New approaches to quantifying aerosol influence on the cloud radiative effect
Abstract
The topic of cloud radiative forcing associated with the atmospheric aerosol has been the focus of intense scrutiny for decades. The enormity of the problem is reflected in the need to understand aspects such as aerosol composition, optical properties, cloud condensation, and ice nucleation potential, along with the global distribution of these properties, controlled by emissions, transport, transformation, and sinks. Equally daunting is that clouds themselves are complex, turbulent, microphysical entities and, by their very nature, ephemeral and hard to predict. Atmospheric general circulation models represent aerosol–cloud interactions at ever-increasing levels of detail, but these models lack the resolution to represent clouds and aerosol–cloud interactions adequately. There is a dearth of observational constraints on aerosol–cloud interactions. In this paper, we develop a conceptual approach to systematically constrain the aerosol–cloud radiative effect in shallow clouds through a combination of routine process modeling and satellite and surface-based shortwave radiation measurements. Finally, we heed the call to merge Darwinian and Newtonian strategies by balancing microphysical detail with scaling and emergent properties of the aerosol–cloud radiation system.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1236652
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1348416
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0008112; SC0006972
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Volume: 113 Journal Issue: 21; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; aerosol; cloud; radiation; climate forcing
Citation Formats
Feingold, Graham, McComiskey, Allison, Yamaguchi, Takanobu, Johnson, Jill S., Carslaw, Kenneth S., and Schmidt, K. Sebastian. New approaches to quantifying aerosol influence on the cloud radiative effect. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1514035112.
Feingold, Graham, McComiskey, Allison, Yamaguchi, Takanobu, Johnson, Jill S., Carslaw, Kenneth S., & Schmidt, K. Sebastian. New approaches to quantifying aerosol influence on the cloud radiative effect. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1514035112
Feingold, Graham, McComiskey, Allison, Yamaguchi, Takanobu, Johnson, Jill S., Carslaw, Kenneth S., and Schmidt, K. Sebastian. Mon .
"New approaches to quantifying aerosol influence on the cloud radiative effect". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1514035112.
@article{osti_1236652,
title = {New approaches to quantifying aerosol influence on the cloud radiative effect},
author = {Feingold, Graham and McComiskey, Allison and Yamaguchi, Takanobu and Johnson, Jill S. and Carslaw, Kenneth S. and Schmidt, K. Sebastian},
abstractNote = {The topic of cloud radiative forcing associated with the atmospheric aerosol has been the focus of intense scrutiny for decades. The enormity of the problem is reflected in the need to understand aspects such as aerosol composition, optical properties, cloud condensation, and ice nucleation potential, along with the global distribution of these properties, controlled by emissions, transport, transformation, and sinks. Equally daunting is that clouds themselves are complex, turbulent, microphysical entities and, by their very nature, ephemeral and hard to predict. Atmospheric general circulation models represent aerosol–cloud interactions at ever-increasing levels of detail, but these models lack the resolution to represent clouds and aerosol–cloud interactions adequately. There is a dearth of observational constraints on aerosol–cloud interactions. In this paper, we develop a conceptual approach to systematically constrain the aerosol–cloud radiative effect in shallow clouds through a combination of routine process modeling and satellite and surface-based shortwave radiation measurements. Finally, we heed the call to merge Darwinian and Newtonian strategies by balancing microphysical detail with scaling and emergent properties of the aerosol–cloud radiation system.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1514035112},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 21,
volume = 113,
place = {United States},
year = {2016},
month = {2}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1514035112
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