Anthropogenic aerosols may have increased upper tropospheric humidity in the 20th century

Bister, M.; Kulmala, Markku

doi:10.5194/acp-11-4577-2011

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Rosenfeld et al, 2007) and increasing the stratiform ice water content (de Boer et al, 2010;D. Rosenfeld & Lensky, 1998), anvil longevity (Tulet et al, 2010), and cloud top height (Bister & Kulmala, 2011). However, it is still unclear whether aerosols could influence the total volume of rainfall (TRV) produced during the entire lifetime of these MCSs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Aerosols and Meteorological Conditions on the Total Rain Volume of the Mesoscale Convective Systems Over Tropical Continents

Chakraborty

Massie

2018

Geophysical Research Letters

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This study provides an observational assessment of the variations of the total rain volume (TRV) with aerosols through the entire lifetime of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) over tropics. Using 70,000 MCSs' samples, we show that TRV increases with aerosols from clean to moderately heavy polluted conditions (aerosol optical depth [AOD] ~ 0.0–0.4). TRV decreases when AOD exceeds 0.5. The TRV change with AOD is strongest under favorable meteorological conditions, such as high total precipitable water (45–75 kg/m2), high convective available potential energy (1,200–2,400 J/kg), and intermediate vertical wind shear (9–21 × 10−4/s). TRV of MCSs increases from 2 to 4 km3 (rain depth ~ 20–40 mm) when AOD < 0.15 or >0.5, to more than 12 km3 (~120 mm) when 0.2 < AOD < 0.4 under above the mentioned optimal meteorological conditions. The basic response of TRV to aerosol concentrations is similar under all the meteorological conditions and during all stages of the MCS lifecycle.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Aerosols and Meteorological Conditions on the Total Rain Volume of the Mesoscale Convective Systems Over Tropical Continents

Chakraborty

Massie

2018

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…2 Data and methods 2.1 Data UTH, i.e. the relative humidity with respect to water, in a layer between approximately 200 and 500 hPa, was obtained from the microwave humidity sounder (MHS; Bonsignori, 2007) on board the MetOp-A satellite for 60 • S to 60 • N. The ascending node was used, crossing the Equator northward at 21:30 local solar time. A microwave method developed by Buehler et al (2008) enabled us to detect relative humidities also in the areas of anvil clouds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Authors' reply to Referee #1

Riuttanen¹

2016

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Aerosol-cloud interactions are the largest source of uncertainty in the radiative forcing of the global climate. A phenomenon not included in the estimates of the total net forcing is the potential increase in upper tropospheric humidity (UTH) by anthropogenic aerosols via changes in the microphysics of deep convection. Using remote sensing data over the ocean east of China in summer, we show that increased aerosol loads are associated with an UTH increase of 2.2 ± 1.5 in units of relative humidity. We show that humidification of aerosols or other meteorological covariation is very unlikely to be the cause of this result, indicating relevance for the global climate. In tropical moist air such an UTH increase leads to a regional radiative effect of 0.5 ± 0.4 W m −2 . We conclude that the effect of aerosols on UTH should be included in future studies of anthropogenic climate change and climate sensitivity.

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“…4,5] have found that clouds produce more extensive anvils in the presence of high aerosol loading. Bister and Kulmala [6] propose that aerosols could affect the amount of water vapour left in the upper troposphere after deep convection due to their effect on cloud microphysics leading to more ice precipitation and less warm rain.…”

Section: Aerosols May Increase Upper Tropospheric Humidity Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosols may increase upper tropospheric humidity

Riuttanen¹,

Bister²,

John³

et al. 2013

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Aerosol particles may increase the amount of water vapor in the upper troposphere via microphysical changes in deep convective clouds. In this study aerosol optical depth data from the MODIS instrument onboard the Aqua satellite have been studied together with upper tropospheric humidity data from microwave humidity sounder onboard the MetOp-A satellite. An increase in upper tropospheric humidity connected to higher aerosol optical depth values is found. Caveats of the method are discussed.

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Anthropogenic aerosols may have increased upper tropospheric humidity in the 20th century

Cited by 16 publications

References 62 publications

The Influence of Aerosols and Meteorological Conditions on the Total Rain Volume of the Mesoscale Convective Systems Over Tropical Continents

The Influence of Aerosols and Meteorological Conditions on the Total Rain Volume of the Mesoscale Convective Systems Over Tropical Continents

Authors' reply to Referee #1

Aerosols may increase upper tropospheric humidity

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