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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
Intercomparison and evaluation of global aerosol microphysical properties among AeroCom models of a range of complexity
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Volume 14, No. 9, Year 2014
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Description
Many of the next generation of global climate models will include aerosol schemes which explicitly simulate the microphysical processes that determine the particle size distribution. These models enable aerosol optical properties and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations to be determined by fundamental aerosol processes, which should lead to a more physically based simulation of aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcings. This study examines the global variation in particle size distribution simulated by 12 global aerosol microphysics models to quantify model diversity and to identify any common biases against observations. Evaluation against size distribution measurements from a new European network of aerosol supersites shows that the mean model agrees quite well with the observations at many sites on the annual mean, but there are some seasonal biases common to many sites. In particular, at many of these European sites, the accumulation mode number concentration is biased low during winter and Aitken mode concentrations tend to be overestimated in winter and underestimated in summer. At high northern latitudes, the models strongly underpredict Aitken and accumulation particle concentrations compared to the measurements, consistent with previous studies that have highlighted the poor performance of global aerosol models in the Arctic. In the marine boundary layer, the models capture the observed meridional variation in the size distribution, which is dominated by the Aitken mode at high latitudes, with an increasing concentration of accumulation particles with decreasing latitude. Considering vertical profiles, the models reproduce the observed peak in total particle concentrations in the upper troposphere due to new particle formation, although modelled peak concentrations tend to be biased high over Europe. Overall, the multi-model-mean data set simulates the global variation of the particle size distribution with a good degree of skill, suggesting that most of the individual global aerosol microphysics models are performing well, although the large model diversity indicates that some models are in poor agreement with the observations. Further work is required to better constrain size-resolved primary and secondary particle number sources, and an improved understanding of nucleation and growth (e.g. the role of nitrate and secondary organics) will improve the fidelity of simulated particle size distributions. © 2014 Author(s).
Authors & Co-Authors
Mann, Graham W.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Carslaw, Ken S.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Reddington, L. Carly
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Pringle, Kirsty J.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Germany, Mainz
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Schulz, Michael
Norway, Oslo
Meteorologisk Institutt
Asmi, Ari J.
Finland, Helsinki
Helsingin Yliopisto
Spracklen, Dominick V.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Ridley, D. A.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Woodhouse, M. T.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Australia, Hobart
Csiro Marine and Atmospheric Research
Lee, L. A.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Zhang, Kai
Germany, Hamburg
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
United States, Richland
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Ghan, Steven J.
United States, Richland
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Easter, Richard C.
United States, Richland
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Liu, Xiaohong
United States, Richland
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
United States, Laramie
University of Wyoming
Stier, P.
United Kingdom, Oxford
University of Oxford
Lee, Y. H.
United States, Pittsburgh
Carnegie Mellon University
United States, New York
Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Adams, Peter J.
United States, Pittsburgh
Carnegie Mellon University
Tost, Holger
Germany, Mainz
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Germany, Mainz
Johannes Gutenberg-universität Mainz
Lelieveld, Jos
Germany, Mainz
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Cyprus, Nicosia
The Cyprus Institute
Bauer, Susanne E.
United States, New York
Center for Climate Systems Research
United States, New York
Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Tsigaridis, Kostas
United States, New York
Center for Climate Systems Research
United States, New York
Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Van Noije, Twan P.C.
Netherlands, De Bilt
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
Strunk, A.
Netherlands, De Bilt
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
Vignati, Elisabetta
Belgium, Brussels
European Commission Joint Research Centre
Bellouin, Nicolas
United Kingdom, Reading
University of Reading
Dalvi, M.
United Kingdom, Exeter
Met Office
Johnson, C. E.
United Kingdom, Exeter
Met Office
Bergman, Tommi
Finland, Helsinki
Finnish Meteorological Institute
Kokkola, Harri
Finland, Helsinki
Finnish Meteorological Institute
von Salzen, Knut
Canada, Gatineau
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Yu, Fangqun
United States, Albany
State University of new York Albany
Luo, Gan
United States, Albany
State University of new York Albany
Petzold, Andreas
Germany, Koln
Deutsches Zentrum Für Luft- Und Raumfahrt Dlr
Germany, Julich
Forschungszentrum Jülich Gmbh
Heintzenberg, J.
Germany, Leipzig
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research
Clarke, A.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Ogren, John A.
United States, Boulder
Noaa Earth System Research Laboratory
Gras, John L.
Australia, Hobart
Csiro Marine and Atmospheric Research
Baltensperger, Urs
Switzerland, Villigen
Paul Scherrer Institut
Kaminski, U.
Germany, Offenbach
Deutscher Wetterdienst
Jennings, Stephen Gerard
Ireland, Galway
University of Galway
O'Dowd, Colin D.
Ireland, Galway
University of Galway
Harrison, Roy M.
United Kingdom, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
Saudi Arabia, Jeddah
King Abdulaziz University
Beddows, David C.S.
United Kingdom, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
Kulmala, Markku
Finland, Helsinki
Helsingin Yliopisto
Viisanen, Yrjö
Finland, Helsinki
Helsingin Yliopisto
Ulevicius, V.
Lithuania, Vilnius
Fizinių ir Technologijos Mokslų Centras
Mihalopoulos, N.
Greece, Rethymnon
University of Crete
Ždímal, Vladimir
Czech Republic, Prague
Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Cas
Fiebig, Markus
Norway, Skedsmokorset
Norsk Institutt for Luftforskning
Hansson, Hanschristen
Sweden, Stockholm
Stockholms Universitet
Swietlicki, Erik
Sweden, Lund
Lunds Universitet
Henzing, J. S.
Netherlands, The Hague
Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek- Tno
Statistics
Citations: 148
Authors: 52
Affiliations: 39
Identifiers
Doi:
10.5194/acp-14-4679-2014
ISSN:
16807316
e-ISSN:
16807324