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Size-resolved process understanding of stratospheric sulfate aerosol following the Pinatubo eruption

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [5];  [5];  [6];  [3];  [3];  [6]
  1. Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  2. Desert Research Institute (DRI), Reno, NV (United States)
  3. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  4. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
  5. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  6. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
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Stratospheric sulfate aerosol produced by volcanic eruptions plays important roles in atmospheric chemistry and the global radiative balance of the atmosphere. The simulation of stratospheric sulfate concentrations and optical properties is highly dependent on the chemistry scheme and microphysical treatment. In this work, we implemented a sophisticated gas-phase chemistry scheme (full chemistry, FC) and a 5-mode version of the Modal Aerosol Module with Prognostic Stratospheric Aerosol (MAM5-PSA) for the interactive treatment of stratospheric sulfate aerosol in the Department of Energy's Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 2 (E3SMv2) model to better simulate the chemistry-aerosol feedback following the Pinatubo eruption, and to compare it against a simulation using simplified chemistry (SC) and the default 4-mode version of the Modal Aerosol Module (MAM4). MAM5-PSA experiments were found to better capture the stratospheric sulfate burden from the eruption of the volcano to the end of 1992 as compared to the High-resolution Infrared Sounder (HIRS) observations, and the formation of sulfate in MAM5-PSA with FC (with an additional OH replenishment reaction) was significantly faster than in MAM4 with FC. Analyses of microphysical processes indicate that more sulfate aerosol mass was generated in total in FC experiments than in SC experiments. MAM5-PSA performs better than MAM4 in simulation of aerosol optical depth (AOD); AOD anomalies from the MAM5-PSA experiment have better agreement with observations. The simulated largest changes in global mean net radiative flux at the top of the atmosphere following the eruption were about −3 W m−2 in MAM5-PSA experiments and roughly −1.5 W m−2 in MAM4 experiments.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth & Environmental Systems Science (EESS); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0003525; AC52-07NA27344; AC02-05CH11231; AC05-76RL01830; SC0024439
OSTI ID:
2997845
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2998670
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--215443; LLNL--JRNL-2011992
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Journal Name: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Journal Issue: 19 Vol. 25; ISSN 1680-7324
Publisher:
European Geosciences Union (EGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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