The aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM

P. Stier (1) , J. Feichter (1) , S. Kinne (2) , S. Kloster (1) , E. Vignati (3) , J. Wilson , L. Ganzeveld (4) , I. Tegen (5) , M. Werner (5) , Yves Balkanski (6, 7) , M Schulz (6) , O. Boucher (8, 9) , A. Minikin (10) , A. Petzold

1 Department of the Atmosphere in the Earth System [Hamburg]
2 MPI-M - Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie
3 Institute for the Environment and Sustainability
4 Atmospheric Chemistry Department [MPIC]
5 MPI-BGC - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
6 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
7 MERMAID - Modelling the Earth Response to Multiple Anthropogenic Interactions and Dynamics
8 MOHC - Met Office Hadley Centre
9 IPSL (FR_636) - Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace
10 DLR - German Aerospace Center

The aerosol-climate modelling system ECHAM5-HAM is introduced. It is based on a flexible microphysical approach and, as the number of externally imposed parameters is minimised, allows the application in a wide range of climate regimes. ECHAM5-HAM predicts the evolution of an ensemble of microphysically interacting internally- and externally-mixed aerosol populations as well as their sizedistribution and composition. The size-distribution is represented by a superposition of log-normal modes. In the current setup, the major global aerosol compounds sulfate (SU), black carbon (BC), particulate organic matter (POM), sea salt (SS), and mineral dust (DU) are included. The simulated global annual mean aerosol burdens (lifetimes) for the year 2000 are for SU: 0.80 Tg(S) (3.9 days), for BC: 0.11 Tg (5.4 days), for POM: 0.99 Tg (5.4 days), for SS: 10.5 Tg (0.8 days), and for DU: 8.28 Tg (4.6 days). An extensive evaluation with in-situ and remote sensing measurements underscores that the model results are generally in good agreement with observations of the global aerosol system. The simulated global annual mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) is with 0.14 in excellent agreement with an estimate derived from AERONET measurements (0.14) and a composite derived from MODIS-MISR satellite retrievals (0.16). Regionally, the deviations are not negligible. However, the main patterns of AOD attributable to anthropogenic activity are reproduced.

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement; Planète et Univers [physics]; Sciences de la Terre; Océan, Atmosphère; Chimie

P. Stier, J. Feichter, S. Kinne, S. Kloster, E. Vignati, et al.. The aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2005, 5 (4), pp.1125 - 1156. ⟨10.5194/acp-5-1125-2005⟩. ⟨hal-02864966⟩