scholarly journals Estimation of mineral dust long-wave radiative forcing: sensitivity study to particle properties and application to real cases in the region of Barcelona

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 9213-9231 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sicard ◽  
S. Bertolín ◽  
M. Mallet ◽  
P. Dubuisson ◽  
A. Comerón

Abstract. The aerosol radiative effect in the long-wave (LW) spectral range is sometimes not taken into account in atmospheric aerosol forcing studies at local scale because the LW aerosol effect is assumed to be negligible. At regional and global scale this effect is partially taken into account: aerosol absorption is taken into account but scattering is still neglected. However, aerosols with strong absorbing and scattering properties in the LW region, like mineral dust, can have a non-negligible radiative effect in the LW spectral range (both at surface and top of the atmosphere) which can counteract their cooling effect occurring in the short-wave spectral range. The first objective of this research is to perform a sensitivity study of mineral dust LW radiative forcing (RF) as a function of dust microphysical and optical properties using an accurate radiative transfer model which can compute vertically resolved short-wave and long-wave aerosol RF. Radiative forcing simulations in the LW range have shown an important sensitivity to the following parameters: aerosol load, radius of the coarse mode, refractive index, aerosol vertical distribution, surface temperature and surface albedo. The scattering effect has been estimated to contribute to the LW RF up to 18% at the surface and up to 38% at the top of the atmosphere. The second objective is the estimation of the short-wave and long-wave dust RF for 11 dust outbreaks observed in Barcelona. At the surface, the LW RF varies between +2.8 and +10.2 W m−2, which represents between 11 and 26% (with opposite sign) of the SW component, while at the top of the atmosphere the LW RF varies between +0.6 and +5.8 W m−2, which represents between 6 and 26% (with opposite sign) of the SW component.

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 8533-8573 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sicard ◽  
S. Bertolín ◽  
M. Mallet ◽  
P. Dubuisson ◽  
A. Comerón

Abstract. The aerosol radiative effect in the longwave (LW) spectral range is sometimes not taken into account in atmospheric aerosol forcing studies at local scale because the LW aerosol effect is assumed to be negligible. At regional and global scale this effect is partially taken into account: aerosol absorption is taken into account but scattering is still neglected. However, aerosols with strong absorbing and scattering properties in the LW region, like mineral dust, can have a non-negligible radiative effect in the LW spectral range (both at surface and top of the atmosphere) which can counteract their cooling effect occurring in the shortwave spectral range. The first objective of this research is to perform a sensitivity study of mineral dust LW radiative forcing (RF) as a function of dust microphysical and optical properties using an accurate radiative transfer model which can compute vertically-resolved shortwave and longwave aerosol RF. Radiative forcing simulations in the LW range have shown an important sensitivity to the following parameters: aerosol load, radius of the coarse mode, refractive index, aerosol vertical distribution, surface temperature and surface albedo. The scattering effect has been estimated to contribute to the LW RF up to 18% at the surface and up to 38% at the top of the atmosphere. The second objective is the estimation of the shortwave and longwave dust RF for 11 dust outbreaks observed in Barcelona. At the surface, the LW RF varies between +2.8 and +10.2 W m−2, which represents between 11 and 26% (with opposite sign) of the SW component, while at the top of the atmosphere the LW RF varies between +0.6 and +5.8 W m−2, which represents between 6 and 26% (with opposite sign) of the SW component.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Calì Quaglia ◽  
Daniela Meloni ◽  
Alcide Giorgio di Sarra ◽  
Tatiana Di Iorio ◽  
Virginia Ciardini ◽  
...  

<p>Extended and intense wildfires occurred in Northern Canada and, unexpectedly, on the Greenlandic West coast during summer 2017. The thick smoke plume emitted into the atmosphere was transported to the high Arctic, producing one of the largest impacts ever observed in the region. Evidence of Canadian and Greenlandic wildfires was recorded at the Thule High Arctic Atmospheric Observatory (THAAO, 76.5°N, 68.8°W, www.thuleatmos-it.it) by a suite of instruments managed by ENEA, INGV, Univ. of Florence, and NCAR. Ground-based observations of the radiation budget have allowed quantification of the surface radiative forcing at THAAO. </p><p>Excess biomass burning chemical tracers such as CO, HCN, H2CO, C2H6, and NH3 were  measured in the air column above Thule starting from August 19 until August 23. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) reached a peak value of about 0.9 on August 21, while an enhancement of wildfire compounds was  detected in PM10. The measured shortwave radiative forcing was -36.7 W/m2 at 78° solar zenith angle (SZA) for AOD=0.626.</p><p>MODTRAN6.0 radiative transfer model (Berk et al., 2014) was used to estimate the aerosol radiative effect and the heating rate profiles at 78° SZA. Measured temperature profiles, integrated water vapour, surface albedo, spectral AOD and aerosol extinction profiles from CALIOP onboard CALIPSO were used as model input. The peak  aerosol heating rate (+0.5 K/day) was  reached within the aerosol layer between 8 and 12 km, while the maximum radiative effect (-45.4 W/m2) is found at 3 km, below the largest aerosol layer.</p><p>The regional impact of the event that occurred on August 21 was investigated using a combination of atmospheric radiative transfer modelling with measurements of AOD and ground surface albedo from MODIS. The aerosol properties used in the radiative transfer model were constrained by in situ measurements from THAAO. Albedo data over the ocean have been obtained from Jin et al. (2004). Backward trajectories produced through HYSPLIT simulations (Stein et al., 2015) were also employed to trace biomass burning plumes.</p><p>The radiative forcing efficiency (RFE) over land and ocean was derived, finding values spanning from -3 W/m2 to -132 W/m2, depending on surface albedo and solar zenith angle. The fire plume covered a vast portion of the Arctic, with large values of the daily shortwave RF (< -50 W/m2) lasting for a few days. This large amount of aerosol is expected to influence cloud properties in the Arctic, producing significant indirect radiative effects.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 5513-5527 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. Heald ◽  
D. A. Ridley ◽  
J. H. Kroll ◽  
S. R. H. Barrett ◽  
K. E. Cady-Pereira ◽  
...  

Abstract. The direct radiative effect (DRE) of aerosols, which is the instantaneous radiative impact of all atmospheric particles on the Earth's energy balance, is sometimes confused with the direct radiative forcing (DRF), which is the change in DRE from pre-industrial to present-day (not including climate feedbacks). In this study we couple a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) with a radiative transfer model (RRTMG) to contrast these concepts. We estimate a global mean all-sky aerosol DRF of −0.36 Wm−2 and a DRE of −1.83 Wm−2 for 2010. Therefore, natural sources of aerosol (here including fire) affect the global energy balance over four times more than do present-day anthropogenic aerosols. If global anthropogenic emissions of aerosols and their precursors continue to decline as projected in recent scenarios due to effective pollution emission controls, the DRF will shrink (−0.22 Wm−2 for 2100). Secondary metrics, like DRE, that quantify temporal changes in both natural and anthropogenic aerosol burdens are therefore needed to quantify the total effect of aerosols on climate.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad R. Sadrian ◽  
Wendy M. Calvin ◽  
John McCormack

Abstract. Mineral dust particles dominate aerosol mass in the atmosphere and directly modify Earth’s radiative balance through absorption and scattering. This radiative forcing varies strongly with mineral composition, yet there is still limited knowledge on the mineralogy of atmospheric dust. In this study, we performed X-ray diffraction (XRD) and reflectance spectroscopy measurements on 37 different atmospheric dust samples collected as airfall in an urban setting to determine mineralogy and the relative proportions of minerals in the dust mixture. Most commonly, XRD has been used to characterize dust mineralogy; however, without prior special sample preparation, this technique is less effective for identifying poorly crystalline or amorphous phases. In addition to XRD measurements, we performed visible, near-infrared, and short-wave infrared (VNIR/SWIR) reflectance spectroscopy for these natural dust samples as a complementary technique to determine minerology and mineral abundances. Reflectance spectra of dust particles are a function of a nonlinear combination of mineral abundances in the mixture. Therefore, we used a Hapke radiative transfer model along with a linear spectral mixing approach to derive relative mineral abundances from reflectance spectroscopy. We compared spectrally derived abundances with those determined semi-quantitatively from XRD. Our results demonstrate that total clay mineral abundances from XRD are correlated with those from reflectance spectroscopy and follow similar trends; however, XRD underpredicts the total amount of clay for many of the samples. On the other hand, calcite abundances are significantly underpredicted by SWIR compared to XRD. This is caused by the weakening of absorption features associated with the fine particle size of the samples, as well as the presence of dark non-mineral materials (e.g., asphalt) in these samples. Another possible explanation for abundance discrepancies between XRD and SWIR is related to the differing sensitivity of the two techniques (crystal structure vs chemical bonds). Our results indicate that it is beneficial to use both XRD and reflectance spectroscopy to characterize airfall dust, because the former technique is good at identifying and quantifying the SWIR-transparent minerals (e.g., quartz, albite, and microcline), while the latter technique is superior for determining abundances for clays and non-mineral components.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 3699
Author(s):  
Ruben Barragan ◽  
Francisco Molero ◽  
María José Granados-Muñoz ◽  
Pedro Salvador ◽  
Manuel Pujadas ◽  
...  

In this study, the feasibility of using ceilometer signals to retrieve radiative forcing values is evaluated. The Global Atmospheric Model (GAME) radiative transfer model is used to estimate the shortwave and longwave radiative forcing using an aerosol parameterization based on AERONET data and vertical profiles from a Lufft CHM-15k Nimbus ceilometer. First, eight cases confirmed as dusty days are analyzed to check the feasibility of using ceilometer profiles to feed GAME. The obtained radiative forcing estimates are in good agreement with the literature showing negative values in the short wave (SW) (cooling effect) and positive values in the long wave (LW) (heating effect), both at all levels. As in the literature, radiative forcing estimates show a strong dependence on variations in the aerosol optical depth (AOD), solar zenith angle (θz), surface temperature (ST), and single scattering albedo at 440 nm (SSA440). Thus, GAME can be fed using ceilometer measurements obtaining reliable results. Then, as the temporal evolution of the AOD440 between 27 January and 15 June compared to the 6-year weekly AERONET AOD440 average (from 2014 to 2019) shows a decrease because of the lockdown imposed in Spain due to the COVID-19, a total of 37 radiative forcing calculations without African dust, divided into 8 scenarios, are performed in order to check the effect of the lockdown measures in the radiative forcing. It is shown that the decrease in the AOD, during the lockdown, caused a decrease in the cooling effect in the SW spectral range at all levels. Besides, the increase in the ST increased the heating effect of the aerosols in the LW at the top of the atmosphere and the presence of pollution and absorbing particles (SSA440 < 0.90) caused an increase of the heating effect in the LW at the surface. Therefore, the observed variations in the radiative forcing estimates before and during the lockdown are directly related with the decrease in emissions of aerosols related to human activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (20) ◽  
pp. 12313-12327
Author(s):  
Manuel Gutleben ◽  
Silke Groß ◽  
Martin Wirth ◽  
Bernhard Mayer

Abstract. The radiative effect of long-range-transported Saharan air layers is investigated on the basis of simultaneous airborne high-spectral-resolution and differential-absorption lidar measurements in the vicinity of Barbados. Within the observed Saharan air layers, increased water vapor concentrations compared to the dry trade wind atmosphere are found. The measured profiles of aerosol optical properties and water vapor mixing ratios are used to characterize the atmospheric composition in radiative transfer calculations, to calculate radiative effects of moist Saharan air layers and to determine radiative heating rate profiles. An analysis based on three case studies reveals that the observed enhanced amounts of water vapor within Saharan air layers have a much stronger impact on heating rate calculations than mineral dust aerosol. Maximum mineral dust short-wave heating and long-wave cooling rates are found at altitudes of highest dust concentration (short wave: +0.5 K d−1; long wave: −0.2 K d−1; net: +0.3 K d−1). However, when considering both aerosol concentrations and measured water vapor mixing ratios in radiative transfer calculations, the maximum heating/cooling rates shift to the top of the dust layer (short wave: +2.2 K d−1; long wave: −6.0 to −7.0 K d−1; net: −4.0 to −5.0 K d−1). Additionally, the net heating rates decrease with height – indicating a destabilizing effect in the dust layers. Long-wave counter-radiation of Saharan air layers is found to reduce cooling at the tops of the subjacent marine boundary layers and might lead to less convective mixing in these layers. The overall short-wave radiative effect of mineral dust particles in Saharan air layers indicates a maximum magnitude of −40 W m−2 at surface level and a maximum of −25 W m−2 at the top of the atmosphere.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria José Granados-Muñoz ◽  
Michaël Sicard ◽  
Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos ◽  
Rubén Barragán ◽  
Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda ◽  
...  

Abstract. A demonstration study to examine the feasibility to retrieve dust radiative effects based on combined satellite data from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), CERES (Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System) and CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) li-dar vertical profiles along their orbit is presented. The radiative transfer model GAME (Global Atmos-pheric Model) is used to estimate the shortwave and longwave dust radiative effects below the CALIP-SO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite) orbit assuming an aerosol parameterization based on CALIOP vertical distribution at a horizontal resolution of 5 km and additional AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) data. Two study cases are analysed; a strong long-range transport mineral dust event (AOD = 0.52) originated in the Sahara Desert and reaching the United Kingdom and a weaker event (AOD = 0.16) affecting Eastern Europe. The obtained radiative fluxes are first validated in terms of radiative forcing efficiency at a single point with space-time co-located lidar ground-based measurements from EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network) stations below the orbit. The methodology is then applied to the full orbit. The obtained results indicate that the radiative effects show a strong dependence on the aerosol load, highlighting the need of accurate AOD measurements for forcing studies, and on the surface albedo. The calculated dust radiative effects and heating rates below the orbits are in good agreement with previous studies of mineral dust, with the forcing efficiency obtained at the surface ranging between −80.3 and −63.0 W m−2 for the weaker event and −119.1 and −79.3 W m−2 for the strong one. Results thus demonstrate the validity of the presented method to retrieve 2-D accurate radiative properties with large spatial and temporal coverage.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Gutleben ◽  
Silke Groß ◽  
Martin Wirth ◽  
Bernhard Mayer

Abstract. The radiative effect of long-range-transported Saharan air layers is investigated on the basis of simultaneous airborne high spectral resolution and differential absorption lidar measurements in the vicinity of Barbados. Within the observed Saharan air layers increased water vapor concentrations compared to the dry trade wind atmosphere are found. The measured profiles of aerosol optical properties and water vapor mixing ratios are used to characterize the atmospheric composition in radiative transfer calculations, to calculate radiative effects of moist Saharan air layers and to determine radiative heating rate profiles. An analysis based on three case studies reveals that the observed enhanced amounts of water vapor within Saharan air layers have a much stronger impact on heating rate calculations than mineral dust aerosol. Maximum mineral dust short-wave heating and long-wave cooling rates are found in altitudes of highest dust concentration (short-wave: +0.5 Kd−1, long-wave: −0.2 Kd−1, net: +0.3 Kd−1). However, when considering both aerosol concentrations and measured water vapor mixing ratios in radiative transfer calculations the maximum heating/cooling rates shift to the top of the dust layer (short-wave: +2.2 Kd Kd−1, long-wave: −6.0 to −7.0 Kd−1, net: −5.0 to −4.0 Kd−1). Additionally, the net-heating rates decrease with height – indicating a destabilizing effect in the dust layers. Long-wave counter radiation of Saharan air layers is found to reduce cooling at the top of the subjacent marine boundary layers and might lead to less convective mixing in these layers. The overall short-wave radiative effect of mineral dust particles in Saharan air layers indicates a maximum magnitude of −40 Wm−2 at surface level and a maximum of −25 Wm−2 at the top of the atmosphere.


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