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Title: Arctic warming by abundant fine sea salt aerosols from blowing snow

Journal Article · · Nature Geoscience
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Abstract The Arctic warms nearly four times faster than the global average, and aerosols play an increasingly important role in Arctic climate change. In the Arctic, sea salt is a major aerosol component in terms of mass concentration during winter and spring. However, the mechanisms of sea salt aerosol production remain unclear. Sea salt aerosols are typically thought to be relatively large in size but low in number concentration, implying that their influence on cloud condensation nuclei population and cloud properties is generally minor. Here we present observational evidence of abundant sea salt aerosol production from blowing snow in the central Arctic. Blowing snow was observed more than 20% of the time from November to April. The sublimation of blowing snow generates high concentrations of fine-mode sea salt aerosol (diameter below 300 nm), enhancing cloud condensation nuclei concentrations up to tenfold above background levels. Using a global chemical transport model, we estimate that from November to April north of 70° N, sea salt aerosol produced from blowing snow accounts for about 27.6% of the total particle number, and the sea salt aerosol increases the longwave emissivity of clouds, leading to a calculated surface warming of +2.30 W m −2 under cloudy sky conditions.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). ARM Data Center; Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Radiation Sciences Program; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Contributing Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; SC0020259; SC0021017; SC0021208; SC0021341; SC0022046
OSTI ID:
1998013
Report Number(s):
BNL--224982-2023-JAAM; PII: 1254
Journal Information:
Nature Geoscience, Journal Name: Nature Geoscience Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 16; ISSN 1752-0894
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

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