skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Investigating the Linear Dependence of Direct and Indirect Radiative Forcing on Emission of Carbonaceous Aerosols in a Global Climate Model

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027244· OSTI ID:1427897

Herein, the relationship between forcing and emission is investigated for black carbon (BC) and primary organic carbon (OC) emitted from North America and Asia. Direct and indirect radiative forcing (DRF and IRF) of BC and OC are simulated with CAM5.1. Two diagnostics are introduced to aid policy-relevant discussions: linearity and emission-normalized forcing. DRF is linearly related to emission for both BC and OC from two regions, and the linear relationship is similar, within 15%. IRF is linear in emissions when emissions are lower and regions are far from sources (North American BC and OC). Indirect radiative forcing is sublinear for strong sources and near-source regions (Asian OC). Emission-normalized IRF in North America is two to four times higher than that in Asia. The difference among regions and species is primarily caused by particle density as high density of BC results in fewer emitted particles and by the processes for accumulation mode particles to become cloud condensation nuclei and then to activate into cloud droplet. Lower emission-normalized IRF in more polluted regions means that reductions of OC in these regions would be relatively climate-neutral rather than causing significant warming via IRF reduction. An optimal aggregation area (30° × 30°) is identified for analysis of the forcing-to-emission relationship. For IRF, only 15–40% of the Earth’s surface is significantly affected by an emission region, but forcing in these regions comprises most of the global impact. Emission-normalized forcing can be used to estimate forcing changes due to emission reductions, as long as causes of nonlinearity are identified and considered.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USEPA; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; RD-83503401
OSTI ID:
1427897
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1419402
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-126780; KP1703020
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 123, Issue 3; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 4 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (94)

Can Reducing Black Carbon Emissions Counteract Global Warming? journal August 2005
Characteristics and sources of PM2.5 and carbonaceous species during winter in Taiyuan, China journal October 2007
Investigation on semi-direct and indirect climate effects of fossil fuel black carbon aerosol over China journal March 2013
Toward a Minimal Representation of Aerosols in Climate Models: Comparative Decomposition of Aerosol Direct, Semidirect, and Indirect Radiative Forcing journal October 2012
Radiative forcing and climate response journal March 1997
Alternatives to the Global Warming Potential for Comparing Climate Impacts of Emissions of Greenhouse Gases journal February 2005
A New Two-Moment Bulk Stratiform Cloud Microphysics Scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 3 (CAM3). Part I: Description and Numerical Tests journal August 2008
Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors journal February 2010
Toward a minimal representation of aerosols in climate models: description and evaluation in the Community Atmosphere Model CAM5 journal January 2012
Host model uncertainties in aerosol radiative forcing estimates: results from the AeroCom Prescribed intercomparison study journal January 2013
Soot microphysical effects on liquid clouds, a multi-model investigation journal January 2011
Climate forcing by carbonaceous and sulfate aerosols journal October 1998
Radiative forcing in the ACCMIP historical and future climate simulations journal January 2013
Cloud susceptibility and the first aerosol indirect forcing: Sensitivity to black carbon and aerosol concentrations: CLOUD SUSCEPTIBILITY AND THE FIRST AEROSOL INDIRECT FORCING journal November 2002
On the characteristics of aerosol indirect effect based on dynamic regimes in global climate models journal January 2016
Simultaneously Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change and Improving Human Health and Food Security journal January 2012
Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: A scientific assessment: BLACK CARBON IN THE CLIMATE SYSTEM journal June 2013
Challenges in constraining anthropogenic aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing using present-day spatiotemporal variability journal February 2016
Using a global aerosol model adjoint to unravel the footprint of spatially‐distributed emissions on cloud droplet number and cloud albedo journal December 2012
The role of circulation features on black carbon transport into the Arctic in the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5): BC TRANSPORT IN OFF-LINE CAM5 journal May 2013
Chemistry of Atmospheric Brown Carbon journal February 2015
Will black carbon mitigation dampen aerosol indirect forcing?: BLACK CARBON MITIGATION journal May 2010
Air pollution radiative forcing from specific emissions sectors at 2030 journal January 2008
Assessing the climatic benefits of black carbon mitigation journal June 2010
Regional aerosol properties: Comparisons of boundary layer measurements from ACE 1, ACE 2, Aerosols99, INDOEX, ACE Asia, TARFOX, and NEAQS: REGIONAL AEROSOL PROPERTIES COMPARISON journal July 2005
Aerosols, Cloud Microphysics, and Fractional Cloudiness journal September 1989
The characteristics of PM2.5 in Beijing, China journal October 2001
Sensitivity of remote aerosol distributions to representation of cloud–aerosol interactions in a global climate model journal January 2013
Climate response of direct radiative forcing of anthropogenic black carbon journal January 2005
Sensitivity studies of different aerosol indirect effects in mixed-phase clouds journal January 2009
A global three-dimensional model study of carbonaceous aerosols journal August 1996
Toward Reduced Representation of Mixing State for Simulating Aerosol Effects on Climate journal May 2017
The inportance of organic and elemental carbon in the fine atmospheric aerosol particles journal August 1999
Historical (1850–2000) gridded anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions of reactive gases and aerosols: methodology and application journal January 2010
Development of the adjoint of GEOS-Chem journal January 2007
Global cloud condensation nuclei influenced by carbonaceous combustion aerosol journal January 2011
Carbon content of atmospheric aerosols in a residential area during the wood combustion season in Sweden journal October 2007
Soot and smoke aerosol may not warm climate: SOOT AND SMOKE AEROSOL MAY NOT WARM CLIMATE journal November 2003
Uncertainties in aerosol direct and indirect effects attributed to uncertainties in convective transport parameterizations journal November 2012
The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system journal April 2011
A global modeling study on carbonaceous aerosol microphysical characteristics and radiative effects journal January 2010
Black carbon or brown carbon? The nature of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols journal January 2006
Quantifying immediate radiative forcing by black carbon and organic matter with the Specific Forcing Pulse journal January 2011
Global warming in the twenty-first century: An alternative scenario journal August 2000
Analysis and quantification of the diversities of aerosol life cycles within AeroCom journal January 2006
Global distribution and climate forcing of carbonaceous aerosols journal January 2002
The global aerosol‐cloud first indirect effect estimated using MODIS, MERRA, and AeroCom journal February 2017
Investigating cloud absorption effects: Global absorption properties of black carbon, tar balls, and soil dust in clouds and aerosols: CLOUD ABSORPTION EFFECTS journal March 2012
Climate response to regional radiative forcing during the twentieth century journal March 2009
Global and regional climate changes due to black carbon journal March 2008
The Influence of Pollution on the Shortwave Albedo of Clouds journal July 1977
Aerosol-cloud-climate interactions in the climate model CAM-Oslo journal May 2008
Airborne measurements of atmospheric carbonaceous aerosols during ACE-Asia: AIRBORNE MEASUREMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC CARBONACEOUS AEROSOLS journal December 2002
Using an explicit emission tagging method in global modeling of source-receptor relationships for black carbon in the Arctic: Variations, sources, and transport pathways: Source attribution of BC in the Arctic journal November 2014
Black carbon semi-direct effects on cloud cover: review and synthesis journal January 2010
Cloud–Aerosol Interactions from the Micro to the Cloud Scale book January 2009
Spatially Refined Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing Efficiencies journal August 2012
Determining the Susceptibility of Cloud Albedo to Changes in Droplet Concentration with the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer journal March 1994
Aerosol indirect effects – general circulation model intercomparison and evaluation with satellite data journal January 2009
Residential Biofuels in South Asia: Carbonaceous Aerosol Emissions and Climate Impacts journal March 2005
Emissions of primary aerosol and precursor gases in the years 2000 and 1750 prescribed data-sets for AeroCom journal January 2006
Insights into the role of soot aerosols in cirrus cloud formation journal January 2007
Aerosol direct, indirect, semidirect, and surface albedo effects from sector contributions based on the IPCC AR5 emissions for preindustrial and present-day conditions: IPCC AR5 SECTOR EMISSIONS journal January 2012
Intercomparison of the GOS approach, superposition T-matrix method, and laboratory measurements for black carbon optical properties during aging journal November 2016
Chemical characterization of submicron aerosol particles collected over the Indian Ocean journal January 2002
Transport impacts on atmosphere and climate: Metrics journal December 2010
Variation of the radiative properties during black carbon aging: theoretical and experimental intercomparison journal January 2015
Parameterization of optical properties for hydrated internally mixed aerosol: PARAMETERIZATION OF OPTICAL PROPERTIES FOR HYDRATED AEROSOL journal May 2007
History of sulfate aerosol radiative forcings: HISTORY OF SULFATE AEROSOL RADIATIVE FORCINGS journal May 2002
A parameterization of aerosol activation: 2. Multiple aerosol types journal March 2000
Aerosol composition and source apportionment in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area with PIXE/PESA/STIM and multivariate analysis journal January 2006
Linking future aerosol radiative forcing to shifts in source activities: FUTURE AEROSOL SECTOR IMPACTS journal March 2007
Brown Clouds over South Asia: Biomass or Fossil Fuel Combustion? journal January 2009
Studies of the aerosol indirect effect from sulfate and black carbon aerosols journal January 2002
Technical Note: Estimating aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing journal January 2013
Climate response to externally mixed black carbon as a function of altitude: BC climate response vs altitude journal April 2015
How much information is lost by using global-mean climate metrics? an example using the transport sector journal January 2012
Response of the climate system to aerosol direct and indirect forcing: Role of cloud feedbacks journal January 2005
Constraining the influence of natural variability to improve estimates of global aerosol indirect effects in a nudged version of the Community Atmosphere Model 5: ESTIMATES OF AEROSOL INDIRECT EFFECTS journal December 2012
Control of fossil-fuel particulate black carbon and organic matter, possibly the most effective method of slowing global warming journal January 2002
A simple model of global aerosol indirect effects: GLOBAL AEROSOL INDIRECT EFFECTS journal June 2013
Light absorption by organic carbon from wood combustion journal January 2010
Historical (1850–2000) gridded anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions of reactive gases and aerosols: methodology and application journal January 2010
Global cloud condensation nuclei influenced by carbonaceous combustion aerosol journal January 2011
Aerosol-cloud-climate interactions in the climate model CAM-Oslo journal May 2008
On the characteristics of aerosol indirect effect based on dynamic regimes in global climate models text January 2016
Sensitivity studies of different aerosol indirect effects in mixed-phase clouds text January 2009
Sensitivity of remote aerosol distributions to representation of cloud-aerosol interactions in a global climate model journal January 2013
Soot microphysical effects on liquid clouds, a multi-model investigation text January 2011
Aerosol indirect effects - general circulation model intercomparison and evaluation with satellite data text January 2009
On the characteristics of aerosol indirect effect based on dynamic regimes in global climate models journal January 2015
Black carbon or brown carbon? The nature of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols journal January 2006
Radiative forcing in the ACCMIP historical and future climate simulations journal January 2012
Host model uncertainties in aerosol radiative forcing estimates: results from the AeroCom prescribed intercomparison study journal January 2012

Cited By (1)

The regional temperature implications of strong air quality measures journal January 2019


Similar Records

Aerosol–climate interactions in the Norwegian Earth System Model – NorESM1-M
Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Geoscientific Model Development (Online) · OSTI ID:1427897

Global source attribution of sulfate concentration and direct and indirect radiative forcing
Journal Article · Tue Jul 25 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online) · OSTI ID:1427897

Radiative forcing in the ACCMIP historical and future climate simulations
Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online) · OSTI ID:1427897