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Title: DMS role in ENSO cycle in the tropics

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025333· OSTI ID:1343183
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Univ. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States)
  4. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  5. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  6. Univ. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

We examined the multiyear mean and variability of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and its relationship to sulfate aerosols, as well as cloud microphysical and radiative properties. We conducted a 150 year simulation using preindustrial conditions produced by the Community Earth System Model embedded with a dynamic DMS module. The model simulated the mean spatial distribution of DMS emissions and burden, as well as sulfur budgets associated with DMS, SO2, H2SO4, and sulfate that were generally similar to available observations and inventories for a variety of regions. Changes in simulated sea-to-air DMS emissions and associated atmospheric abundance, along with associated aerosols and cloud and radiative properties, were consistently dominated by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle in the tropical Pacific region. Simulated DMS, aerosols, and clouds showed a weak positive feedback on sea surface temperature. This feedback suggests a link among DMS, aerosols, clouds, and climate on interannual timescales. The variability of DMS emissions associated with ENSO was primarily caused by a higher variation in wind speed during La Niña events. As a result, the simulation results also suggest that variations in DMS emissions increase the frequency of La Niña events but do not alter ENSO variability in terms of the standard deviation of the Niño 3 sea surface temperature anomalies.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); Battelle Memorial Institute; USDOE, ACME; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; AGS1048995; SC0006679; AC52‐07NA27344; AC05‐00OR22725; AC02‐05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1343183
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1402244
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-123189; KP1703020
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 22; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

An ENSO-induced aerosol dipole in the west-central Pacific and its potential feedback to ENSO evolution journal September 2018
Climate Feedback on Aerosol Emission and Atmospheric Concentrations journal January 2018

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