Alf Grini

Roles of saltation, sandblasting, and wind speed variability on mineral dust aerosol size distribution during the Puerto Rican Dust Experiment (PRIDE)

Recent field observations demonstrate that a significant discrepancy exists between models and measurements of large dust aerosol particles at remote sites. We assess the fraction of this bias explained by assumptions involving four different dust production processes. These include dust source size distribution (constant or dynamically changing according to saltation and sandblasting theory), wind speed distributions (using mean wind or a probability density function (PDF)), parent soil aggregate size distribution, and the discretization (number of bins) in the dust size distribution. The Dust Entrainment and Deposition global model is used to simulate the measurements from the Puerto Rican Dust Experiment (PRIDE) (2000). Using wind speed PDFs from observed National Centers for Environmental Prediction winds results in small changes in downwind size distribution for the production which neglects sandblasting, but it results in significant changes when production includes sandblasting. Saltation-sandblasting generally produces more large dust particles than schemes which neglect sandblasting. Parent soil aggregate size distribution is an important factor when calculating size-distributed dust emissions. Changing from a soil with large grains to a soil with smaller grains increases by 50% the fraction of large aerosols (D >5 μm)

Modeling the Annual Cycle of Sea Salt in the Global 3D Model Oslo CTM2: Concentrations, Fluxes, and Radiative Impact

A global three-dimensional chemical transport model (CTM) is used to model the yearly cycle of sea salt. Sea salt particles are produced by wind acting on the sea surface, and they are removed by wet and dry deposition. In this study, forecast meteorological data are taken from the ECMWF. The modeled concentrations are compared to measured concentrations at sea level, and both absolute values and monthly variations compare well with measurements. Radiation calculations have been performed using the same meteorological input data as the CTM calculations. The global, yearly average burden of sea salt is found to be 12 mg m22. This is within the range of earlier estimates that vary between 11 and 22 mg m22. The radiative impact of sea salt is calculated to be 2 1.1 Wm 22. The total, yearly flux of sea salt is estimated to be 6500 Tg yr 21.

Comparison of the radiative properties and direct radiative effect of aerosols from a global aerosol model and remote sensing data over ocean

Measurements of C2–C8 non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) have been made in situ at Halley Base, Antarctica (75◦35°S, 26◦19°W) from February 2004 to February 2005 as part of the Chemistry of the Antarctic Boundary Layer and the Interface with Snow (CHABLIS) experiment. The data show long- and short-term variabilities in NMHCs controlled by the seasonal and geographic dependence of emissions and variation in atmospheric removal rates and pathways. Ethane, propane, iso-butane, n-butane and acetylene abundances followed a general OH-dependent sinusoidal seasonal cycle. The yearly averages were 186, 31, 3.2, 4.9 and 19 pptV, respectively, lower than those which were reported in some previous studies. Superimposed on a seasonal cycle was shorter-term variability that could be attributed to both synoptic airmass variability and localized loss processes due to other radical species. Hydrocarbon variability during periods of hour-to-day-long surface O3 depletion in late winter/early spring indicated active halogen atom chemistry estimated to be in the range 1.7 × 103–3.4 × 104 atom cm−3 for Cl and 4.8 × 106–9.6 × 107 atom cm−3 for Br. Longer-term negative deviations from sinusoidal behaviour in the late August were indicative of NMHC reaction with a persistent [Cl] of 2.3×103 atom cm−3.Maximum ethene and propene of 157 and 179 pptV, respectively, were observed in the late February/early March, consistent with increased oceanic biogenic emissions; however, their presence was significant year-round (June–August concentrations of 17.1 ± 18.3 and 7.9 ± 20.0 pptV, respectively).

Saltation Sandblasting behavior during mineral dust aerosol production

The dominant process in producing fine dust aerosols during saltation is thought to be sandblasting. Recent studies claim that due to competing physical processes, emission efficiencies of dust aerosols oscillate with increasing wind friction speed. These oscillations can result in order of magnitude changes in dust mass emissions. Our work shows that emission efficiencies, and hence emissions of dust aerosols are smooth functions of the wind friction speed for natural soil size distributions. This rules out oscillations as an explanation for scatter in experimental data. We show and explain the reasons for the oscillations.

High-latitude volcanic eruptions in the Norwegian Earth System Model : the effect of different initial conditions and of the ensemble size

Large volcanic eruptions have strong impacts on both atmospheric and ocean dynamics that can last for decades. Numerical models have attempted to reproduce the effects of major volcanic eruptions on climate; however, there are remarkable inter-model disagreements related to both short-term dynamical response to volcanic forcing and long-term oceanic evolution. The lack of robust simulated behaviour is related to various aspects from model formulation to simulated background internal variability to the eruption details. Here, we use the Norwegian Earth System Model version 1 to calculate interactively the volcanic aerosol loading resulting from SO2 emissions of the second largest high-latitude volcanic eruption in historical time (the Laki eruption of 1783). We use two different approaches commonly used interchangeably in the literature to generate ensembles. The ensembles start from different background initial states, and we show that the two approaches are not identical on short-time scales (<1 yr) in discerning the volcanic effects on climate, depending on the background initial state in which the simulated eruption occurred. Our results also show that volcanic eruptions alter surface climate variability (in general increasing it) when aerosols are allowed to realistically interact with circulation: Simulations with fixed volcanic aerosol show no significant change in surface climate variability. Our simulations also highlight that the change in climate variability is not a linear function of the amount of the volcanic aerosol injected. We then provide a tentative estimation of the ensemble size needed to discern a given volcanic signal on surface temperature from the natural internal variability on regional scale: At least 20–25 members are necessary to significantly detect seasonally averaged anomalies of 0.5°C; however, when focusing on North America and in winter, a higher number of ensemble members (35–40) is necessary.

A production-tagged aerosol module for Earth system models, OsloAero5.3 – extensions and updates for CAM5.3-Oslo

The article untitled “A production-tagged aerosol module for earth system models, OsloAero5.3 – extensions and updates for CAM5.3-Oslo” by A. Kirkevag et al. presents in a very detailed way updates in the modelisation of aerosols that is used in the atmospheric component of the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM). This updated version called OsloAero5.3 is here tested in the CAMS5.3 atmospheric model which is part of the Community Earth System Model 1.2 (CESM). With regards to the CMIP6 project, OsloAero5.3 is planned to be integrated/merged with CEMS2 to form the NorESM2 model, but the version presented in this article could be used for the early phase of CMIP6. Therefore, in addition to being of value to the aerosol modelling community, the discussions in the article are fully relevant to the CMIP6 exercise.

Climate response to aerosol geoengineering: a multi-method comparison.

AbstractConsidering the ambitious climate targets of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 2 °C, with aspirations of even 1.5 °C, questions arise on how to achieve this. Climate geoengineering has been proposed as a potential tool to minimise global harm from anthropogenic climate change. Here, an Earth System model is used to evaluate the climate response when transferring from a high CO2 forcing scenario, RCP8.5, to a middle-of-the-road forcing scenario, like RCP4.5, using aerosol geoengineering. Three different techniques are considered: stratospheric aerosol injections (SAI), marine sky brightening (MSB) and cirrus cloud thinning (CCT). The climate states appearing in the climate geoengineering cases are found to be closer to RCP4.5 than RCP8.5 and many anthropogenic global warming symptoms are alleviated. All three techniques result in comparable global mean temperature evolutions. However, there are some notable differences in other climate variables due to the nature of the forcings applie...