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Browsing by Subject "aerosols"

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  • Observations of atmospheric iodic acid over the one-year-long MOSAiC expedition in the central Arctic 
    Kemppainen, Deniz (2023)
    The Arctic is warming approximately four times as fast as the rest of the planet, and the current and future changes may have drastic effects on the entire globe. However, the detailed processes of the Arctic climate have been studied to a small extent due to the remote and hard-to-reach location, and the representation of the Arctic in climate models has been inadequate. There are many uncertainties in climate models, and significant uncertainties concern aerosol-related information. Atmospheric aerosols have a large, yet not entirely understood and quantified effect on the climate. Aerosols affect the Earth’s radiative balance by scattering and absorbing incoming radiation, and they play a significant role in the cloud formation process. In order to improve the representation of the Arctic in climate models and tackle the unsolved questions about the Arctic atmosphere, sea ice, ocean, biogeochemistry and ecosystem, a one-year-long expedition called Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) was conducted in the central Arctic between September 2019 and October 2020. As secondary aerosol formation (new particle formation) produces more than 50% of the atmospheric cloud condensation nuclei, and iodic acid has been identified to be a significant compound for new particle formation in the Arctic pristine environments, the iodic acid concentrations during the full-year MOSAiC expedition was investigated. The main research objective was to quantify the seasonal cycle of iodic acid in the Arctic. The correlation with temperature, solar radiation and ozone were also studied. Together with ice dynamics, sea ice thickness and air mass back trajectory simulations, the possible sources of measured iodic acid were investigated. The participation in forming new particles was also studied. The measured iodic acid concentrations varied between 1e4 and 4e7 molecules/cm3 with a detection limit of 1.22e5 molecules/cm3, and the concentrations were in the same range with measured earlier in the Arctic. The highest concentrations were measured in April. An increased correlation of iodic acid concentration with temperature and radiation was observed during spring, and an anticorrelating trend was observed between iodic acid concentration and ozone during the period of high iodic acid, implying that iodic acid is partially responsible for ozone depletion in the arctic. Comparison with particle data showed that iodic acid concentrations measured during MOSAiC were sufficient to take part in the new particle formation. However, nucleation was not observed during the highest iodic acid concentration period in April.
  • The effect of aerosols on long wave radiation and global warming 
    Zhou, You (2015)
    Long wave (LW) radiation in the Earth's atmosphere is defined as the radiation at wavelengths longer than 4 µm (infrared). The short wave (SW) radiation wavelengths are less than 4 µm (visible light, ultraviolet). SW radiation is usually from solar origin. The absorbed solar SW radiation is closely balanced by the outgoing LW radiation in the atmosphere. This radiation balance keeps the global average temperature stable. The main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of the 'greenhouse effect'. Atmospheric greenhouse gases absorb the thermal LW radiation from a planetary surface. The absorbed radiation is re-emitted to all directions. Some of the energy is transferred back to the surface and the lower atmosphere since part of the re-radiation is directed towards the surface, resulting in increased surface temperature. The local radiation balance is also affected by clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere since they too can absorb and scatter radiation. The effects of clouds and greenhouse gases on the global radiative balance and surface temperature are well known. The aerosols, however, are one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in the interpretation and projection of the climate change. Natural aerosols such as those due to large eruptions of volcanoes and wind-blown mineral dust are recognised as significant sources of climate forcing. In addition, there are several ways in which humans are altering atmospheric aerosols. These include industrial emissions to the lower atmosphere as well as emissions to as high as lower stratosphere by aircraft. In this thesis the effect of aerosols on LW radiation was studied based on narrowband LW calculations in a reference mid-latitude summer atmosphere with and without aerosols. Aerosols were added to the narrowband LW scheme based on their typical schematic observed spectral and vertical behaviour over European land areas. This was found to agree also with spectral aerosol data from the Lan Zhou University Semi-Arid Climate Observatory and Laboratory measurement stations in north-western China. A volcanic stratospheric aerosol load was found to induce local LW warming with a stronger column “greenhouse effect” than a doubled CO2 concentration. A heavy near-surface aerosol load was found to increase the downwelling LW radiation to the surface and to reduce the outgoing LW radiation, acting very much like a thin low cloud in increasing the LW greenhouse effect of the atmosphere. The short wave reflection of white aerosol has, however, stronger impact in general, but the aerosol LW greenhouse effect is non-negligible under heavy aerosol loads.

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