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

Title: Seasonal Injection Strategies for Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083680· OSTI ID:1571489

Simulations of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering have typically considered injections at a constant rate over the entire year. However, the seasonal variability of both sunlight and the stratospheric circulation suggests seasonally-dependent injection strategies. In this work, we simulated single point injections of the same amount of SO2 in each of the four seasons and at five different latitudes (30S, 15S, Equator, 15N, 30N), 5 km above the tropopause. Our findings suggest that injecting only during one season reduces the amount of SO2 needed to achieve a certain aerosol optical depth (AOD), thus potentially reducing some of the side-effects of geoengineering. We find, in particular, that injections at 15N or 15S in spring of the corresponding hemisphere results in the largest reductions in incoming solar radiation. Compared to annual injections, by injecting in the different seasons we identify additional distinct spatiotemporal AOD patterns, thanks to seasonal differences in the stratospheric circulation.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; CBET‐1818759; AC05‐76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1571489
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1532552
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-146267
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 13; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 23 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (43)

Modifications of the quasi-biennial oscillation by a geoengineering perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer: Aquila et al.: QBO modifications by geoengineering journal March 2014
Sulfate geoengineering impact on methane transport and lifetime: results from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) journal January 2017
Impact of geoengineered aerosols on the troposphere and stratosphere journal January 2009
CESM1(WACCM) Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Large Ensemble Project journal November 2018
Radiative and Chemical Response to Interactive Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosols in Fully Coupled CESM1(WACCM) journal December 2017
First Simulations of Designing Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosol Geoengineering to Meet Multiple Simultaneous Climate Objectives journal December 2017
Volcanic Radiative Forcing From 1979 to 2015 journal November 2018
Global volcanic aerosol properties derived from emissions, 1990-2014, using CESM1(WACCM): VOLCANIC AEROSOLS DERIVED FROM EMISSIONS journal March 2016
Toward a minimal representation of aerosols in climate models: description and evaluation in the Community Atmosphere Model CAM5 journal January 2012
Stratospheric Dynamical Response and Ozone Feedbacks in the Presence of SO 2 Injections journal December 2017
The impact of geoengineering aerosols on stratospheric temperature and ozone journal October 2009
Disproportionately strong climate forcing from extratropical explosive volcanic eruptions journal January 2019
Radiative forcing of the direct aerosol effect from AeroCom Phase II simulations journal January 2013
Tailoring Meridional and Seasonal Radiative Forcing by Sulfate Aerosol Solar Geoengineering journal January 2018
What is the limit of climate engineering by stratospheric injection of SO 2 ? journal January 2015
A statistical examination of the effects of stratospheric sulfate geoengineering on tropical storm genesis journal January 2018
Efficacy of climate forcings journal January 2005
Upper tropospheric ice sensitivity to sulfate geoengineering journal January 2018
Management of trade-offs in geoengineering through optimal choice of non-uniform radiative forcing journal October 2012
The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) journal January 2011
Hydroxyl in the stratosphere and mesosphere – Part 1: Diurnal variability journal January 2011
Persistent polar ocean warming in a strategically geoengineered climate journal October 2018
Climate model response from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP): GEOMIP MODEL RESPONSE journal August 2013
Impacts of hemispheric solar geoengineering on tropical cyclone frequency journal November 2017
Radiative and climate effects of stratospheric sulfur geoengineering using seasonally varying injection areas journal January 2017
Quantifying the effects of solar geoengineering on vegetation journal February 2019
Geoengineering as a design problem journal January 2016
Sensitivity of Aerosol Distribution and Climate Response to Stratospheric SO 2 Injection Locations journal December 2017
Geoengineering Earth's radiation balance to mitigate CO 2 -induced climate change journal July 2000
Albedo Enhancement by Stratospheric Sulfur Injections: A Contribution to Resolve a Policy Dilemma? journal July 2006
The Climate Response to Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Can Be Tailored Using Multiple Injection Locations journal December 2017
Comparing Surface and Stratospheric Impacts of Geoengineering With Different SO 2 Injection Strategies journal July 2019
Sulfur deposition changes under sulfate geoengineering conditions: quasi-biennial oscillation effects on the transport and lifetime of stratospheric aerosols journal January 2018
Microphysical simulations of sulfur burdens from stratospheric sulfur geoengineering journal January 2012
Effects of Different Stratospheric SO 2 Injection Altitudes on Stratospheric Chemistry and Dynamics journal May 2018
Sensitivity of the radiative forcing by stratospheric sulfur geoengineering to the amount and strategy of the SO 2 injection studied with the LMDZ-S3A model journal January 2018
Climate effects of high-latitude volcanic eruptions: Role of the time of year journal January 2011
Dispersion of the volcanic sulfate cloud from a Mount Pinatubo-like eruption: DISPERSION OF A MOUNT PINATUBO CLOUD journal March 2012
Stratospheric heating by potential geoengineering aerosols: HEATING BY GEOENGINEERING AEROSOLS journal December 2011
Geoengineering as a design problem journal January 2015
Radiative and chemical response to interactive stratospheric sulfate aerosols in fully coupled CESM1(WACCM) text January 2017
Volcanic Radiative Forcing From 1979 to 2015 text January 2018
Disproportionately strong climate forcing from extratropical explosive volcanic eruptions text January 2019

Cited By (1)

Technical characteristics of a solar geoengineering deployment and implications for governance journal September 2019

Figures / Tables (4)