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Aerosols at the Poles: An Aerocom Phase II Multi-Model EvaluationAtmospheric aerosols from anthropogenic and natural sources reach the polar regions through long-range transport and affect the local radiation balance. Such transport is, however, poorly constrained in present-day global climate models, and few multi-model evaluations of polar anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing exist. Here we compare the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm from simulations with 16 global aerosol models from the AeroCom Phase II model intercomparison project with available observations at both poles. We show that the annual mean multi-model median is representative of the observations in Arctic, but that the intermodel spread is large. We also document the geographical distribution and seasonal cycle of the AOD for the individual aerosol species: black carbon (BC) from fossil fuel and biomass burning, sulfate, organic aerosols (OAs), dust, and sea-salt. For a subset of models that represent nitrate and secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), we document the role of these aerosols at high latitudes. The seasonal dependence of natural and anthropogenic aerosols differs with natural aerosols peaking in winter (seasalt) and spring (dust), whereas AOD from anthropogenic aerosols peaks in late spring and summer. The models produce a median annual mean AOD of 0.07 in the Arctic (defined here as north of 60 degrees N). The models also predict a noteworthy aerosol transport to the Antarctic (south of 70 degrees S) with a resulting AOD varying between 0.01 and 0.02. The models have estimated the shortwave anthropogenic radiative forcing contributions to the direct aerosol effect (DAE) associated with BC and OA from fossil fuel and biofuel (FF), sulfate, SOAs, nitrate, and biomass burning from BC and OA emissions combined. The Arctic modelled annual mean DAE is slightly negative (-0.12 W m(exp. -2), dominated by a positive BC FF DAE in spring and a negative sulfate DAE in summer. The Antarctic DAE is governed by BC FF. We perform sensitivity experiments with one of the AeroCom models (GISS modelE) to investigate how regional emissions of BC and sulfate and the lifetime of BC influence the Arctic and Antarctic AOD. A doubling of emissions in eastern Asia results in a 33 percent increase in Arctic AOD of BC. A doubling of the BC lifetime results in a 39 percent increase in Arctic AOD of BC. However, these radical changes still fall within the AeroCom model range.
Document ID
20180001274
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Sand, Maria
(Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) Oslo, Norway)
Bauer, Susanne E.
(NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY United States)
Samset, Bjorn H.
(Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) Oslo, Norway)
Balkanski, Yves
(Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette, France)
Bellouin, Nicolas
(Reading Univ. United Kingdom)
Berntsen, Terje K.
(Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) Oslo, Norway)
Bian, Huisheng
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Chin, Mian
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Diehl, Thomas
(Commission of the European Communities Ispra, Italy)
Easter, Richard
(Pacific Northwest National Lab. Richland, WA, United States)
Ghan, Steven J.
(Pacific Northwest National Lab. Richland, WA, United States)
Iversen, Trond
(Norwegian Meteorological Inst. Oslo, Norway)
Kirkevag, Alf
(Norwegian Meteorological Inst. Oslo, Norway)
Lamarque, Jean-Francois
(National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO, United States)
Lin, Guangxing
(Pacific Northwest National Lab. Richland, WA, United States)
Liu, Xiaohong
(Wyoming Univ. Laramie, WY, United States)
Luo, Gan
(State Univ. of New York Albany, NY, United States)
Myhre, Gunnar
(Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) Oslo, Norway)
van Noije, Twan
(Royal Netherlands Meteorological Inst. De Bilt, Netherlands)
Penner, Joyce E.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Schulz, Michael
(Norwegian Meteorological Inst. Oslo, Norway)
Seland, Oyvind
(Norwegian Meteorological Inst. Oslo, Norway)
Skeie, Ragnhild B.
(Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) Oslo, Norway)
Stier, Philip
(Oxford Univ. Oxford, United Kingdom)
Takemura, Toshihiko
(Kyushu Univ. Fukuoka, Japan)
Tsigaridis, Kostas
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Yu, Fangqun
(State Univ. of New York Albany, NY, United States)
Zhang, Kai
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Meteorologie Hamburg, Germany)
Zhang, Hua
(Central Meteorological Service Beijing, China)
Date Acquired
February 15, 2018
Publication Date
October 13, 2017
Publication Information
Publication: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Publisher: Copernicus Publications
Volume: 17
Issue: 19
ISSN: 1680-7316
e-ISSN: 1680-7324
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN48871
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NE/J022624/1
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AGS-1550816
CONTRACT_GRANT: RCN 240372
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX17AG35G
CONTRACT_GRANT: AGS-0946739
CONTRACT_GRANT: ERC FP7/2007-2013
CONTRACT_GRANT: NRC 229771
CONTRACT_GRANT: JP15K12190
CONTRACT_GRANT: DE-AC06-76RLO 1830
CONTRACT_GRANT: RCN 240921
CONTRACT_GRANT: NRC NS2345k
CONTRACT_GRANT: NRC 207711/E10
CONTRACT_GRANT: NRC NN2345k
CONTRACT_GRANT: DOE FG02 01 ER63248
CONTRACT_GRANT: ARC-1023387
CONTRACT_GRANT: JP15H01728
CONTRACT_GRANT: ERC FP7-280025
CONTRACT_GRANT: DOE DE-SC0008486
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
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