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Title: Drivers of Seasonal Variability in Marine Boundary Layer Aerosol Number Concentration Investigated Using a Steady State Approach

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027443· OSTI ID:1424973
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
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Marine boundary layer (MBL) aerosol particles affect the climate through their interaction with MBL clouds. Although both MBL clouds and aerosol particles have pronounced seasonal cycles, the factors controlling seasonal variability of MBL aerosol particle concentration are not well-constrained. In this paper an aerosol budget is constructed representing the effects of wet deposition, free-tropospheric entrainment, primary surface sources, and advection on the MBL accumulation mode aerosol number concentration (Na). These terms are further parameterized, and by assuming that on seasonal timescales Na is in steady state, the budget equation is rearranged to form a diagnostic equation for Na based on observable variables. Using data primarily collected in the subtropical northeast Pacific during the MAGIC campaign (Marine ARM (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) GPCI (GCSS Pacific Cross-section Intercomparison) Investigation of Clouds), estimates of both mean summer and winter Na concentrations are made using the simplified steady-state model and seasonal mean observed variables, and are found to match well with the observed Na. To attribute the modeled difference between summer and winter aerosol concentrations to individual observed variables (e.g. precipitation rate, free-tropospheric aerosol number concentration), a local sensitivity analysis is combined with the seasonal difference in observed variables. This analysis shows that despite wintertime precipitation frequency being lower than summer, the higher winter precipitation rate accounted for approximately 60% of the modeled seasonal difference in Na, which emphasizes the importance of marine stratocumulus precipitation in determining MBL aerosol concentrations on longer time scales.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; SC0013489; SC0011602; AGS-1445813
OSTI ID:
1424973
Report Number(s):
BNL-114844-2017-JAAM
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 123, Issue 2; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 6 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

Time-dependent entrainment of smoke presents an observational challenge for assessing aerosol–cloud interactions over the southeast Atlantic Ocean journal January 2018
Ultra-clean and smoky marine boundary layers frequently occur in the same season over the southeast Atlantic journal July 2019
Marine boundary layer aerosol in the eastern North Atlantic: seasonal variations and key controlling processes journal January 2018
Ultra-clean and smoky marine boundary layers frequently occur in the same season over the southeast Atlantic journal January 2020

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