How does increasing horizontal resolution in a global climate model improve the simulation of aerosol-cloud interactions?

Ma, Po-Lun; Rasch, Philip J.; Wang, Minghuai; Wang, Hailong; Ghan, Steven J.; Easter, Richard C.; Gustafson, William I.; Liu, Xiaohong; Zhang, Yuying; Ma, Hsi-Yen

doi:10.1002/2015GL064183

Title: How does increasing horizontal resolution in a global climate model improve the simulation of aerosol-cloud interactions?

Journal Article · Tue Jun 23 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL064183· OSTI ID:1409986

Ma, Po-Lun ^[1]; Rasch, Philip J. ^[1];

^[2]; Wang, Hailong ^[1];

^[1]; Easter, Richard C. ^[1];

^[1]; Liu, Xiaohong ^[3]; Zhang, Yuying ^[4]; Ma, Hsi-Yen ^[4]

Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division
Nanjing University (China). Institute for Climate and Global Change Research and School of Atmospheric Sciences; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change, Nanjing (China)
University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Department of Atmospheric Science
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison

Abstract The Community Atmosphere Model Version 5 is run at horizontal grid spacing of 2, 1, 0.5, and 0.25°, with the meteorology nudged toward the Year Of Tropical Convection analysis, and cloud simulators and the collocated A‐Train satellite observations are used to explore the resolution dependence of aerosol‐cloud interactions. The higher‐resolution model produces results that agree better with observations, showing an increase of susceptibility of cloud droplet size, indicating a stronger first aerosol indirect forcing (AIF), and a decrease of susceptibility of precipitation probability, suggesting a weaker second AIF. The resolution sensitivities of AIF are attributed to those of droplet nucleation and precipitation parameterizations. The annual average AIF in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes (where most anthropogenic emissions occur) in the 0.25° model is reduced by about 1 W m ⁻² (−30%) compared to the 2° model, leading to a 0.26 W m ⁻² reduction (−15%) in the global annual average AIF.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1409986

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1785827

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-741123

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 12; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 48 works

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