The effects of particle formation on global aerosol and climate
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: School of Earth and Environment
Abstract
Particle number concentration is one of the least well constrained properties of the global atmospheric aerosol. Our lack of understanding of what controls particle concentrations greatly limits our ability to quantify the effect of aerosol on climate, which is one of the most important factors in recent climate change. This proposal deals with particle formation (nucleation) and its role in controlling global particle number concentrations. Many observations have been made that demonstrate the importance of particle formation for local particle concentrations, the particle size distribution, and cloud condensation nuclei. Global model calculations conducted at Leeds strongly suggest that particle formation events contribute substantially to total particle concentrations on a global scale, but little is known about their effect on the subset of particles that is relevant for the climate. We will use a global aeroosl model, constrained by a large number of observations of particle formation, to quantify the contribution of new particles to climate-relevant particles. The outcomes of this project will be (i) a greatly improved understanding of the global budget of climate-relevant particle number concentration; (ii) model schemes to simulate particle formation on a global scale for inclusion in the UK climate model; and (iii) an improved understanding of how climate-relevant particle concentrations have changed over the industrial period. The scientific results and model developments will have a significant bearing on the further development of global aerosol and climate models. In particular, they will feed directly into the NERC-Met Office UK Chemistry and Aerosol (UKCA) project to develop new aerosol microphysics schemes for the UK Unified Model.
Organisations
Publications
Spracklen DV
(2008)
Boreal forests, aerosols and the impacts on clouds and climate.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Spracklen D
(2008)
Contribution of particle formation to global cloud condensation nuclei concentrations
in Geophysical Research Letters
Spracklen D
(2011)
Global cloud condensation nuclei influenced by carbonaceous combustion aerosol
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Spracklen D
(2010)
Explaining global surface aerosol number concentrations in terms of primary emissions and particle formation
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Schmidt A
(2010)
The impact of the 1783-1784 AD Laki eruption on global aerosol formation processes and cloud condensation nuclei
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Metzger A
(2010)
Evidence for the role of organics in aerosol particle formation under atmospheric conditions.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Merikanto J
(2009)
Impact of nucleation on global CCN
Merikanto J
(2010)
Effects of boundary layer particle formation on cloud droplet number and changes in cloud albedo from 1850 to 2000
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Merikanto J
(2009)
Impact of nucleation on global CCN
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Title | Global Model of Aerosol Processes (GLOMAP) |
Description | The Global Model of Aerosol Processes (GLOMAP) is a global chemical transport model incorporating an aerosol chemistry and microphysics scheme. |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2010 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | GLOMAP has now been incorporated in the HadGEM and UKESM models and will be used for submission to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. It has also been incorporated in the ECMWF-IFS model and the CSIRO air quality model. |
URL | https://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/research/icas/research-themes/atmospheric-chemistry-and-aerosols/groups/... |