Black Carbon Radiative Forcing over the Tibetan Plateau

Journal Article · Fri Nov 28 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Geophysical Research Letters, 41(22):7806-7813

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL062191· OSTI ID:1188918

He, Cenlin; Li, Qinbin; Liou, K. N.; Takano, Y.; Gu, Yu; Qi, L.; Mao, Yuhao; Leung, Lai-Yung R.

We estimate the snow albedo forcing and direct radiative forcing (DRF) of black carbon (BC) in the Tibetan Plateau using a global chemical transport model in conjunction with a stochastic snow model and a radiative transfer model. Our best estimate of the annual BC snow albedo forcing in the Plateau is 2.9 W m-2 (uncertainty: 1.5–5.0 W m-226 ). We find that BC-snow internal mixing increases the albedo forcing by 40-60% compared with external mixing and coated BC increases the forcing by 30-50% compared with uncoated BC, whereas Koch snowflakes reduce the forcing by 20-40% relative to spherical snow grains. Our best estimate of the annual BC DRF at the top of the atmosphere is 2.3 W m-2 (uncertainty: 0.7–4.3 W m-230 ) in the Plateau after scaling the modeled BC absorption optical depth to Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) observations. The BC forcings are attributed to emissions from different regions.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1188918
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-104979; KP1703020
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters, 41(22):7806-7813, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters, 41(22):7806-7813
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Tibetan Plateau
black carbon
direct radiative forcing
snow albedo forcing