Analyzing signatures of aerosol‐cloud interactions from satellite retrievals and the GISS GCM to constrain the aerosol indirect effect

Menon, Surabi; Genio, Anthony D. Del; Kaufman, Yoram J.; Bennartz, Ralf; Koch, D.; Loeb, Norman G.; Orlikowski, Daniel

doi:10.1029/2007jd009442

Cited by 64 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(61 reference statements)

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“…By virtue of their large coverage and high spatial and temporal resolution, satellite-borne instruments have become a promising observational tool in studying ACIs. Previous studies using a large amount of satellite data and/or multiple satellite instruments have shown that aerosol particles can affect cloud properties significantly (Krüger and Grassl, 2002;Menon et al, 2008;Sporre et al, 2014;Rosenfeld et al, 2014;Saponaro et al, 2017). Satellite measurements suggest that the CDR tends to decrease with increasing aerosol loading, which is consistent with Twomey's theory (Matheson et al, 2005;Meskhidze and Nenes, 2010;Koren et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Analysis of aerosol effects on warm clouds over the Yangtze River Delta from multi-sensor satellite observations

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Aerosol effects on low warm clouds over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD, eastern China) are examined using co-located MODIS, CALIOP and CloudSat observations. By taking the vertical locations of aerosol and cloud layers into account, we use simultaneously observed aerosol and cloud data to investigate relationships between cloud properties and the amount of aerosol particles (using aerosol optical depth, AOD, as a proxy). Also, we investigate the impact of aerosol types on the variation of cloud properties with AOD. Finally, we explore how meteorological conditions affect these relationships using ERA-Interim reanalysis data. This study shows that the relation between cloud properties and AOD depends on the aerosol abundance, with a different behaviour for low and high AOD (i.e. AOD < 0.35 and AOD > 0.35). This applies to cloud droplet effective radius (CDR) and cloud fraction (CF), but not to cloud optical thickness (COT) and cloud top pressure (CTP). COT is found to decrease when AOD increases, which may be due to radiative effects and retrieval artefacts caused by absorbing aerosol. Conversely, CTP tends to increase with elevated AOD, indicating that the aerosol is not always prone to expand the vertical extension. It also shows that the COT-CDR and CWP (cloud liquid water path)-CDR relationships are not unique, but affected by atmospheric aerosol loading. Furthermore, separation of cases with either polluted dust or smoke aerosol shows that aerosol-cloud interaction (ACI) is stronger for clouds mixed with smoke aerosol than for clouds mixed with dust, which is ascribed to the higher absorption efficiency of smoke than dust. The variation of cloud properties with AOD is analysed for various relative humidity and boundary layer thermodynamic and dynamic conditions, showing that high relative humidity favours larger cloud droplet particles and increases cloud formation, irrespective of vertical or horizontal level. Stable atmospheric conditions enhance cloud cover horizontally. However, unstable atmospheric conditions favour thicker and higher clouds. Dynamically, upward motion of air parcels can also facilitate the formation of thicker and higher clouds. Overall, the present study provides an understanding of the impact of aerosols on cloud properties over the YRD. In addition to the amount of aerosol particles (or AOD), evidence is provided that aerosol types and ambient environmental conditions need to be considered to understand the observed relationships between cloud properties and AOD.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Analysis of aerosol effects on warm clouds over the Yangtze River Delta from multi-sensor satellite observations

et al. 2017

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“…Aerosol particles can influence the earth's climate both directly by scattering and absorption of incoming solar radiation and terrestrial outgoing radiation, and indirectly by affecting cloud radiative properties through their role as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN) (Twomey, 1974(Twomey, , 1991Charlson et al, 1992;Yu, 2000;Yu et al, 2000Yu et al, , 2001aYu et al, , b, 2003Yu and Zhang, 2011;Lohmann and Feichter, 2005;Menon et al, 2002Menon et al, , 2008IPCC, 2007;DeFelice et al, 1997;Chapman et al, 2009;Gustafson et al, 2007;Zhang et al, 2010aZhang et al, , b, 2012Tao et al, 2012;Hansen et al, 1997;Haywood and Boucher, 2000;Ramanathan et al, 2001;Rosenfeld et al, 2008;Saxena and Yu, 1998;Saxena et al, 1997;F. Yu et al, 2012a, b;Saide et al, 2012;Yang et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2011;McKeen et al, 2007;Yu et al, 2004Yu et al, , 2007bYu et al, , 2008.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosol indirect effect on the grid-scale clouds in the two-way coupled WRF–CMAQ: model description, development, evaluation and regional analysis

Mathur

Pleim

et al. 2014

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. This study implemented first, second and glaciation aerosol indirect effects (AIE) on resolved clouds in the two-way coupled Weather Research and Forecasting Community Multiscale Air Quality (WRF-CMAQ) modeling system by including parameterizations for both cloud drop and ice number concentrations on the basis of CMAQpredicted aerosol distributions and WRF meteorological conditions. The performance of the newly developed WRF-CMAQ model, with alternate Community Atmospheric Model (CAM) and Rapid Radiative Transfer Model for GCMs (RRTMG) radiation schemes, was evaluated with observations from the Clouds and the See http://ceres.larc. nasa.gov/. Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) satellite and surface monitoring networks (AQS, IMPROVE, CASTNET, STN, and PRISM) over the continental US (CONUS) (12 km resolution) and eastern Texas (4 km resolution) during August and September of 2006. The results at the Air Quality System (AQS) surface sites show that in August, the normalized mean bias (NMB) values for PM 2.5 over the eastern US (EUS) and the western US (WUS) are 5.3 % (−0.1 %) and 0.4 % (−5.2 %) for WRF-CMAQ/CAM (WRF-CMAQ/RRTMG), respectively. The evaluation of PM 2.5 chemical composition reveals that in August, WRF-CMAQ/CAM (WRF-CMAQ/RRTMG) consistently underestimated the observed SO 2− 4 by −23.0 % (−27.7 %), −12.5 % (−18.9 %) and −7.9 % (−14.8 %) over the EUS at the Clean Air Status Trends Network (CAST-NET), Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) and Speciated Trends Network (STN) sites, respectively. Both configurations (WRF-CMAQ/CAM, WRF-CMAQ/RRTMG) overestimated the observed mean organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) and and total carbon (TC) concentrations over the EUS in August at the IMPROVE sites. Both configurations generally underestimated the cloud field (shortwave cloud forcing, SWCF) over the CONUS in August due to the fact that the AIE on the subgrid convective clouds was not considered when the model simulations were run at the 12 km resolution. This is in agreement with the fact that both configurations captured SWCF and longwave cloud forcing (LWCF) very well for the 4 km simulation over eastern Texas, when all clouds were resolved by the finer resolution domain. The simulations of WRF-CMAQ/CAM and WRF-CMAQ/RRTMG show dramatic improvements for SWCF, LWCF, cloud optical depth (COD), cloud fractions and precipitation over the ocean relative to those of WRF default cases in August. The model performance in September is similar to that in August, except for a greater overestimation of PM 2.5 due to the overestimations of SO

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“…Although numerous completed studies attempt to understand aerosol effects on liquid phase clouds (e.g. Jiang et al, 2006;Lu and Seinfeld, 2005;Menon et al, 2008), less attention has been given to similar interactions in mixed-phase clouds (e.g. Lohmann and Diehl, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A numerical study of aerosol influence on mixed-phase stratiform clouds through modulation of the liquid phase

et al. 2013

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Numerical simulations were carried out in a high-resolution two-dimensional framework to increase our understanding of aerosol indirect effects in mixed-phase stratiform clouds. Aerosol characteristics explored include insoluble particle type, soluble mass fraction, influence of aerosol-induced freezing point depression and influence of aerosol number concentration. Simulations were analyzed with a focus on the processes related to liquid phase microphysics, and ice formation was limited to droplet freezing. Of the aerosol properties investigated, aerosol insoluble mass type and its associated freezing efficiency was found to be most relevant to cloud lifetime. Secondary effects from aerosol soluble mass fraction and number concentration also alter cloud characteristics and lifetime. These alterations occur via various mechanisms, including changes to the amount of nucleated ice, influence on liquid phase precipitation and ice riming rates, and changes to liquid droplet nucleation and growth rates. Alteration of the aerosol properties in simulations with identical initial and boundary conditions results in large variability in simulated cloud thickness and lifetime, ranging from rapid and complete glaciation of liquid to the production of long-lived, thick stratiform mixed-phase cloud

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Analyzing signatures of aerosol‐cloud interactions from satellite retrievals and the GISS GCM to constrain the aerosol indirect effect

Cited by 64 publications

References 43 publications

Analysis of aerosol effects on warm clouds over the Yangtze River Delta from multi-sensor satellite observations

Analysis of aerosol effects on warm clouds over the Yangtze River Delta from multi-sensor satellite observations

Aerosol indirect effect on the grid-scale clouds in the two-way coupled WRF–CMAQ: model description, development, evaluation and regional analysis

A numerical study of aerosol influence on mixed-phase stratiform clouds through modulation of the liquid phase

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