Explicit simulation of aerosol physics in a cloud-resolving model

A. M. L. Ekman (1) , Chen Wang (1) , J. Wilson (2) , J. Ström (3)

1 MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2 IES - JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability
3 ITM - Institute of Applied Environmental Research [Stockholm]

The role of convection in introducing aerosols and promoting the formation of new particles to the upper troposphere has been examined using a cloud-resolving model coupled with an interactive explicit aerosol module. A baseline simulation suggests good agreement in the upper troposphere between modeled and observed results including concentrations of aerosols in different size ranges, mole fractions of key chemical species, and concentrations of ice particles. In addition, a set of 34 sensitivity simulations has been carried out to investigate the sensitivity of modeled results to the treatment of various aerosol physical and chemical processes in the model. The size distribution of aerosols is proved to be an important factor in determining the aerosols' fate within the convective cloud. Nucleation mode aerosols (02SO₄. Accumulation mode aerosols (d>?31.0 nm) are almost completely removed by nucleation (activation of cloud droplets) and impact scavenging. However, a substantial part (up to 10% of the boundary layer concentration) of the Aitken mode aerosol population (5.84 nm

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère

A. M. L. Ekman, Chen Wang, J. Wilson, J. Ström. Explicit simulation of aerosol physics in a cloud-resolving model. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2004, 4 (1), pp.753-803. ⟨hal-00301091⟩