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Biomass burning aerosol transport and vertical distribution over the South African-Atlantic region

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026421· OSTI ID:1406681
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [7];  [8]
  1. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  2. Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD (United States); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
  3. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
  4. Univ. of L'Aquila (Italy)
  5. Univ. of Athens (Greece)
  6. Finnish Meteorological Inst., Kuopio (Finland)
  7. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  8. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Optically thick smoke aerosol plumes originating from biomass burning (BB) in the southwestern African Savanna during the austral spring are transported westward by the free tropospheric winds to primarily overlie vast stretches of stratocumulus cloud decks in the southeast Atlantic. In this work, we evaluated the simulations of long-range transport of BB aerosol by the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) and four other global aerosol models over the complete South African-Atlantic region using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) observations to find any distinguishing or common model biases. Models, in general, captured the vertical distribution of aerosol over land but exhibited some common features after long-range transport of smoke plumes that were distinct from that of CALIOP. Most importantly, the model-simulated BB aerosol plumes quickly descend to lower levels just off the western coast of the continent, while CALIOP data suggest that smoke plumes continue their horizontal transport at elevated levels above the marine boundary layer. This is crucial because the sign of simulated aerosol semidirect effect can change depending on whether the bulk of the absorbing aerosols is present within or above the cloud levels in a model. The levels to which the aerosol plumes get subsided and the steepness of their descent vary amongst the models and amongst the different subregions of the domain. Investigations into possible causes of differences between GEOS-5 and CALIOP aerosol transport over the ocean revealed a minimal role of aerosol removal process representation in the model as opposed to model dynamics.
Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Academy of Finland. Centre of Excellence in Atmospheric Science; National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1406681
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--123121; KP1703020
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 122; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Validation of SOAR VIIRS Over‐Water Aerosol Retrievals and Context Within the Global Satellite Aerosol Data Record journal December 2018
Effects of Biomass Burning on Stratocumulus Droplet Characteristics, Drizzle Rate, and Composition journal November 2019
Observationally constrained aerosol–cloud semi-direct effects journal May 2019
Southern Hemisphere mid- and high-latitudinal AOD, CO, NO2, and HCHO: spatiotemporal patterns revealed by satellite observations journal April 2019
Time-dependent entrainment of smoke presents an observational challenge for assessing aerosol–cloud interactions over the southeast Atlantic Ocean journal January 2018
Large simulated radiative effects of smoke in the south-east Atlantic journal January 2018
The diurnal cycle of the smoky marine boundary layer observed during August in the remote southeast Atlantic journal January 2019
Remote biomass burning dominates southern West African air pollution during the monsoon journal January 2019
Simulation of the transport, vertical distribution, optical properties and radiative impact of smoke aerosols with the ALADIN regional climate model during the ORACLES-2016 and LASIC experiments journal January 2019
The vertical distribution of biomass burning pollution over tropical South America from aircraft in situ measurements during SAMBBA journal January 2019
Diurnal cycle of the semi-direct effect from a persistent absorbing aerosol layer over marine stratocumulus in large-eddy simulations journal January 2020
The vertical distribution of biomass burning pollution over tropical South America from aircraft in situ measurements during SAMBBA posted_content September 2018
Novel aerosol extinction coefficients and lidar ratios over the ocean from CALIPSO–CloudSat: evaluation and global statistics journal January 2019
Discriminating between clouds and aerosols in the CALIOP version 4.1 data products journal January 2019
Discriminating Between Clouds and Aerosols in the CALIOP Version 4.1 Data Products posted_content June 2018
Remote biomass burning dominates southern West African air pollution during the monsoon text January 2019

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AeroCom Phase III experiment
aerosol vertical distribution
biomass burning aerosol
southeast Atlantic