Transport of Aerosols from Asia and Their Radiative Effects Over the Western Pacific: A 3-D Model Study for ACE-Asia Experiment During Spring 2001

The Aerosol Characterization Experiment-Asia (ACE-Asia) took place in Spring 2001 in the East Asia-West Pacific Ocean. During the ACE-Asia intensive field operation period, high concentrations of dust and anthropogenic aerosols were observed over the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, which were transported out from the Asian continent, with the plume often extending to 6-8 km altitude. The multi-component aerosols originated from Asia are expected to exert a significant radiative forcing over the Pacific region. We present here results from the Georgia Tech/Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model of aerosol transport and radiative forcing in the context of ACE-Asia. The model calculated aerosol concentrations, extinctions, optical thickness, size distributions, and vertical profiles are compared with the aircraft and ship measurements, and the distributions of aerosols are compared with satellite data. The model will be used to understand the origins of the aerosols observed in ACE-Asia, estimate the contributions from anthropogenic and natural aerosols to the total aerosol optical thickness, investigate the effects of humidification and clouds on aerosol properties, and assess the radiative forcing of Asian aerosols over the Pacific region and in the northern hemisphere.