The multi-scale aerosol-climate model PNNL-MMF: model description and evaluation

Abstract. Anthropogenic aerosol effects on climate produce one of the largest uncertainties in estimates of radiative forcing of past and future climate change. Much of this uncertainty arises from the multi-scale nature of the interactions between aerosols, clouds and large-scale dynamics, which are difficult to represent in conventional general circulation models (GCMs). In this study, we develop a multi-scale aerosol-climate model that treats aerosols and clouds across different scales, and evaluate the model performance, with a focus on aerosol treatment. This new model is an extension of a multi-scale modeling framework (MMF) model that embeds a cloud-resolving model (CRM) within each grid column of a GCM. In this extension, the effects of clouds on aerosols are treated by using an explicit-cloud parameterized-pollutant (ECPP) approach that links aerosol and chemical processes on the large-scale grid with statistics of cloud properties and processes resolved by the CRM. A two-moment cloud microphysics scheme replaces the simple bulk microphysics scheme in the CRM, and a modal aerosol treatment is included in the GCM. With these extensions, this multi-scale aerosol-climate model allows the explicit simulation of aerosol and chemical processes in both stratiform and convective clouds on a global scale. Simulated aerosol budgets in this new model are in the ranges of other model studies. Simulated gas and aerosol concentrations are in reasonable agreement with observations (within a factor of 2 in most cases), although the model underestimates black carbon concentrations at the surface by a factor of 2–4. Simulated aerosol size distributions are in reasonable agreement with observations in the marine boundary layer and in the free troposphere, while the model underestimates the accumulation mode number concentrations near the surface, and overestimates the accumulation mode number concentrations in the middle and upper free troposphere by a factor of about 2. The overestimation of accumulation model number concentrations in the middle and upper free troposphere is consistent with large aerosol mass fraction above 5 km in the MMF model compared with other models. Simulated cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations are within the observational variations. Simulated aerosol optical depths (AOD) are in reasonable agreement with observations (within a factor of 2), and the spatial distribution of AOD is consistent with observations, while the model underestimates AOD over regions with strong fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions. Overall, this multi-scale aerosol-climate model simulates aerosol fields as well as conventional aerosol models.

[1]  C. O'Dowd,et al.  Flood or Drought: How Do Aerosols Affect Precipitation? , 2008, Science.

[2]  J. Seinfeld,et al.  Evidence for the Predominance of Mid-Tropospheric Aerosols as Subtropical Anvil Cloud Nuclei , 2004, Science.

[3]  Minghua Zhang,et al.  An intercomparison of cloud‐resolving models with the atmospheric radiation measurement summer 1997 intensive observation period data , 2002 .

[4]  Y. Kaufman,et al.  Aerosol invigoration and restructuring of Atlantic convective clouds , 2005 .

[5]  J. Penner,et al.  Global modeling of aerosol dynamics: Model description, evaluation, and interactions between sulfate and nonsulfate aerosols , 2005 .

[6]  W. Collins,et al.  The Formulation and Atmospheric Simulation of the Community Atmosphere Model Version 3 (CAM3) , 2006 .

[7]  J. Penner,et al.  Coupled IMPACT aerosol and NCAR CAM3 model: Evaluation of predicted aerosol number and size distribution , 2009 .

[8]  J. Prospero,et al.  Relationships among aerosol constituents from Asia and the North Pacific during PEM-West A , 1996 .

[9]  Ulrike Lohmann,et al.  Global anthropogenic aerosol effects on convective clouds in ECHAM5-HAM , 2007 .

[10]  K. Carslaw,et al.  A numerical study of aerosol effects on the dynamics and microphysics of a deep convective cloud in a continental environment , 2006 .

[11]  S. Wofsy,et al.  Global‐scale black carbon profiles observed in the remote atmosphere and compared to models , 2010 .

[12]  Qi Zhang,et al.  Ubiquity and dominance of oxygenated species in organic aerosols in anthropogenically‐influenced Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes , 2007 .

[13]  R. Prinn,et al.  On the roles of deep convective clouds in tropospheric chemistry , 2000 .

[14]  Richard C. J. Somerville,et al.  Assessing the Diurnal Cycle of Precipitation in a Multi‐Scale Climate Model , 2009 .

[15]  D. Randall,et al.  Simulations of the Atmospheric General Circulation Using a Cloud-Resolving Model as a Superparameterization of Physical Processes , 2005 .

[16]  C. Liousse,et al.  Construction of a 1° × 1° fossil fuel emission data set for carbonaceous aerosol and implementation and radiative impact in the ECHAM4 model , 1999 .

[17]  W. Grabowski.  Coupling Cloud Processes with the Large-Scale Dynamics Using the Cloud-Resolving Convection Parameterization (CRCP) , 2001 .

[18]  N. Mahowald,et al.  Change in atmospheric mineral aerosols in response to climate: Last glacial period, preindustrial, modern, and doubled carbon dioxide climates , 2006 .

[19]  M. Yao,et al.  Cumulus Microphysics and Climate Sensitivity , 2005 .

[20]  E. Mlawer,et al.  Radiative transfer for inhomogeneous atmospheres: RRTM, a validated correlated-k model for the longwave , 1997 .

[21]  William J. Collins,et al.  Toward a minimal representation of aerosol direct and indirect effects: model description and evaluation , 2011 .

[22]  A. Weinheimer,et al.  Observations of heterogeneous reactions between Asian pollution and mineral dust over the Eastern North Pacific during INTEX-B , 2009 .

[23]  R. Dingenen,et al.  Size distribution and chemical composition of marine aerosols: a compilation and review , 2000 .

[24]  S. Menon,et al.  The radiative influence of aerosol effects on liquid-phase cumulus and stratiform clouds based on sensitivity studies with two climate models , 2006 .

[25]  S. Howell,et al.  Biomass burning and pollution aerosol over North America: Organic components and their influence on spectral optical properties and humidification response , 2007 .

[26]  U. Schumann,et al.  Aircraft observations of the upper tropospheric fine particle aerosol in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres at midlatitudes , 2003 .

[27]  M. Chin,et al.  Evaluation of black carbon estimations in global aerosol models , 2009 .

[28]  O. Boucher,et al.  The aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM , 2004 .

[29]  F. Guichard,et al.  Aspects of the parametrization of organized convection: contrasting cloud‐resolving model and single‐column model realizations , 2002 .

[30]  Frank Arnold,et al.  Atmospheric sulphuric acid and aerosol formation : implications from atmospheric measurements for nucleation and early growth mechanisms , 2006 .

[31]  Kuan Xu.  Partitioning Mass, Heat, and Moisture Budgets of Explicitly Simulated Cumulus Ensembles into Convective and Stratiform Components , 1995 .

[32]  T. Takemura,et al.  Global cloud‐system‐resolving simulation of aerosol effect on warm clouds , 2008 .

[33]  J. Penner,et al.  A global three‐dimensional model study of carbonaceous aerosols , 1996 .

[34]  E. Kassianov,et al.  Aerosol indirect effects in a multi-scale aerosol-climate model PNNL-MMF , 2011 .

[35]  Yutaka Kondo,et al.  Effects of Mixing State on Black Carbon Measurements by Laser-Induced Incandescence , 2007 .

[36]  J. Curry,et al.  A New Double-Moment Microphysics Parameterization for Application in Cloud and Climate Models. Part I: Description , 2005 .

[37]  C. Timmreck,et al.  An improved parameterization for sulfuric acid-water nucleation rates for tropospheric and stratospheric conditions , 2002 .

[38]  M. Wendisch,et al.  Vertical variability of aerosol properties observed at a continental site during the Lindenberg Aerosol Characterization Experiment (LACE 98) , 2002 .

[39]  S. Ghan,et al.  Parallel simulations of aerosol influence on clouds using cloud‐resolving and single‐column models , 2005 .

[40]  Ilan Koren,et al.  Measurement of the Effect of Amazon Smoke on Inhibition of Cloud Formation , 2004, Science.

[41]  W. Collins,et al.  An AeroCom Initial Assessment - Optical Properties in Aerosol Component Modules of Global Models , 2005 .

[42]  P. Adams,et al.  Global evaluation of CCN formation by direct emission of sea salt and growth of ultrafine sea salt , 2006 .

[43]  Chien Wang,et al.  Explicit simulation of aerosol physics in a cloud-resolving model : Aerosol transport and processing in the free troposphere , 2006 .

[44]  S. Ghan,et al.  The Explicit-Cloud Parameterized-Pollutant hybrid approach for aerosol–cloud interactions in multiscale modeling framework models: tracer transport results , 2008 .

[45]  Richard C. J. Somerville,et al.  Empirical orthogonal function analysis of the diurnal cycle of precipitation in a multi‐scale climate model , 2009 .

[46]  M. Blackburn,et al.  A GCSS model intercomparison for a tropical squall line observed during toga‐coare. II: Intercomparison of single‐column models and a cloud‐resolving model , 2000 .

[47]  S. Ghan,et al.  A parameterization of aerosol activation: 2. Multiple aerosol types , 2000 .

[48]  D. Fillmore,et al.  Climate response and radiative forcing from mineral aerosols during the last glacial maximum, pre‐industrial, current and doubled‐carbon dioxide climates , 2006 .

[49]  R. Larsen,et al.  Nitrogen and sulfur species in Antarctic aerosols at Mawson, Palmer Station, and Marsh (King George Island) , 1993 .

[50]  D. Randall,et al.  A Multiscale Modeling System: Developments, Applications, and Critical Issues , 2009 .

[51]  L. Ruby Leung,et al.  Prediction of cloud droplet number in a general , 1997 .

[52]  Xindi Bian,et al.  MIRAGE: Model description and evaluation of aerosols and trace gases , 2004 .

[53]  David S. Lee,et al.  Historical (1850–2000) gridded anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions of reactive gases and aerosols: methodology and application , 2010 .

[54]  J. Lamarque,et al.  A global simulation of tropospheric ozone and related tracers: Description and evaluation of MOZART, version 2 , 2001 .

[55]  Axel Lauer,et al.  © Author(s) 2006. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Analysis and quantification of the diversities of aerosol life cycles , 2022 .

[56]  R. Marchand,et al.  Evaluation of the Multiscale Modeling Framework Using Data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program , 2006 .

[57]  A. Arakawa,et al.  Interaction of a Cumulus Cloud Ensemble with the Large-Scale Environment, Part I , 1974 .

[58]  M. Kulmala,et al.  Analytical formulae connecting the “real” and the “apparent” nucleation rate and the nuclei number concentration for atmospheric nucleation events , 2002 .

[59]  Charles S. Zender,et al.  Impact of Desert Dust Radiative Forcing on Sahel Precipitation , 2005 .

[60]  S. Howell,et al.  Aircraft profiles of aerosol microphysics and optical properties over North America: Aerosol optical depth and its association with PM2.5 and water uptake , 2007 .

[61]  Martyn P. Chipperfield,et al.  Description and evaluation of GLOMAP-mode: a modal global aerosol microphysics model for the UKCA composition-climate model , 2010 .

[62]  U. Lohmann,et al.  A microphysical parameterization for convective clouds in the ECHAM5 climate model: Single-column model results evaluated at the Oklahoma Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program site , 2005 .

[63]  P. J. Rasch,et al.  A comparison of scavenging and deposition processes in global models: results from the WCRP Cambridge Workshop of 1995 , 2000 .

[64]  Audrey B. Wolf,et al.  Intercomparison and evaluation of cumulus parametrizations under summertime midlatitude continental conditions , 2001 .

[65]  James G. Hudson,et al.  Evaluation of aerosol direct radiative forcing in MIRAGE , 2001 .

[66]  Chien Wang.  A modeling study of the response of tropical deep convection to the increase of cloud condensation nuclei concentration: 1. Dynamics and microphysics , 2005 .

[67]  Axel Lauer,et al.  Single‐particle measurements of midlatitude black carbon and light‐scattering aerosols from the boundary layer to the lower stratosphere , 2006 .

[68]  G. Thompson,et al.  Impact of Cloud Microphysics on the Development of Trailing Stratiform Precipitation in a Simulated Squall Line: Comparison of One- and Two-Moment Schemes , 2009 .

[69]  D. Blake,et al.  Evolution of mixing state of black carbon particles: Aircraft measurements over the western Pacific in March 2004 , 2007 .

[70]  David A. Randall,et al.  Evaluation of the Simulated Interannual and Subseasonal Variability in an AMIP-Style Simulation Using the CSU Multiscale Modeling Framework , 2008 .

[71]  P. Crutzen,et al.  Sulfur dioxide in remote oceanic air: Cloud transport of reactive precursors , 1984 .

[72]  Albert A. M. Holtslag,et al.  Local Versus Nonlocal Boundary-Layer Diffusion in a Global Climate Model , 1993 .

[73]  J. Penner,et al.  Aerosol indirect forcing in a global model with particle nucleation , 2008 .

[74]  Tami C. Bond,et al.  Emissions of primary aerosol and precursor gases in the years 2000 and 1750 prescribed data-sets for AeroCom , 2006 .

[75]  B. Huebert,et al.  Influence of relative humidity upon pollution and dust during ACE‐Asia: Size distributions and implications for optical properties , 2006 .

[76]  R. Charlson,et al.  On the efficiency of nucleation scavenging , 1984 .

[77]  M. Andreae,et al.  Smoking Rain Clouds over the Amazon , 2004, Science.

[78]  Kerry Emanuel,et al.  Development and Evaluation of a Convection Scheme for Use in Climate Models , 1999 .

[79]  D. Randall,et al.  A cloud resolving model as a cloud parameterization in the NCAR Community Climate System Model: Preliminary results , 2001 .

[80]  D. Randall,et al.  Cloud resolving modeling of the ARM summer 1997 IOP: Model formulation, results, uncertainties, and sensitivities , 2003 .

[81]  E. Mlawer,et al.  Evaluation of upper tropospheric water vapor in the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM3) using modeled and observed HIRS radiances , 2003 .

[82]  Vincent E. Larson,et al.  A PDF-Based Model for Boundary Layer Clouds. Part I: Method and Model Description , 2002 .

[83]  V. Larson,et al.  Using Probability Density Functions to Derive Consistent Closure Relationships among Higher-Order Moments , 2005 .

[84]  Martyn P. Chipperfield,et al.  Evaluation and intercomparison of global atmospheric transport models using 222Rn and other short-lived tracers , 1997 .

[85]  W. Collins,et al.  Radiative forcing by long‐lived greenhouse gases: Calculations with the AER radiative transfer models , 2008 .

[86]  John H. Seinfeld,et al.  Formation and cycling of aerosols in the global troposphere , 2000 .

[87]  T. Iversen,et al.  A scheme for process‐tagged SO4 and BC aerosols in NCAR CCM3: Validation and sensitivity to cloud processes , 2002 .

[88]  D. Rosenfeld,et al.  Sensitivity of the global circulation to the suppression of precipitation by anthropogenic aerosols , 2003 .

[89]  N. Mahowald,et al.  Cumulus parameterizations in chemical transport models , 1995 .

[90]  D. Hauglustaine,et al.  Data composites of airborne observations of tropospheric ozone and its precursors , 2000 .

[91]  E. Nilsson,et al.  Laboratory simulations and parameterization of the primary marine aerosol production , 2003 .