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  • 1
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    The hemispheric contrast in cloud microphysical properties constrains aerosol forcing (2020)
    National Academy of Sciences
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    Publication Date: 2020-07-27
    Description: The change in planetary albedo due to aerosol−cloud interactions during the industrial era is the leading source of uncertainty in inferring Earth’s climate sensitivity to increased greenhouse gases from the historical record. The variable that controls aerosol−cloud interactions in warm clouds is droplet number concentration. Global climate models demonstrate that the present-day hemispheric contrast in cloud droplet number concentration between the pristine Southern Hemisphere and the polluted Northern Hemisphere oceans can be used as a proxy for anthropogenically driven change in cloud droplet number concentration. Remotely sensed estimates constrain this change in droplet number concentration to be between 8 cm−3and 24 cm−3. By extension, the radiative forcing since 1850 from aerosol−cloud interactions is constrained to be −1.2 W⋅m−2to −0.6 W⋅m−2. The robustness of this constraint depends upon the assumption that pristine Southern Ocean droplet number concentration is a suitable proxy for preindustrial concentrations. Droplet number concentrations calculated from satellite data over the Southern Ocean are high in austral summer. Near Antarctica, they reach values typical of Northern Hemisphere polluted outflows. These concentrations are found to agree with several in situ datasets. In contrast, climate models show systematic underpredictions of cloud droplet number concentration across the Southern Ocean. Near Antarctica, where precipitation sinks of aerosol are small, the underestimation by climate models is particularly large. This motivates the need for detailed process studies of aerosol production and aerosol−cloud interactions in pristine environments. The hemispheric difference in satellite estimated cloud droplet number concentration implies preindustrial aerosol concentrations were higher than estimated by most models.
    Print ISSN: 0027-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General
    Published by National Academy of Sciences
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  • 2
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    Black carbon solar absorption suppresses turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer (2016)
    National Academy of Sciences
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    Publication Date: 2016-10-04
    Description: The introduction of cloud condensation nuclei and radiative heating by sunlight-absorbing aerosols can modify the thickness and coverage of low clouds, yielding significant radiative forcing of climate. The magnitude and sign of changes in cloud coverage and depth in response to changing aerosols are impacted by turbulent dynamics of the cloudy atmosphere, but integrated measurements of aerosol solar absorption and turbulent fluxes have not been reported thus far. Here we report such integrated measurements made from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the CARDEX (Cloud Aerosol Radiative Forcing and Dynamics Experiment) investigation conducted over the northern Indian Ocean. The UAV and surface data reveal a reduction in turbulent kinetic energy in the surface mixed layer at the base of the atmosphere concurrent with an increase in absorbing black carbon aerosols. Polluted conditions coincide with a warmer and shallower surface mixed layer because of aerosol radiative heating and reduced turbulence. The polluted surface mixed layer was also observed to be more humid with higher relative humidity. Greater humidity enhances cloud development, as evidenced by polluted clouds that penetrate higher above the top of the surface mixed layer. Reduced entrainment of dry air into the surface layer from above the inversion capping the surface mixed layer, due to weaker turbulence, may contribute to higher relative humidity in the surface layer during polluted conditions. Measurements of turbulence are important for studies of aerosol effects on clouds. Moreover, reduced turbulence can exacerbate both the human health impacts of high concentrations of fine particles and conditions favorable for low-visibility fog events.
    Print ISSN: 0027-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General
    Published by National Academy of Sciences
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  • 3
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    Factors Controlling Cloud Albedo in Marine Subtropical Stratocumulus Regions in Climate Models and Satellite Observations (2016)
    American Meteorological Society
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    Publication Date: 2016-04-28
    Description: This study focuses on the radiative properties of five subtropical marine stratocumulus cloud regions, on monthly mean scale. Through examination of the relation between total albedo and cloud fraction, and its variability and relation to other parameters, some of the factors controlling the reflectivity, or albedo, of the clouds in these regions are investigated. It is found that the main part of the variability in albedo at a given cloud fraction can be related to temporal rather than spatial variability, indicating spatial homogeneity in cloud radiative properties in the studied regions. This is seen most clearly in satellite observations but also appears in an ensemble of climate models. Further comparison between satellite data and output from climate models shows that there is good agreement with respect to the role of liquid water path, the parameter that can be assumed to be the primary source of variability in cloud reflectivity for a given cloud fraction. On the other hand, the influence of aerosol loading on cloud albedo differs between models and observations. The cloud-albedo effect, or cloud brightening caused by aerosol through its coupling to cloud droplet number concentration and droplet size, is found not to dominate in the satellite observations on monthly mean scale, as it appears to do on this scale in the climate models. The disagreement between models and observations is particularly strong in regions with frequent occurrence of absorbing aerosols above clouds, where satellite data, in contrast to the climate models, indicate a scene darkening with increasing aerosol loading.
    Print ISSN: 0894-8755
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0442
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
    Published by American Meteorological Society
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  • 4
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    Evaluation of Hemispheric Asymmetries in Marine Cloud Radiative Properties (2017)
    American Meteorological Society
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    Publication Date: 2017-05-08
    Description: The hemispheric symmetry of albedo and its contributing factors in satellite observations and global climate models is evaluated. The analysis is performed on the annual mean time scale, on which a bimodality in the joint distribution of albedo and cloud fraction is evident, resulting from tropical and subtropical clouds and midlatitude clouds, respectively. Hemispheric albedo symmetry is not found in individual ocean-only latitude bands; comparing the Northern and Southern Hemisphere (NH and SH), regional mean albedo is higher in the NH tropics and lower in the NH subtropics and midlatitudes than in the SH counterparts. This follows the hemispheric asymmetry of cloud fraction. In midlatitudes and tropics the hemispheric asymmetry in cloud albedo also contributes to the asymmetry in total albedo, whereas in the subtropics the cloud albedo is more hemispherically symmetric. According to the observations, cloud contributions to compensation for higher clear-sky albedo in the NH come primarily from cloud albedo in midlatitudes and cloud amount in the subtropics. Current-generation climate models diverge in their representation of these relationships, but common features of the model–data comparison include weaker-than-observed asymmetry in cloud fraction and cloud albedo in the tropics, weaker or reversed cloud fraction asymmetry in the subtropics, and agreement with observed cloud albedo asymmetry in the midlatitudes. Models on average reproduce the NH–SH asymmetry in total albedo over the 60°S–60°N ocean but show higher occurrence of brighter clouds in the SH compared to observations. The albedo bias in both hemispheres is reinforced by overestimated clear-sky albedo in the models.
    Print ISSN: 0894-8755
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0442
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
    Published by American Meteorological Society
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  • 5
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    Aerosol Forcing: Still Uncertain, Still Relevant (2020)
    American Geophysical Union
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    Publication Date: 2020-07-27
    Electronic ISSN: 2576-604X
    Topics: Geosciences
    Published by American Geophysical Union
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  • 6
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    Aerosol midlatitude cyclone indirect effects in observations and high-resolution simulations (2018)
    Copernicus
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    Publication Date: 2018-04-26
    Description: Aerosol–cloud interactions are a major source of uncertainty in inferring the climate sensitivity from the observational record of temperature. The adjustment of clouds to aerosol is a poorly constrained aspect of these aerosol–cloud interactions. Here, we examine the response of midlatitude cyclone cloud properties to a change in cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC). Idealized experiments in high-resolution, convection-permitting global aquaplanet simulations with constant CDNC are compared to 13 years of remote-sensing observations. Observations and idealized aquaplanet simulations agree that increased warm conveyor belt (WCB) moisture flux into cyclones is consistent with higher cyclone liquid water path (CLWP). When CDNC is increased a larger LWP is needed to give the same rain rate. The LWP adjusts to allow the rain rate to be equal to the moisture flux into the cyclone along the WCB. This results in an increased CLWP for higher CDNC at a fixed WCB moisture flux in both observations and simulations. If observed cyclones in the top and bottom tercile of CDNC are contrasted it is found that they have not only higher CLWP but also cloud cover and albedo. The difference in cyclone albedo between the cyclones in the top and bottom third of CDNC is observed by CERES to be between 0.018 and 0.032, which is consistent with a 4.6–8.3 Wm−2 in-cyclone enhancement in upwelling shortwave when scaled by annual-mean insolation. Based on a regression model to observed cyclone properties, roughly 60 % of the observed variability in CLWP can be explained by CDNC and WCB moisture flux.
    Print ISSN: 1680-7316
    Electronic ISSN: 1680-7324
    Topics: Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 7
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    Predicting decadal trends in cloud droplet number concentration using reanalysis and satellite data (2018)
    Copernicus
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    Publication Date: 2018-02-13
    Description: Cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) is the key state variable that moderates the relationship between aerosol and the radiative forcing arising from aerosol–cloud interactions. Uncertainty related to the effect of anthropogenic aerosol on cloud properties represents the largest uncertainty in total anthropogenic radiative forcing. Here we show that regionally averaged time series of the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observed CDNC of low, liquid-topped clouds is well predicted by the MERRA2 reanalysis near-surface sulfate mass concentration over decadal timescales. A multiple linear regression between MERRA2 reanalyses masses of sulfate (SO4), black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), sea salt (SS), and dust (DU) shows that CDNC across many different regimes can be reproduced by a simple power-law fit to near-surface SO4, with smaller contributions from BC, OC, SS, and DU. This confirms previous work using a less sophisticated retrieval of CDNC on monthly timescales. The analysis is supported by an examination of remotely sensed sulfur dioxide (SO2) over maritime volcanoes and the east coasts of North America and Asia, revealing that maritime CDNC responds to changes in SO2 as observed by the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI). This investigation of aerosol reanalysis and top-down remote-sensing observations reveals that emission controls in Asia and North America have decreased CDNC in their maritime outflow on a decadal timescale.
    Print ISSN: 1680-7316
    Electronic ISSN: 1680-7324
    Topics: Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 8
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    Cloud albedo changes in response to anthropogenic sulfate and non-sulfate aerosol forcings in CMIP5 models (2017)
    Copernicus
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    Publication Date: 2017-07-31
    Description: The effects of different aerosol types on cloud albedo are analysed using the linear relation between total albedo and cloud fraction found on a monthly mean scale in regions of subtropical marine stratocumulus clouds and the influence of simulated aerosol variations on this relation. Model experiments from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) are used to separately study the responses to increases in sulfate, non-sulfate and all anthropogenic aerosols. A cloud brightening on the month-to-month scale due to variability in the background aerosol is found to dominate even in the cases where anthropogenic aerosols are added. The aerosol composition is of importance for this cloud brightening, that is thereby region dependent. There is indication that absorbing aerosols to some extent counteract the cloud brightening but scene darkening with increasing aerosol burden is generally not supported, even in regions where absorbing aerosols dominate. Month-to-month cloud albedo variability also confirms the importance of liquid water content for cloud albedo. Regional, monthly mean cloud albedo is found to increase with the addition of anthropogenic aerosols and more so with sulfate than non-sulfate. Changes in cloud albedo between experiments are related to changes in cloud water content as well as droplet size distribution changes, so that models with large increases in liquid water path and/or cloud droplet number show large cloud albedo increases with increasing aerosol. However, no clear relation between model sensitivities to aerosol variations on the month-to-month scale and changes in cloud albedo due to changed aerosol burden is found.
    Print ISSN: 1680-7316
    Electronic ISSN: 1680-7324
    Topics: Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 9
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    How much of the global aerosol optical depth is found in the boundary layer and free troposphere? (2018)
    Copernicus
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    Publication Date: 2018-06-01
    Description: The global aerosol extinction from the CALIOP space lidar was used to compute aerosol optical depth (AOD) over a 9-year period (2007–2015) and partitioned between the boundary layer (BL) and the free troposphere (FT) using BL heights obtained from the ERA-Interim archive. The results show that the vertical distribution of AOD does not follow the diurnal cycle of the BL but remains similar between day and night highlighting the presence of a residual layer during night. The BL and FT contribute 69 and 31 %, respectively, to the global tropospheric AOD during daytime in line with observations obtained in Aire sur l'Adour (France) using the Light Optical Aerosol Counter (LOAC) instrument. The FT AOD contribution is larger in the tropics than at mid-latitudes which indicates that convective transport largely controls the vertical profile of aerosols. Over oceans, the FT AOD contribution is mainly governed by long-range transport of aerosols from emission sources located within neighboring continents. According to the CALIOP aerosol classification, dust and smoke particles are the main aerosol types transported into the FT. Overall, the study shows that the fraction of AOD in the FT – and thus potentially located above low-level clouds – is substantial and deserves more attention when evaluating the radiative effect of aerosols in climate models. More generally, the results have implications for processes determining the overall budgets, sources, sinks and transport of aerosol particles and their description in atmospheric models.
    Print ISSN: 1680-7316
    Electronic ISSN: 1680-7324
    Topics: Geosciences
    Published by Copernicus on behalf of European Geosciences Union.
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  • 10
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    Improved Representation of Marine Stratocumulus Cloud Shortwave Radiative Properties in the CMIP5 Climate Models (2014)
    American Meteorological Society
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    Publication Date: 2014-08-07
    Description: The radiative properties of subtropical marine stratocumulus clouds are investigated in an ensemble of current-generation global climate models from phase 5 of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Using a previously documented method for determining regional mean cloud albedo, the authors find a closer agreement with observations in the CMIP5 models as compared to the previous generation of models (phase 3 of CMIP). The multimodel average indicates regional mean, monthly mean cloud albedos ranging from 0.32 to 0.5 among 26 models and five regions, to be compared with satellite observations that indicate a range from 0.32 to 0.39 for the same five regions. The intermodel spread in cloud fraction gives rise to a spread in albedo. Within models, there is a tendency for large cloud fraction to be related to low cloud albedo and vice versa, a relationship that dampens the intermodel variability in total albedo. The intramodel variability in albedo, for a given cloud fraction, is found to be up to twice as large in magnitude in models as in satellite observations. The reason for this larger variability in models is not settled, but possible contributing factors may be imperfect representation in the models of cloud type distribution or of sensitivity to meteorological variability or aerosols. Changes in aerosol loading are found to be the likely cause of an increase in cloud albedo over time. The radiative effect of such a scene brightening in marine stratocumulus cloud regions, from preindustrial times to present day, is estimated to be up to −1 W m−2 for the global ocean, but there are no observations to verify this number.
    Print ISSN: 0894-8755
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0442
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
    Published by American Meteorological Society
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