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Title: Interannual Tropospheric Aerosol Variability in the Late Twentieth Century and Its Impact on Tropical Atlantic and West African Climate by Direct and Semidirect Effects

Journal Article · · Journal of Climate
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [2]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  2. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
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A new high-resolution global tropospheric aerosol dataset with monthly resolution is created using version 4 of the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM4) coupled to a bulk aerosol model and forced with recent estimates of surface emissions for the period 1961–2000 to identify tropospheric aerosol-induced interannual climate variations. Here, the surface emissions dataset is constructed from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) decadal-resolution surface emissions dataset to include reanalysis of tropospheric chemical composition [40-yr Reanalysis of Tropospheric Chemical Composition (RETRO)] wildfire monthly emissions data. A four-member ensemble run is conducted using the spectral configuration of CAM4, forced with the new tropospheric aerosol dataset and prescribed with observed sea surface temperature, sea ice, and greenhouse gases. CAM4 only simulates the direct and semidirect effects of aerosols on the climate. The simulations reveal that variations in tropospheric aerosol levels can induce significant regional climate variability on the interannual time scales. Regression analyses over tropical Atlantic and Africa suggest that increasing dust aerosols can cool the North African landmass and shift convection southward from West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea in the spring season. Moreover, it is found that carbonaceous aerosols emanating from the southwestern African savannas can significantly cool the region and increase the marine stratocumulus cloud cover over the southeast tropical Atlantic Ocean by aerosol-induced diabatic heating of the free troposphere above the low clouds. Experiments conducted with CAM4 coupled to a slab ocean model suggest that present-day aerosols can cool the tropical North Atlantic and shift the intertropical convergence zone southward and can reduce the ocean mixed layer temperature beneath the increased marine stratocumulus clouds in the southeastern tropical Atlantic.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR). Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1565086
Journal Information:
Journal of Climate, Vol. 25, Issue 23; ISSN 0894-8755
Publisher:
American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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