lin Zhang, Lu Shen, Jianping Guo, Sebastian D. Eastham, and Christoph A. Keller
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 3241–3265, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3241-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3241-2020, 2020
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Online coupling of meteorology and chemistry models often presents maintenance issues with hard-wired coding. We present WRF-GC, an one-way online coupling of the WRF meteorological model and GEOS-Chem atmospheric chemistry model for regional atmospheric chemistry and air quality modeling. Our coupling structure allows future versions of either parent model to be immediately integrated into WRF-GC. The WRF-GC model was able to well reproduce regional PM2.5 with greater computational efficiency.
Didier G. Leibovici, Shaun Quegan, Edward Comyn-Platt, Garry Hayman, Maria Val Martin, Mathieu Guimberteau, Arsène Druel, Dan Zhu, and Philippe Ciais
Biogeosciences, 17, 1821–1844, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1821-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1821-2020, 2020
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Analysing the impact of environmental changes due to climate change, e.g. geographical spread of climate-sensitive infections (CSIs) and agriculture crop modelling, may require land surface modelling (LSM) to predict future land surface conditions. There are multiple LSMs to choose from. The paper proposes a multivariate spatio-temporal data science method to understand the inherent uncertainties in four LSMs and the variations between them in Nordic areas for the net primary production.
Becky Alexander, Tomás Sherwen, Christopher D. Holmes, Jenny A. Fisher, Qianjie Chen, Mat J. Evans, and Prasad Kasibhatla
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3859–3877, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3859-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3859-2020, 2020
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Nitrogen oxides are important for the formation of tropospheric oxidants and are removed from the atmosphere mainly through the formation of nitrate. We compare observations of the oxygen isotopes of nitrate with a global model to test our understanding of the chemistry nitrate formation. We use the model to quantify nitrate formation pathways in the atmosphere and identify key uncertainties and their relevance for the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere.
Fang Li, Maria Val Martin, Meinrat O. Andreae, Almut Arneth, Stijn Hantson, Johannes W. Kaiser, Gitta Lasslop, Chao Yue, Dominique Bachelet, Matthew Forrest, Erik Kluzek, Xiaohong Liu, Stephane Mangeon, Joe R. Melton, Daniel S. Ward, Anton Darmenov, Thomas Hickler, Charles Ichoku, Brian I. Magi, Stephen Sitch, Guido R. van der Werf, Christine Wiedinmyer, and Sam S. Rabin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12545–12567, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12545-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12545-2019, 2019
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Fire emissions are critical for atmospheric composition, climate, carbon cycle, and air quality. We provide the first global multi-model fire emission reconstructions for 1700–2012, including carbon and 33 species of trace gases and aerosols, based on the nine state-of-the-art global fire models that participated in FireMIP. We also provide information on the recent status and limitations of the model-based reconstructions and identify the main uncertainty sources in their long-term changes.
Rachel F. Silvern, Daniel J. Jacob, Loretta J. Mickley, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Katherine R. Travis, Eloise A. Marais, Ronald C. Cohen, Joshua L. Laughner, Sungyeon Choi, Joanna Joiner, and Lok N. Lamsal
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8863–8878, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8863-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8863-2019, 2019
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The US EPA reports a steady decrease in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from fuel combustion over the 2005–2017 period, while satellite observations show a leveling off after 2009, suggesting emission reductions and related air quality gains have halted. We show the sustained decrease in NOx emissions is in fact consistent with observed trends in surface NO2 and ozone concentrations and that the flattening of the satellite trend reflects a growing influence from the non-anthropogenic background.
Beata Bukosa, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Jenny A. Fisher, Dagmar Kubistin, Clare Paton-Walsh, and David W. T. Griffith
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7055–7072, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7055-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7055-2019, 2019
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The carbon greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and CO) were proven to have a large impact on the global carbon cycle and our climate. To understand the variability of the carbon cycle and predict future climate change scenarios, we need to study the processes that drive the changes of these gases in the atmosphere. We study the sources and sinks of CO2, CH4 and CO with a combination of measurements and chemical transport modelling to identify missing, underestimated or overestimated sources in Australia.
Debra Wunch, Dylan B. A. Jones, Geoffrey C. Toon, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Frank Hase, Justus Notholt, Ralf Sussmann, Thorsten Warneke, Jeroen Kuenen, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Jenny A. Fisher, and Joannes D. Maasakkers
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 3963–3980, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3963-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3963-2019, 2019
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We used five atmospheric observatories in Europe measuring total column dry-air mole fractions of methane and carbon monoxide to infer methane emissions in the area between the observatories. We find that the methane emissions are overestimated by the state-of-the-art inventories, and that this is likely due, at least in part, to the inventory disaggregation. We find that there is significant uncertainty in the carbon monoxide inventories that requires further investigation.
Laura Gonzalez-Alonso, Maria Val Martin, and Ralph A. Kahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1685–1702, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1685-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1685-2019, 2019
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The vertical distribution of fire smoke and factors that control its rise had not yet been quantified across the Amazon. We developed a satellite-based long record of smoke plume heights. We find that smoke heights are driven by many factors: vegetation, seasonality, time of day, fire intensity, and atmospheric and drought conditions. Also, drought increases fire pollution, with implications for air quality. Policies to control fires may be crucial in the future as more droughts are projected.
Lu Shen, Daniel J. Jacob, Loretta J. Mickley, Yuxuan Wang, and Qiang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17489–17496, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17489-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17489-2018, 2018
Liye Zhu, Maria Val Martin, Luciana V. Gatti, Ralph Kahn, Arsineh Hecobian, and Emily V. Fischer
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4103–4116, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4103-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4103-2018, 2018
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The evolution of smoke depends acutely on where the smoke is injected into the atmosphere. This paper presents the development and implementation of a new global biomass burning emissions injection scheme for GEOS-Chem. The new scheme is based on monthly gridded Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) global plume-height stereoscopic observations in 2008.
Danny M. Leung, Amos P. K. Tai, Loretta J. Mickley, Jonathan M. Moch, Aaron van Donkelaar, Lu Shen, and Randall V. Martin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6733–6748, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6733-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6733-2018, 2018
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This paper investigates how large-scale weather systems control fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality in China. We show that winter monsoons, onshore winds and frontal rains can drive daily PM2.5 variability in different regions of China. We further project future PM2.5 concentration change by 2050s due to climate change, and verify that climate change has little benefit on future PM2.5 in Beijing, implying cutting down emissions is necessary to mitigate pollutions in megacities of China.
Jennifer Kaiser, Daniel J. Jacob, Lei Zhu, Katherine R. Travis, Jenny A. Fisher, Gonzalo González Abad, Lin Zhang, Xuesong Zhang, Alan Fried, John D. Crounse, Jason M. St. Clair, and Armin Wisthaler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5483–5497, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5483-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5483-2018, 2018
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Isoprene emissions from vegetation have a large effect on atmospheric chemistry and air quality. Here we use the adjoint of GEOS-Chem in an inversion of OMI formaldehyde observations to produce top-down estimates of isoprene emissions in the southeast US during the summer of 2013. We find that MEGAN v2.1 is biased high on average by 40 %. Our downward correction of isoprene emissions leads to a small reduction in modeled surface O3 and decreases the contribution of isoprene to organic aerosol.
Jingqiu Mao, Annmarie Carlton, Ronald C. Cohen, William H. Brune, Steven S. Brown, Glenn M. Wolfe, Jose L. Jimenez, Havala O. T. Pye, Nga Lee Ng, Lu Xu, V. Faye McNeill, Kostas Tsigaridis, Brian C. McDonald, Carsten Warneke, Alex Guenther, Matthew J. Alvarado, Joost de Gouw, Loretta J. Mickley, Eric M. Leibensperger, Rohit Mathur, Christopher G. Nolte, Robert W. Portmann, Nadine Unger, Mika Tosca, and Larry W. Horowitz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 2615–2651, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2615-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2615-2018, 2018
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This paper is aimed at discussing progress in evaluating, diagnosing, and improving air quality and climate modeling using comparisons to SAS observations as a guide to thinking about improvements to mechanisms and parameterizations in models.
Daniel H. Cusworth, Loretta J. Mickley, Eric M. Leibensperger, and Michael J. Iacono
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 13559–13572, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13559-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13559-2017, 2017
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Since 1990, light-scattering pollution known as aerosols have declined as a result of tightening US air quality regulations. Our study finds that US surface solar radiation has increased simultaneously. We establish a link between aerosols and radiation through physical and statistical models. We find the strongest relationship between aerosols, radiation, and climate at a site in the Midwest. Our work underscores the importance of regional pollution on climate in the US and abroad.
Jenny A. Fisher, Lee T. Murray, Dylan B. A. Jones, and Nicholas M. Deutscher
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 4129–4144, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-4129-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-4129-2017, 2017
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Carbon monoxide (CO) simulation in atmospheric chemistry models is used for source–receptor analysis, emission inversion, and interpretation of observations. We introduce a major update to CO simulation in the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model that removes fundamental inconsistencies relative to the standard model, resolving biases of more than 100 ppb and errors in vertical structure. We also add source tagging of secondary CO and demonstrate it provides added value in low-emission regions.
Dean Howard, Peter F. Nelson, Grant C. Edwards, Anthony L. Morrison, Jenny A. Fisher, Jason Ward, James Harnwell, Marcel van der Schoot, Brad Atkinson, Scott D. Chambers, Alan D. Griffiths, Sylvester Werczynski, and Alastair G. Williams
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 11623–11636, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11623-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11623-2017, 2017
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Mercury, a toxic metal, can be transported globally through the atmosphere, with deposition to ecosystems an important pathway to human exposure. 2 years of atmospheric mercury monitoring in tropical Australia supports recent evidence that Southern Hemisphere concentrations are lower than previously thought. Exchange between the atmosphere and ecosystems can take place on daily scales, with night deposition offset by morning re-emission. This could be an important transport pathway for mercury.
Jesse W. Greenslade, Simon P. Alexander, Robyn Schofield, Jenny A. Fisher, and Andrew K. Klekociuk
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10269–10290, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10269-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10269-2017, 2017
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An analysis of data from ozonesondes released at three southern oceanic sites shows the impact of stratospheric ozone in this region. Using a novel method of transport classification, this work estimates the seasonality and quantity of stratospherically sourced ozone. We find that ozone is transported most frequently in summer due to regional-scale low-pressure weather systems. We also estimate a stratospheric ozone source of 2.0–3.3 Tg/year over three Southern Ocean regions.
Christopher Chan Miller, Daniel J. Jacob, Eloise A. Marais, Karen Yu, Katherine R. Travis, Patrick S. Kim, Jenny A. Fisher, Lei Zhu, Glenn M. Wolfe, Thomas F. Hanisco, Frank N. Keutsch, Jennifer Kaiser, Kyung-Eun Min, Steven S. Brown, Rebecca A. Washenfelder, Gonzalo González Abad, and Kelly Chance
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8725–8738, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8725-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8725-2017, 2017
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The use of satellite glyoxal observations for estimating isoprene emissions has been limited by knowledge of the glyoxal yield from isoprene. We use SENEX aircraft observations over the southeast US to evaluate glyoxal yields from isoprene in a 3-D atmospheric model. The SENEX observations support a pathway for glyoxal formation in pristine regions that we propose here, which may have implications for improving isoprene emissions estimates from upcoming high-resolution geostationary satellites.
Lu Shen, Loretta J. Mickley, and Lee T. Murray
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4355–4367, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4355-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4355-2017, 2017
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We introduce a new method to characterize the influence of atmospheric circulation on surface PM2.5 concentrations. Applying our statistical model to climate projections, we find a strong influence of 2000–2050 climate change on PM2.5 air quality in the United States. We find that current atmospheric chemistry models may underestimate the strong positive sensitivity of PM2.5 to temperature in the eastern United States in summer, and so may underestimate PM2.5 changes in a warmer climate.
Tomás Sherwen, Mat J. Evans, Lucy J. Carpenter, Johan A. Schmidt, and Loretta J. Mickley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1557–1569, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1557-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1557-2017, 2017
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We model pre-industrial to present day changes using the GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model with halogens (Cl, Br, I). The model better captures pre-industrial O3 observations with halogens included. Halogens buffer the tropospheric forcing of O3 (RFTO3) from pre-industrial to present day, reducing RFTO3 by 0.087 Wm−2. This reduction is greater than that from halogens on stratospheric O3 (−0.05 Wm−2). This suggests that models that do not include halogens will overestimate RFTO3by ~ 25%.
Katherine R. Travis, Daniel J. Jacob, Jenny A. Fisher, Patrick S. Kim, Eloise A. Marais, Lei Zhu, Karen Yu, Christopher C. Miller, Robert M. Yantosca, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Anne M. Thompson, Paul O. Wennberg, John D. Crounse, Jason M. St. Clair, Ronald C. Cohen, Joshua L. Laughner, Jack E. Dibb, Samuel R. Hall, Kirk Ullmann, Glenn M. Wolfe, Illana B. Pollack, Jeff Peischl, Jonathan A. Neuman, and Xianliang Zhou
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13561–13577, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13561-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13561-2016, 2016
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Ground-level ozone pollution in the Southeast US involves complex chemistry driven by anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and biogenic emissions of isoprene. We find that US NOx emissions are overestimated nationally by as much as 50 % and that reducing model emissions by this amount results in good agreement with SEAC4RS aircraft measurements in August and September 2013. Observations of nitrate wet deposition fluxes and satellite NO2 columns further support this result.
Lei Zhu, Daniel J. Jacob, Patrick S. Kim, Jenny A. Fisher, Karen Yu, Katherine R. Travis, Loretta J. Mickley, Robert M. Yantosca, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Isabelle De Smedt, Gonzalo González Abad, Kelly Chance, Can Li, Richard Ferrare, Alan Fried, Johnathan W. Hair, Thomas F. Hanisco, Dirk Richter, Amy Jo Scarino, James Walega, Petter Weibring, and Glenn M. Wolfe
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13477–13490, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13477-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13477-2016, 2016
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HCHO column data are widely used as a proxy for VOCs emissions, but validation of the data has been extremely limited. We use accurate aircraft observations to validate and intercompare 6 HCHO retrievals with GEOS-Chem as the intercomparison platform. Retrievals are interconsistent in spatial variability over the SE US and in daily variability, but are biased low by 20–51 %. Our work supports the use of HCHO column as a quantitative proxy for isoprene emission after correction of the low bias.
Jenny A. Fisher, Daniel J. Jacob, Katherine R. Travis, Patrick S. Kim, Eloise A. Marais, Christopher Chan Miller, Karen Yu, Lei Zhu, Robert M. Yantosca, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Jingqiu Mao, Paul O. Wennberg, John D. Crounse, Alex P. Teng, Tran B. Nguyen, Jason M. St. Clair, Ronald C. Cohen, Paul Romer, Benjamin A. Nault, Paul J. Wooldridge, Jose L. Jimenez, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Douglas A. Day, Weiwei Hu, Paul B. Shepson, Fulizi Xiong, Donald R. Blake, Allen H. Goldstein, Pawel K. Misztal, Thomas F. Hanisco, Glenn M. Wolfe, Thomas B. Ryerson, Armin Wisthaler, and Tomas Mikoviny
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5969–5991, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5969-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5969-2016, 2016
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We use new airborne and ground-based observations from two summer 2013 campaigns in the southeastern US, interpreted with a chemical transport model, to understand the impact of isoprene and monoterpene chemistry on the atmospheric NOx budget via production of organic nitrates (RONO2). We find that a diversity of species contribute to observed RONO2. Our work implies that the NOx sink to RONO2 production is only sensitive to NOx emissions in regions where they are already low.
Karen Yu, Daniel J. Jacob, Jenny A. Fisher, Patrick S. Kim, Eloise A. Marais, Christopher C. Miller, Katherine R. Travis, Lei Zhu, Robert M. Yantosca, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Ron C. Cohen, Jack E. Dibb, Alan Fried, Tomas Mikoviny, Thomas B. Ryerson, Paul O. Wennberg, and Armin Wisthaler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 4369–4378, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4369-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4369-2016, 2016
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Increasing the spatial resolution of a chemical transport model may improve simulations but can be computationally expensive. Using observations from the SEAC4RS aircraft campaign, we find that at higher spatial resolutions, models are better able to simulate the chemical pathways of ozone precursors, but the overall effect on regional mean concentrations is small. This implies that for continental boundary layer applications, coarse resolution models are adequate.
E. A. Marais, D. J. Jacob, J. L. Jimenez, P. Campuzano-Jost, D. A. Day, W. Hu, J. Krechmer, L. Zhu, P. S. Kim, C. C. Miller, J. A. Fisher, K. Travis, K. Yu, T. F. Hanisco, G. M. Wolfe, H. L. Arkinson, H. O. T. Pye, K. D. Froyd, J. Liao, and V. F. McNeill
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1603–1618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1603-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1603-2016, 2016
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Isoprene secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is a dominant aerosol component in the southeast US, but models routinely underestimate isoprene SOA with traditional schemes based on chamber studies operated under conditions not representative of isoprene-emitting forests. We develop a new irreversible uptake mechanism to reproduce isoprene SOA yields (3.3 %) and composition, and find a factor of 2 co-benefit of SO2 emission controls on reducing sulfate and organic aerosol in the southeast US.
L. Shen, L. J. Mickley, and A. P. K. Tai
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10925–10938, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10925-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10925-2015, 2015
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In this study, we have examined the effect of polar jet and Bermuda High on ozone air quality in the eastern United States. In the Midwest and northeast, the poleward shift of jet wind leads to reduced polar jet frequency, resulting in increased ozone there. In the southeast, the influence of Bermuda High on ozone variability depends on the location of its west edge. Westward movement increases the ozone only when the JJA Bermuda High west edge is located west of 85.4°W.
P. S. Kim, D. J. Jacob, J. A. Fisher, K. Travis, K. Yu, L. Zhu, R. M. Yantosca, M. P. Sulprizio, J. L. Jimenez, P. Campuzano-Jost, K. D. Froyd, J. Liao, J. W. Hair, M. A. Fenn, C. F. Butler, N. L. Wagner, T. D. Gordon, A. Welti, P. O. Wennberg, J. D. Crounse, J. M. St. Clair, A. P. Teng, D. B. Millet, J. P. Schwarz, M. Z. Markovic, and A. E. Perring
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10411–10433, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10411-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10411-2015, 2015
X. Yue, L. J. Mickley, J. A. Logan, R. C. Hudman, M. V. Martin, and R. M. Yantosca
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10033–10055, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10033-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10033-2015, 2015
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Based on simulated meteorology from 13 GCMs, we projected future wildfire activity in Alaskan and Canadian ecoregions by the mid-century. The most robust change is the increase of 150-390% in area burned over Alaska and western Canada. The models also predict an increase of 45-90% in the central and southern Canadian ecoregions, but a decrease of up to 50% in northern Canada. We further quantify how the changes in wildfire emissions may affect ozone concentrations in North America.
P. Achakulwisut, L. J. Mickley, L. T. Murray, A. P. K. Tai, J. O. Kaplan, and B. Alexander
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 7977–7998, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7977-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7977-2015, 2015
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The atmosphere’s oxidative capacity determines the lifetime of many trace gases important to climate, chemistry, and human health. Yet uncertainties remain about its past variations, its controlling factors, and the radiative forcing of short-lived species it influences. To reduce these uncertainties, we must better quantify the natural emissions and chemical reaction mechanisms of organic compounds in the atmosphere, which play a role in governing the oxidative capacity.
G. Zeng, J. E. Williams, J. A. Fisher, L. K. Emmons, N. B. Jones, O. Morgenstern, J. Robinson, D. Smale, C. Paton-Walsh, and D. W. T. Griffith
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 7217–7245, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7217-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7217-2015, 2015
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We assess the impact of biogenic emissions on CO and HCHO in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), with simulations using different emission inventories. Differences in biogenic emissions result in large differences on modelled CO in the source and the remote regions. Substantial inter-model differences exist. Models significantly underestimate observed HCHO columns in the SH, suggesting missing sources in the models. Differences in the CO/OH/CH4 chemistry lead to differences in HCHO in remote regions.
J. A. Fisher, S. R. Wilson, G. Zeng, J. E. Williams, L. K. Emmons, R. L. Langenfelds, P. B. Krummel, and L. P. Steele
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3217–3239, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3217-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3217-2015, 2015
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The Southern Hemisphere (SH) serves as an important test bed for evaluating our understanding of the processes that drive the composition of the clean background atmosphere. Using data from two aircraft campaigns, combined with four atmospheric chemistry models, we find a large sensitivity in the remote SH to biogenic emissions and their subsequent chemistry and transport. Future model evaluation and measurement campaigns should prioritize reducing uncertainties in these processes.
L. T. Murray, L. J. Mickley, J. O. Kaplan, E. D. Sofen, M. Pfeiffer, and B. Alexander
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3589–3622, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3589-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3589-2014, 2014
B. Zhang, R. C. Owen, J. A. Perlinger, A. Kumar, S. Wu, M. Val Martin, L. Kramer, D. Helmig, and R. E. Honrath
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2267–2287, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2267-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2267-2014, 2014
A. Kumar, S. Wu, M. F. Weise, R. Honrath, R. C. Owen, D. Helmig, L. Kramer, M. Val Martin, and Q. Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 12537–12547, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12537-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12537-2013, 2013
H. Jiang, H. Liao, H. O. T. Pye, S. Wu, L. J. Mickley, J. H. Seinfeld, and X. Y. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7937–7960, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7937-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7937-2013, 2013
M. Val Martin, C. L. Heald, B. Ford, A. J. Prenni, and C. Wiedinmyer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7429–7439, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7429-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7429-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Modeling simulation of aerosol light absorption over the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region: the impact of mixing state and aging processes
An investigation of the impact of Canadian wildfires on US air quality using model, satellite, and ground measurements
How to trace the origins of short-lived atmospheric species: an Arctic example
Dust-producing weather patterns of the North American Great Plains
High-resolution air quality maps for Bucharest using a mixed-effects modeling framework
Construction and application of a pollen emissions model based on phenology and random forests
The impact of uncertainty in black carbon's refractive index on simulated optical depth and radiative forcing
Characterization of brown carbon absorption in different European environments through source contribution analysis
Accounting for the black carbon aging process in a two-way coupled meteorology–air quality model
The effectiveness of solar radiation management using fine sea spray across multiple climatic regions
A global dust emission dataset for estimating dust radiative forcings in climate models
Tropospheric aerosols over the western North Atlantic Ocean during the winter and summer deployments of ACTIVATE 2020: life cycle, transport, and distribution
Spatial and temporal evolution of future atmospheric reactive nitrogen deposition in China under different climate change mitigation strategies
Steady-state mixing state of black carbon aerosols from a particle-resolved model
Direct radiative forcing of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol and the influencing factors over China
Distinctive dust weather intensities in North China resulted from two types of atmospheric circulation anomalies
Biomass burning emission analysis based on MODIS aerosol optical depth and AeroCom multi-model simulations: implications for model constraints and emission inventories
Quasi-weekly oscillation of regional PM2.5 transport over China driven by the synoptic-scale disturbance of the East Asian winter monsoon circulation
Solar radiation estimation in West Africa: impact of dust conditions during the 2021 dry season
Machine Learning Assisted Inference of the Particle Charge Fraction and the Ion-induced Nucleation Rates during New Particle Formation Events
Modeling urban pollutant transport at multi-resolutions: Impacts of turbulent mixing
Gaps in our understanding of ice-nucleating particle sources exposed by global simulation of the UK Earth System Model
The role of interfacial tension in the size-dependent phase separation of atmospheric aerosol particles
Impact of Topographic Wind Conditions on Dust Particle Size Distribution: Insights from a Regional Dust Reanalysis Dataset
Warming effects of reduced sulfur emissions from shipping
The key role of atmospheric absorption in the Asian summer monsoon response to dust emissions in CMIP6 models
Multi-model effective radiative forcing of the 2020 sulfur cap for shipping
Exploring the Aerosol Activation Properties in a Coastal Area Using Cloud and Particle-resolving Models
Representation of iron aerosol size distributions of anthropogenic emissions is critical in evaluating atmospheric soluble iron input to the ocean
Revealing dominant patterns of aerosol regimes in the lower troposphere and their evolution from preindustrial times to the future in global climate model simulations
A Novel Method to Quantify the Uncertainty Contribution of Aerosol-Radiative Interaction Factors
Improving estimation of a record-breaking east Asian dust storm emission with lagged aerosol Ångström exponent observations
Impact of biomass burning aerosols (BBA) on the tropical African climate in an ocean–atmosphere–aerosol coupled climate model
Retrieval of refractive index and water content for the coating materials of aged black carbon aerosol based on optical properties: a theoretical analysis
Strong inter-model differences and biases in CMIP6 simulations of PM2.5, aerosol optical depth, and precipitation over Africa
Impact of post monsoon crop residue burning on PM2.5 over North India: Optimizing emissions using a high-density in situ surface observation network
Predicting hygroscopic growth of organosulfur aerosol particles using COSMOtherm
Dust aerosol from the Aralkum Desert influences the radiation budget and atmospheric dynamics of Central Asia
Global modeling of aerosol nucleation with a semi-explicit chemical mechanism for highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs)
Synergistic effects of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on dust activities in North China during the following spring
Aerosol composition, air quality, and boundary layer dynamics in the urban background of Stuttgart in winter
Response of the link between ENSO and the East Asian winter monsoon to Asian anthropogenic aerosols
Measurement report: Source attribution and estimation of black carbon levels in an urban hotspot of the central Po Valley – an integrated approach combining high-resolution dispersion modelling and micro-aethalometers
Modeling CMAQ dry deposition treatment over Western Pacific: A distinct characteristic of mineral dust and anthropogenic aerosol
Microphysical modelling of aerosol scavenging by different types of clouds: description and validation of the approach
Insights into the sources of ultrafine particle numbers at six European urban sites obtained by investigating COVID-19 lockdowns
In-plume and out-of-plume analysis of aerosol–cloud interactions derived from the 2014–2015 Holuhraun volcanic eruption
Impacts of atmospheric circulation patterns and cloud inhibition on aerosol radiative effect and boundary layer structure during winter air pollution in Sichuan Basin, China
Investigating the sign of stratocumulus adjustments to aerosols in the ICON global storm-resolving model
A model study investigating the sensitivity of aerosol forcing to the volatilities of semi-volatile organic compounds
Huiyun Du, Jie Li, Xueshun Chen, Gabriele Curci, Fangqun Yu, Yele Sun, Xu Dao, Song Guo, Zhe Wang, Wenyi Yang, Lianfang Wei, and Zifa Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5665–5681, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5665-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5665-2025, 2025
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Inadequate consideration of mixing states and coatings on black carbon (BC) hinders aerosol radiation forcing quantification. Core–shell mixing aligns well with observations, but partial internal mixing is a more realistic representation. We used a microphysics module to determine the fraction of embedded BC and coating aerosols, constraining the mixing state. This reduced absorption enhancement by 30 %–43 % in northern China, offering insights into BC's radiative effects.
Zhixin Xue, Nair Udaysankar, and Sundar A. Christopher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5497–5517, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5497-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5497-2025, 2025
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Canadian wildfires in August 2018 significantly increased surface air pollution across the United States (US) – by up to 69 % in some areas. Using model, satellite, and ground measurements, the study highlights how weather patterns and long-range smoke transport drive pollution. The northwestern US was most affected by Canadian wildfire smoke, while the northeastern US experienced the least impact. These findings indicate the growing concern that wildfire smoke poses to air quality across the US.
Anderson Da Silva, Louis Marelle, Jean-Christophe Raut, Yvette Gramlich, Karolina Siegel, Sophie L. Haslett, Claudia Mohr, and Jennie L. Thomas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5331–5354, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5331-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5331-2025, 2025
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Particle sources in polar climates are unclear, affecting climate representation in models. This study introduces an evaluated method for tracking particles with backward modeling. Tests on simulated particles allowed us to show that traditional detection methods often misidentify sources. An improved method that accurately traces the origins of aerosol particles in the Arctic is presented. The study recommends using this enhanced method for better source identification of atmospheric species.
Stuart Evans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4833–4845, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4833-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4833-2025, 2025
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This study of the North American Great Plains identifies the various weather patterns responsible for blowing dust in all parts of the region using a weather pattern classification. In the southwestern plains passing cold fronts are the primary cause of dust; in the understudied northern plains, summertime patterns and southerly pre-frontal winds are most important in the west and east, respectively. These results are valuable to understanding and forecasting dust in this complex source region.
Camelia Talianu, Jeni Vasilescu, Doina Nicolae, Alexandru Ilie, Andrei Dandocsi, Anca Nemuc, and Livio Belegante
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4639–4654, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4639-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4639-2025, 2025
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For Bucharest, Romania's capital, mobile measurements during two intensive campaigns and mixed-effect LUR (land-use regression) models to derive seasonal maps of near-surface PM10, NO2 and UFPs (ultrafine particles) have successfully been used. The model's performance was evaluated, demonstrating its potential for high-resolution mapping in other cities with well-characterized urban structures and diverse in situ monitoring stations.
Jiangtao Li, Xingqin An, Zhaobin Sun, Caihua Ye, Qing Hou, Yuxin Zhao, and Zhe Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3583–3602, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3583-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3583-2025, 2025
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Climate change and pollution have intensified pollen allergies. We developed a pollen emissions model using phenology and random forests. Key factors affecting annual pollen emissions include temperature, relative humidity and sunshine hours. Pollen dispersal starts around 10 August, peaks around 30 August and ends by 25 September, lasting about 45 d. Over time, annual pollen emissions exhibit significant fluctuations and a downward trend.
Ruth A. R. Digby, Knut von Salzen, Adam H. Monahan, Nathan P. Gillett, and Jiangnan Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3109–3130, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3109-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3109-2025, 2025
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The refractive index of black carbon (BCRI), which determines how much energy black carbon absorbs and scatters, is difficult to measure, and different climate models use different values. We show that varying the BCRI across commonly used values can increase absorbing aerosol optical depth by 42 % and the warming effect from interactions between black carbon and radiation by 47 %, an appreciable fraction of the overall spread between models reported in recent literature assessments.
Hector Navarro-Barboza, Jordi Rovira, Vincenzo Obiso, Andrea Pozzer, Marta Via, Andres Alastuey, Xavier Querol, Noemi Perez, Marjan Savadkoohi, Gang Chen, Jesus Yus-Díez, Matic Ivancic, Martin Rigler, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Stergios Vratolis, Olga Zografou, Maria Gini, Benjamin Chazeau, Nicolas Marchand, Andre S. H. Prevot, Kaspar Dallenbach, Mikael Ehn, Krista Luoma, Tuukka Petäjä, Anna Tobler, Jaroslaw Necki, Minna Aurela, Hilkka Timonen, Jarkko Niemi, Olivier Favez, Jean-Eudes Petit, Jean-Philippe Putaud, Christoph Hueglin, Nicolas Pascal, Aurélien Chauvigné, Sébastien Conil, Marco Pandolfi, and Oriol Jorba
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2667–2694, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2667-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2667-2025, 2025
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Brown carbon (BrC) absorbs ultraviolet (UV) and visible light, influencing climate. This study explores BrC's imaginary refractive index (k) using data from 12 European sites. Residential emissions are a major organic aerosol (OA) source in winter, while secondary organic aerosol (SOA) dominates in summer. Source-specific k values were derived, improving model accuracy. The findings highlight BrC's climate impact and emphasize source-specific constraints in atmospheric models.
Yuzhi Jin, Jiandong Wang, Chao Liu, David C. Wong, Golam Sarwar, Kathleen M. Fahey, Shang Wu, Jiaping Wang, Jing Cai, Zeyuan Tian, Zhouyang Zhang, Jia Xing, Aijun Ding, and Shuxiao Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2613–2630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2613-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2613-2025, 2025
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Black carbon (BC) affects climate and the environment, and its aging process alters its properties. Current models, like WRF-CMAQ, lack full accounting for it. We developed the WRF-CMAQ-BCG model to better represent BC aging by introducing bare and coated BC species and their conversion. The WRF-CMAQ-BCG model introduces the capability to simulate BC mixing states and bare and coated BC wet deposition, and it improves the accuracy of BC mass concentration and aerosol optics.
Zhe Song, Shaocai Yu, Pengfei Li, Ningning Yao, Lang Chen, Yuhai Sun, Boqiong Jiang, and Daniel Rosenfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2473–2494, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2473-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2473-2025, 2025
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Our results with injected sea salt aerosols for five open oceans show that sea salt aerosols with low injection amounts dominate shortwave radiation, mainly through indirect effects. As indirect aerosol effects saturate with increasing injection rates, direct effects exceed indirect effects. This implies that marine cloud brightening is best implemented in areas with extensive cloud cover, while aerosol direct scattering effects remain dominant when clouds are scarce.
Danny M. Leung, Jasper F. Kok, Longlei Li, David M. Lawrence, Natalie M. Mahowald, Simone Tilmes, and Erik Kluzek
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2311–2331, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2311-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2311-2025, 2025
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This study derives a gridded dust emission dataset for 1841–2000 by employing a combination of observed dust from core records and reanalyzed global dust cycle constraints. We evaluate the ability of global models to replicate the observed historical dust variability by using the emission dataset to force a historical simulation in an Earth system model. We show that prescribing our emissions forces the model to better match observations than other mechanistic models.
Hongyu Liu, Bo Zhang, Richard H. Moore, Luke D. Ziemba, Richard A. Ferrare, Hyundeok Choi, Armin Sorooshian, David Painemal, Hailong Wang, Michael A. Shook, Amy Jo Scarino, Johnathan W. Hair, Ewan C. Crosbie, Marta A. Fenn, Taylor J. Shingler, Chris A. Hostetler, Gao Chen, Mary M. Kleb, Gan Luo, Fangqun Yu, Mark A. Vaughan, Yongxiang Hu, Glenn S. Diskin, John B. Nowak, Joshua P. DiGangi, Yonghoon Choi, Christoph A. Keller, and Matthew S. Johnson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2087–2121, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2087-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2087-2025, 2025
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We use the GEOS-Chem model to simulate aerosol distributions and properties over the western North Atlantic Ocean (WNAO) during the winter and summer deployments in 2020 of the NASA ACTIVATE mission. Model results are evaluated against aircraft, ground-based, and satellite observations. The improved understanding of life cycle, composition, transport pathways, and distribution of aerosols has important implications for characterizing aerosol–cloud–meteorology interactions over WNAO.
Mingrui Ma, Jiachen Cao, Dan Tong, Bo Zheng, and Yu Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2147–2166, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2147-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2147-2025, 2025
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We combined two global climate change pathways and three national emission control scenarios to analyze the future evolution of reactive nitrogen (Nr) deposition till the 2060s in China with air quality modeling. We show China’s clean air and carbon neutrality policies would overcome the adverse effects of climate change and efficiently reduce Nr deposition. The outflow of Nr fluxes from mainland China to the west Pacific would also be clearly reduced from continuous stringent emission controls.
Zhouyang Zhang, Jiandong Wang, Jiaping Wang, Nicole Riemer, Chao Liu, Yuzhi Jin, Zeyuan Tian, Jing Cai, Yueyue Cheng, Ganzhen Chen, Bin Wang, Shuxiao Wang, and Aijun Ding
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1869–1881, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1869-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1869-2025, 2025
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Black carbon (BC) exerts notable warming effects. We use a particle-resolved model to investigate the long-term behavior of the BC mixing state, revealing its compositions, coating thickness distribution, and optical properties all stabilize with a characteristic time of less than 1 d. This study can effectively simplify the description of the BC mixing state, which facilitates the precise assessment of the optical properties of BC aerosols in global and chemical transport models.
Shuangqin Yang, Yusi Liu, Li Chen, Nan Cao, Jing Wang, and Shuang Gao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3705, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3705, 2025
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Black carbon, primary brown carbon, and secondary brown carbon are the leading light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols (LACs) that contribute significantly to climate change. We modified the GEOS-Chem model to simulate the climate change by LACs based on local emission inventory, and explored the impacts of LACs properties and atmospheric variables on the corresponding DRFs in seven regions of China. The study confirms the warming effect of LACs and deepens our knowledge of their climatic effects.
Qianyi Huo, Zhicong Yin, Xiaoqing Ma, and Huijun Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1711–1724, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1711-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1711-2025, 2025
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Dust days during the spring seasons of 2015–2023 in North China were classified into Mongolian cyclone and cold high types depending on the presence of the Mongolian cyclone. The Mongolian cyclone type led to more frequent and severe dust weather, indicated by PM10 concentrations. To comprehensively forecast the two types of dust weather, a common predictor was established based on 500 hPa anomalous circulation systems, offering insights for dust weather forecasting and climate prediction.
Mariya Petrenko, Ralph Kahn, Mian Chin, Susanne E. Bauer, Tommi Bergman, Huisheng Bian, Gabriele Curci, Ben Johnson, Johannes W. Kaiser, Zak Kipling, Harri Kokkola, Xiaohong Liu, Keren Mezuman, Tero Mielonen, Gunnar Myhre, Xiaohua Pan, Anna Protonotariou, Samuel Remy, Ragnhild Bieltvedt Skeie, Philip Stier, Toshihiko Takemura, Kostas Tsigaridis, Hailong Wang, Duncan Watson-Parris, and Kai Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1545–1567, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1545-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1545-2025, 2025
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We compared smoke plume simulations from 11 global models to each other and to satellite smoke amount observations aimed at constraining smoke source strength. In regions where plumes are thick and background aerosol is low, models and satellites compare well. However, the input emission inventory tends to underestimate in many places, and particle property and loss rate assumptions vary enormously among models, causing uncertainties that require systematic in situ measurements to resolve.
Yongqing Bai, Tianliang Zhao, Kai Meng, Yue Zhou, Jie Xiong, Xiaoyun Sun, Lijuan Shen, Yanyu Yue, Yan Zhu, Weiyang Hu, and Jingyan Yao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1273–1287, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1273-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1273-2025, 2025
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We proposed a composite statistical method to identify the quasi-weekly oscillation (QWO) of regional PM2.5 transport over China in winter from 2015 to 2019. The QWO of regional PM2.5 transport is constrained by synoptic-scale disturbances of the East Asian winter monsoon circulation with the periodic activities of the Siberian high, providing a new insight into the understanding of regional pollutant transport with meteorological drivers in atmospheric environment changes.
Léo Clauzel, Sandrine Anquetin, Christophe Lavaysse, Gilles Bergametti, Christel Bouet, Guillaume Siour, Rémy Lapere, Béatrice Marticorena, and Jennie Thomas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 997–1021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-997-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-997-2025, 2025
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Solar energy production in West Africa is set to rise and needs accurate solar radiation estimates which are affected by desert dust. This work analyses a March 2021 dust event using a modelling strategy incorporating desert dust. Results show that considering desert dust cuts errors in solar radiation estimates by 75 % and reduces surface solar radiation by 18 %. This highlights the importance of incorporating dust aerosols into solar forecasting for better accuracy.
Pan Wang, Yue Zhao, Jiandong Wang, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Jingkun Jiang, and Chenxi Li
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3666, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3666, 2025
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We developed a numerical model to explore how the charge state of newly formed atmospheric particles evolves during growth and how this relates to ion-induced nucleation rates. We identify the governing factors of particle charging and further apply neural networks to predict particle charge states and estimate ion induced nucleation rates. This study offers insights into particle charging dynamics and introduces new methods for assessing ion induced nucleation in atmospheric research.
Zining Yang, Qiuyan Du, Qike Yang, Chun Zhao, Gudongze Li, Zihan Xia, Mingyue Xu, Renmin Yuan, Yubin Li, Kaihui Xia, Jun Gu, and Jiawang Feng
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3890, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3890, 2025
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This study investigates the impact of turbulent mixing on black carbon (BC) concentrations in urban areas using WRF-Chem at 25, 5, and 1 km resolutions. Significant variations in BC and turbulent mixing occur mainly at night. Higher resolutions reduce BC overestimation due to enhanced PBL mixing coefficients and vertical wind fluxes. Small-scale eddies at higher resolutions increase BC lifetime and column concentrations. Land use and terrain variations across multi-resolutions affect PBL mixing.
Ross J. Herbert, Alberto Sanchez-Marroquin, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Kirsty J. Pringle, Stephen R. Arnold, Benjamin J. Murray, and Kenneth S. Carslaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 291–325, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-291-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-291-2025, 2025
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Aerosol particles that help form ice in clouds vary in number and type around the world and with time. However, in many weather and climate models cloud ice is not linked to aerosols that are known to nucleate ice. Here we report the first steps towards representing ice-nucleating particles within the UK Earth System Model. We conclude that in addition to ice nucleation by sea spray and mineral components of soil dust, we also need to represent ice nucleation by the organic components of soils.
Ryan Schmedding and Andreas Zuend
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 327–346, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-327-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-327-2025, 2025
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Four different approaches for computing the interfacial tension between liquid phases in aerosol particles were tested for particles with diameters from 10 nm to more than 5 μm. Antonov's rule led to the strongest reductions in the onset relative humidity of liquid–liquid phase separation and reproduced measured interfacial tensions for highly immiscible systems. A modified form of the Butler equation was able to best reproduce measured interfacial tensions in more miscible systems.
Xinyue Huang, Wenyu Gao, and Hosein Foroutan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3076, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3076, 2024
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This study investigates the relationship between wind-blown dust aerosols size distribution and wind conditions over topography at a regional scale, utilizing 10 years of dust reanalysis data. Linear regression models suggest that higher wind speeds and steeper land slopes, particularly under uphill winds, are associated with increased fractions of coarser dust particles. Moreover, these positive correlations weaken during summer and afternoon events, likely related to the haboob storms.
Masaru Yoshioka, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Ben B. B. Booth, Colin P. Morice, and Ken S. Carslaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13681–13692, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13681-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13681-2024, 2024
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A 2020 regulation has reduced sulfur emissions from shipping by about 80 %, leading to a decrease in atmospheric aerosols that have a cooling effect primarily by affecting cloud properties and amounts. Our climate model simulations predict a global temperature increase of 0.04 K over the next 3 decades as a result, which could contribute to surpassing the Paris Agreement's 1.5 °C target. Reduced aerosols may have also contributed to the recent temperature spikes.
Alcide Zhao, Laura J. Wilcox, and Claire L. Ryder
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13385–13402, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13385-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13385-2024, 2024
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Climate models include desert dust aerosols, which cause atmospheric heating and can change circulation patterns. We assess the effect of dust on the Indian and east Asian summer monsoons through multi-model experiments isolating the effect of dust in current climate models for the first time. Dust atmospheric heating results in a southward shift of western Pacific equatorial rainfall and an enhanced Indian summer monsoon. This shows the importance of accurate dust representation in models.
Ragnhild Bieltvedt Skeie, Rachael Byrom, Øivind Hodnebrog, Caroline Jouan, and Gunnar Myhre
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13361–13370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13361-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13361-2024, 2024
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In 2020, new regulations by the International Maritime Organization regarding sulfur emissions came into force, reducing emissions of SO2 from the shipping sector by approximately 80 %. In this study, we use multiple models to calculate how much the Earth energy balance changed due to the emission reduction or the so-called effective radiative forcing. The calculated effective radiative forcing is weak, comparable to the effect of the increase in CO2 over the last 2 to 3 years.
Ge Yu, Yueya Wang, Zhe Wang, and Xiaoming Shi
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3581, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3581, 2024
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Studying the cloud-forming capacity of aerosols is crucial in climate research. The PartMC model can provide detailed particle information and help these studies. This model is integrated with the ideal meteorological Cloud Model 1 (CM1) to simulate the aerosols at cloud-forming locations. Significant changes are revealed in the hygroscopicity distribution of aerosols within ascending air parcels. Additionally, different ascent times also affect aerosol aging processes.
Mingxu Liu, Hitoshi Matsui, Douglas S. Hamilton, Sagar D. Rathod, Kara D. Lamb, and Natalie M. Mahowald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13115–13127, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13115-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13115-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric aerosol deposition provides bioavailable iron to promote marine primary production, yet the estimates of its fluxes remain highly uncertain. This study, by performing global aerosol simulations, demonstrates that iron-containing particle size upon emission is a critical factor in regulating soluble iron input to open oceans. Further observational constraints on this are needed to reduce modeling uncertainties.
Jingmin Li, Mattia Righi, Johannes Hendricks, Christof G. Beer, Ulrike Burkhardt, and Anja Schmidt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12727–12747, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12727-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12727-2024, 2024
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Aiming to understand underlying patterns and trends in aerosols, we characterize the spatial patterns and long-term evolution of lower tropospheric aerosols by clustering multiple aerosol properties from preindustrial times to the year 2050 under three Shared
Socioeconomic Pathway scenarios. The results provide a clear and condensed picture of the spatial extent and distribution of aerosols for different time periods and emission scenarios.
Socioeconomic Pathway scenarios. The results provide a clear and condensed picture of the spatial extent and distribution of aerosols for different time periods and emission scenarios.
Bishuo He and Chunsheng Zhao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3441, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3441, 2024
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Factor-uncertainty analysis helps us understand their impacts on complex systems. Traditional methods have many limitations. This study introduces a new method to measure how each factor contributes to uncertainty. It gains insights into the role of each variable and works for all multi-factor systems. As an application, we analyzed how aerosols affect solar radiation and identified the key factors. These analyses can improve our understanding of the role of aerosols in climate change.
Yueming Cheng, Tie Dai, Junji Cao, Daisuke Goto, Jianbing Jin, Teruyuki Nakajima, and Guangyu Shi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12643–12659, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12643-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12643-2024, 2024
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In March 2021, east Asia experienced an outbreak of severe dust storms after an absence of 1.5 decades. Here, we innovatively used the time-lagged ground-based aerosol size information with the fixed-lag ensemble Kalman smoother to optimize dust emission and reproduce the dust storm. This work is valuable for not only the quantification of health damage, aviation risks, and profound impacts on the Earth's system but also revealing the climatic driving force and the process of desertification.
Marc Mallet, Aurore Voldoire, Fabien Solmon, Pierre Nabat, Thomas Drugé, and Romain Roehrig
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12509–12535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12509-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12509-2024, 2024
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This study investigates the interactions between smoke aerosols and climate in tropical Africa using a coupled ocean–atmosphere–aerosol climate model. The work shows that smoke plumes have a significant impact by increasing the low-cloud fraction, decreasing the ocean and continental surface temperature and reducing the precipitation of coastal western Africa. It also highlights the role of the ocean temperature response and its feedbacks for the September–November season.
Jia Liu, Cancan Zhu, Donghui Zhou, and Jinbao Han
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12341–12354, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12341-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12341-2024, 2024
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The hydrophilic coatings of aged black carbon (BC) particles absorb moisture during the hygroscopic growth process, but it is difficult to characterize how much water is absorbed under different relative humidities (RHs). In this study, we propose a method to obtain the water content in the coatings based on the equivalent complex refractive index retrieved from optical properties. This method is verified from a theoretical perspective, and it performs well for thickly coated BC at high RHs.
Catherine Anne Toolan, Joe Adabouk Amooli, Laura J. Wilcox, Bjørn H. Samset, Andrew G. Turner, and Daniel M. Westervelt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3057, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3057, 2024
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Our research explores how well air pollution and rainfall patterns in Africa are represented in current climate models, by comparing model data to observations from 1981 to 2023. While most models capture seasonal air quality changes well, they struggle to replicate the distribution of non-dust pollutants and certain rainfall patterns, especially over east Africa. Improving these models is crucial for better climate predictions and preparing for future risks.
Mizuo Kajino, Kentaro Ishijima, Joseph Ching, Kazuyo Yamaji, Rio Ishikawa, Tomoki Kajikawa, Tanbir Singh, Tomoki Nakayama, Yutaka Matsumi, Koyo Kojima, Prabir K. Patra, and Sachiko Hayashida
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1811, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1811, 2024
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Air pollution in Delhi during post monsoon period is severe and association with intensive crop residue burning (CRB) over Punjab state has attracted attention. However, the relationship has been unclear as the CRB emissions conventionally derived from satellites were underestimated due to clouds and haze over the region. We evaluated the impact of CRB on PM2.5 as about 50 %, based on a combination of numerical modeling and high-density observation network using low-cost sensors we installed.
Zijun Li, Angela Buchholz, and Noora Hyttinen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11717–11725, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11717-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11717-2024, 2024
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Evaluating organosulfur (OS) hygroscopicity is important for assessing aerosol–cloud climate interactions in the post-fossil-fuel future, when SO2 emissions decrease and OS compounds become increasingly important. Here a state-of-the-art quantum-chemistry-based method was used to predict the hygroscopic growth factors (HGFs) of a group of atmospherically relevant OS compounds and their mixtures with (NH4)2SO4. A good agreement was observed between their model-estimated and experimental HGFs.
Jamie R. Banks, Bernd Heinold, and Kerstin Schepanski
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11451–11475, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11451-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11451-2024, 2024
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The Aralkum is a new desert in Central Asia formed by the desiccation of the Aral Sea. This has created a source of atmospheric dust, with implications for the balance of solar and thermal radiation. Simulating these effects using a dust transport model, we find that Aralkum dust adds radiative cooling effects to the surface and atmosphere on average but also adds heating events. Increases in surface pressure due to Aralkum dust strengthen the Siberian High and weaken the summer Asian heat low.
Xinyue Shao, Minghuai Wang, Xinyi Dong, Yaman Liu, Wenxiang Shen, Stephen R. Arnold, Leighton A. Regayre, Meinrat O. Andreae, Mira L. Pöhlker, Duseong S. Jo, Man Yue, and Ken S. Carslaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11365–11389, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11365-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11365-2024, 2024
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Highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) play an important role in atmospheric new particle formation (NPF). By semi-explicitly coupling the chemical mechanism of HOMs and a comprehensive nucleation scheme in a global climate model, the updated model shows better agreement with measurements of nucleation rate, growth rate, and NPF event frequency. Our results reveal that HOM-driven NPF leads to a considerable increase in particle and cloud condensation nuclei burden globally.
Falei Xu, Shuang Wang, Yan Li, and Juan Feng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10689–10705, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10689-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10689-2024, 2024
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This study examines how the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affect dust activities in North China during the following spring. The results show that the NAO and ENSO, particularly in their negative phases, greatly influence dust activities. When both are negative, their combined effect on dust activities is even greater. This research highlights the importance of these climate patterns in predicting spring dust activities in North China.
Hengheng Zhang, Wei Huang, Xiaoli Shen, Ramakrishna Ramisetty, Junwei Song, Olga Kiseleva, Christopher Claus Holst, Basit Khan, Thomas Leisner, and Harald Saathoff
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10617–10637, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10617-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10617-2024, 2024
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Our study unravels how stagnant winter conditions elevate aerosol levels in Stuttgart. Cloud cover at night plays a pivotal role, impacting morning air quality. Validating a key model, our findings aid accurate air quality predictions, crucial for effective pollution mitigation in urban areas.
Zixuan Jia, Massimo A. Bollasina, Wenjun Zhang, and Ying Xiang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2770, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2770, 2024
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Using multi-model mean data from regional aerosol perturbation experiments, we find that increased Asian sulfate aerosols strengthen the link between ENSO and the East Asian winter monsoon. In coupled simulations, aerosol-induced broad cooling increases ENSO amplitude by affecting the tropical Pacific mean state, contributing to increase monsoon interannual variability. These results provide important implications to reduce uncertainties in future projections of regional extreme variability.
Giorgio Veratti, Alessandro Bigi, Michele Stortini, Sergio Teggi, and Grazia Ghermandi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10475–10512, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10475-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10475-2024, 2024
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In a study of two consecutive winter seasons, we used measurements and modelling tools to identify the levels and sources of black carbon pollution in a medium-sized urban area of the Po Valley, Italy. Our findings show that biomass burning and traffic-related emissions (especially from Euro 4 diesel cars) significantly contribute to BC concentrations. This research offers crucial insights for policymakers and urban planners aiming to improve air quality in cities.
Steven Soon-Kai Kong, Joshua S. Fu, Neng-Huei Lin, Guey-Rong Sheu, and Wei-Syun Huang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2549, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2549, 2024
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The accuracy of the chemical transport model, a key focus of our research, is strongly dependent on the dry deposition parameterization. Our finding shows that the refined CMAQ dust model correlated well with the ground and high altitude in-situ measurements by implementing the suggested dry deposition schemes. Furthermore, we reveal the mixing state of two types of aerosols at the upper level, a finding supported by both the optimized model and measurement.
Pascal Lemaitre, Arnaud Quérel, Alexis Dépée, Alice Guerra Devigne, Marie Monier, Thibault Hiron, Chloé Soto Minguez, Daniel Hardy, and Andrea Flossmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9713–9732, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9713-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9713-2024, 2024
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A new in-cloud scavenging scheme is proposed. It is based on a microphysical model of cloud formation and may be applied to long-distance atmospheric transport models (> 100 km) and climatic models. This model is applied to the two most extreme precipitating cloud types in terms of both relative humidity and vertical extension: cumulonimbus and stratus.
Alex Rowell, James Brean, David C. S. Beddows, Tuukka Petäjä, Máté Vörösmarty, Imre Salma, Jarkko V. Niemi, Hanna E. Manninen, Dominik van Pinxteren, Thomas Tuch, Kay Weinhold, Zongbo Shi, and Roy M. Harrison
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9515–9531, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9515-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9515-2024, 2024
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Different sources of airborne particles in the atmospheres of four European cities were distinguished by recognising their particle size distributions using a statistical procedure, positive matrix factorisation. The various sources responded differently to the changes in emissions associated with COVID-19 lockdowns, and the reasons are investigated. While traffic emissions generally decreased, particles formed from reactions of atmospheric gases decreased in some cities but increased in others.
Amy H. Peace, Ying Chen, George Jordan, Daniel G. Partridge, Florent Malavelle, Eliza Duncan, and Jim M. Haywood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9533–9553, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9533-2024, 2024
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Natural aerosols from volcanic eruptions can help us understand how anthropogenic aerosols modify climate. We use observations and model simulations of the 2014–2015 Holuhraun eruption plume to examine aerosol–cloud interactions in September 2014. We find a shift to clouds with smaller, more numerous cloud droplets in the first 2 weeks of the eruption. In the third week, the background meteorology and previous conditions experienced by air masses modulate the aerosol perturbation to clouds.
Hua Lu, Min Xie, Bingliang Zhuang, Danyang Ma, Bojun Liu, Yangzhihao Zhan, Tijian Wang, Shu Li, Mengmeng Li, and Kuanguang Zhu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8963–8982, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8963-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8963-2024, 2024
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To identify cloud, aerosol, and planetary boundary layer (PBL) interactions from an air quality perspective, we summarized two pollution patterns characterized by denser liquid cloud and by obvious cloud radiation interaction (CRI). Numerical simulation experiments showed CRI could cause a 50 % reduction in aerosol radiation interaction (ARI) under a low-trough system. The results emphasized the nonnegligible role of CRI and its inhibition of ARI under wet and cloudy pollution synoptic patterns.
Emilie Fons, Ann Kristin Naumann, David Neubauer, Theresa Lang, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8653–8675, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8653-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8653-2024, 2024
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Aerosols can modify the liquid water path (LWP) of stratocumulus and, thus, their radiative effect. We compare storm-resolving model and satellite data that disagree on the sign of LWP adjustments and diagnose this discrepancy with causal inference. We find that strong precipitation, the absence of wet scavenging, and cloud deepening under a weak inversion contribute to positive LWP adjustments to aerosols in the model, despite weak negative effects from cloud-top entrainment enhancement.
Muhammed Irfan, Thomas Kühn, Taina Yli-Juuti, Anton Laakso, Eemeli Holopainen, Douglas R. Worsnop, Annele Virtanen, and Harri Kokkola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8489–8506, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8489-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8489-2024, 2024
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The study examines how the volatility of semi-volatile organic compounds affects secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation and climate. Our simulations show that uncertainties in these volatilities influence aerosol mass and climate impacts. Accurate representation of these compounds in climate models is crucial for predicting global climate patterns.
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Short summary
During severe wildfire seasons, smoke can have a significant impact on air quality in Australia. Our study demonstrates that characterization of the smoke plume injection fractions greatly affects estimates of surface smoke PM2.5. Using the plume behavior predicted by the machine learning method leads to the best model agreement with observed surface PM2.5 in key cities across Australia, with smoke PM2.5 accounting for 5 %–52 % of total PM2.5 on average during fire seasons from 2009 to 2020.
During severe wildfire seasons, smoke can have a significant impact on air quality in Australia....
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