Articles | Volume 26, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-6035-2026
© Author(s) 2026. 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-26-6035-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 May 2026
Research article |
| 06 May 2026
| 06 May 2026
Variability and trends of upper-tropospheric aerosols over the Asian summer monsoon region: an AeroCom multi-model study
Mian Chin
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Jonathon S. Wright
Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Huisheng Bian
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Qian Tan
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Moffett Field, California, USA
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
Xiaohua Pan
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
ADNET Systems, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Toshihiko Takemura
Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Fukouka, Japan
Hitoshi Matsui
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Institute for Space–Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Kostas Tsigaridis
Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USA
Susanne Bauer
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USA
Paul Ginoux
NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Yiran Peng
Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Zengyuan Guo
Climate Studies Key Laboratory, National Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, China
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Suvarna Fadnavis
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India
Anton Laakso
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Kuopio, Finland
John P. Burrows
Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Ghassan Taha
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Jayanta Kar
Analytical Mechanics Associates, Hampton, Virginia, USA
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA
Alexei Rozanov
Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Carlo Arosio
Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Landon Rieger
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Adam Bourassa
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada
Data sets
Global Fire Emissions Database, Version 4.1 (GFEDv4) J. T. Randerson et al. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1293
NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center DAAC CALIPSO Lidar Level 3 Stratospheric Aerosol Profiles Standard V1-00 https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/LID_L3_STRATOSPHERIC_APRO-STANDARD-V1-00
Short summary
Aerosols in the upper troposphere influence weather and climate. The Asian summer monsoon efficiently transports surface pollutants upward, shaping aerosol amounts and variability in the upper troposphere. Using multiple global models, this study finds a summertime increase in upper-tropospheric aerosols at 1.2 % per year from 2000 to 2018 over Asia, consistent with rising pollutant emissions in Asia, while year-to-year changes are mainly driven by climate variability affecting monsoon dynamics.
Aerosols in the upper troposphere influence weather and climate. The Asian summer monsoon...
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