Jean-Pierre Blanchet

The Canadian Climate Centre Second-Generation General Circulation Model and Its Equilibrium Climate

Abstract The Canadian Climate Centre second generation general circulation model (GCMII) is described. The description emphasizes aspects in which the new model differs from the 1984 model (GCMI) as described by Boer and collaborators. Important features of the new version include an interactive cloudiness parameterization, improved solar and terrestrial radiative beating calculations, a more sophisticated treatment of land surface processes, and a simple ocean mixed-layer model with a thermodynamic sea ice component. Results from a ten-year climate simulation made with the new model are presented and compared with observed climatology. The comparison is made for the December-February and June-August periods. The model reproduces the observed climatology in a generally successful manner.

Modeling sea-salt aerosols in the atmosphere: 1. Model development

A simulation of the processes of sea-salt aerosol generation, diffusive transport, transformation, and removal as a function of particle size is incorporated into a one-dimensional version of the Canadian general climate model (GCMII). This model was then run in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Ireland during the period of January-March. Model predictions are compared to observations of sea-salt aerosols selected from a review of available studies that were subjected to strict screening criteria to ensure their representativeness. The number and mass size distribution and the wind dependency of total sea-salt aerosol mass concentrations predicted by the model compare well with observations. The modeled dependence of sea-salt aerosol concentration in the surface layer (χ, μg m−3) on 10-m wind speed (U10, m s−1) is given byequation image. Simulations show that both a and b change with location. The value a and b range from 0.20 and 3.1 for Mace Head, Ireland to 0.26, and 1.4 for Heimaey, Iceland. The dependence of χ on surface wind speed is weaker for smaller particles and for particles at higher altitudes. The residence time of sea-salt aerosols in the first atmospheric layer (0–166 m) ranges from 30 min for large particles (r=4–8 μm) to ∼60 hours for small particles (r=0.13–0.25 μm). Although some refinements are required for the model, it forms the basis for comparing the simulations with long-term atmospheric sea-salt measurements made at marine baseline observatories around the world and for a more comprehensive three-dimensional modeling of atmospheric sea-salt aerosols.

Canadian Aerosol Module: A size‐segregated simulation of atmospheric aerosol processes for climate and air quality models 1. Module development

A size-segregated multicomponent aerosol algorithm, the Canadian Aerosol Module (CAM), was developed for use with climate and air quality models. It includes major aerosol processes in the atmosphere: generation, hygroscopic growth, coagulation, nucleation, condensation, dry deposition/sedimentation, below-cloud scavenging, aerosol activation, a cloud module with explicit microphysical processes to treat aerosol-cloud interactions and chemical transformation of sulphur species in clear air and in clouds. The numerical solution was optimized to efficiently solve the complicated size-segregated multicomponent aerosol system and make it feasible to be included in global and regional models. An internal mixture is assumed for all types of aerosols except for soil dust and black carbon which are assumed to be externally mixed close to sources. To test the algorithm, emissions to the atmosphere of anthropogenic and natural aerosols are simulated for two aerosol types: sea salt and sulphate. A comparison was made of two numerical solutions of the aerosol algorithm: process splitting and ordinary differential equation (ODE) solver. It was found that the process-splitting method used for this model is within 15% of the more accurate ODE solution for the total sulphate mass concentration and <1% accurate for sea-salt concentration. Furthermore, it is computationally more than 100 times faster. The sensitivity of the simulated size distributions to the number of size bins was also investigated. The diffusional behavior of each individual process was quantitatively characterized by the difference in the mode radius and standard deviation of a lognormal curve fit of distributions between the approximate solution and the 96-bin reference solution. Both the number and mass size distributions were adequately predicted by a sectional model of 12 bins in many situations in the atmosphere where the sink for condensable matter on existing aerosol surface area is high enough that nucleation of new particles is negligible. Total mass concentration was adequately simulated using lower size resolution of 8 bins. However, to properly resolve nucleation mode size distributions and minimize the numerical diffusion, a sectional model of 18 size bins or greater is needed. The number of size bins is more important in resolving the nucleation mode peaks than in reducing the diffusional behavior of aerosol processes. Application of CAM in a study of the global cycling of sea-salt mass accompanies this paper

The Canadian Climate Centre spectral atmospheric general circulation model

Abstract A general description of the Canadian Climate Centre atmospheric general circulation model is presented. The model includes, either in explicit or parametric form, all of the physical processes deemed important for long‐term climate simulations. Detailed descriptions of the methods used to represent these processes are presented. Selected results from test runs with the model are presented to illustrate its sensitivity to some aspects of the subgrid‐scale vertical flux parameterizations and the gravity wave drag formulation.

Climate and climate change in western canada as simulated by the Canadian regional climate model

Abstract A þrst climate simulation performed with the novel Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM) is presented. The CRCM is based on fully elastic non‐hydrostatic þeld equations, which are solved with an efþcient semi‐implicit semi‐Lagrangian (SISL) marching algorithm, and on the parametrization package of subgrid‐scale physical effects of the second‐generation Canadian Global Climate Model (GCMII). Two 5‐year integrations of the CRCM nested with GCMII simulated data as lateral boundary conditions are made for conditions corresponding to current and doubled CO2 scenarios. For these simulations the CRCM used a grid size of 45 km on a polar‐stereographic projection, 20 scaled‐height levels and a time step of 15 min; the nesting GCMII has a spectral truncation of T32, 10 hybrid‐pressure levels and a time step of 20 min. These simulations serve to document: (1) the suitability of the SISL numerical scheme for regional climate modelling, (2) the use of GCMII physics at much higher resolution than in the nesti...

A Simulated Climatology of Asian Dust Aerosol and Its Trans-Pacific Transport. Part I: Mean Climate and Validation

Abstract The Northern Aerosol Regional Climate Model (NARCM) was used to construct a 44-yr climatology of spring Asian dust aerosol emission, column loading, deposition, trans-Pacific transport routes, and budgets during 1960–2003. Comparisons with available ground dust observations and Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Aerosol Index (AI) measurements verified that NARCM captured most of the climatological characteristics of the spatial and temporal distributions, as well as the interannual and daily variations of Asian dust aerosol during those 44 yr. Results demonstrated again that the deserts in Mongolia and in western and northern China (mainly the Taklimakan and Badain Juran, respectively) were the major sources of Asian dust aerosol in East Asia. The dust storms in spring occurred most frequently from early April to early May with a daily averaged dust emission (diameter d < 41 μm) of 1.58 Mt in April and 1.36 Mt in May. Asian dust aerosol contributed most of the dust aerosol loading in the tr...

Modeling sea-salt aerosols in the atmosphere: 2. Atmospheric concentrations and fluxes

Atmospheric sea-salt aerosol concentrations are studied using both long-term observations and model simulations of Na+ at seven stations around the globe. Good agreement is achieved between observations and model predictions in the northern hemisphere. A stronger seasonal variation occurs in the high-latitude North Atlantic than in regions close to the equator and in high-latitude southern hemisphere. Generally, concentrations are higher for both boreal and austral winters. With the model, the production flux and removal flux at the atmosphere-ocean interface was calculated and used to estimate the global sea-salt budget. The flux also shows seasonal variation similar to that of sea-salt concentration. Depending on the geographic location, the model predicts that dry deposition accounts for 60–70% of the total sea-salt removed from the atmosphere while in-cloud and below-cloud precipitation scavenging accounts for about 1% and 28–39% of the remainder, respectively. The total amount of sea-salt aerosols emitted from the world oceans to the atmosphere is estimated to be in the vicinity of 1.17×1016 g yr−1. Approximately 99% of the sea-salt aerosol mass generated by wind falls back to the sea with about 1–2% remaining in the atmosphere to be exported from the original grid square (300×300 km). Only a small portion of that exported (∼4%) is associated with submicron particles that are likely to undergo long-range transport.

Simulation of Arctic Diamond Dust, Ice Fog, and Thin Stratus Using an Explicit Aerosol–Cloud–Radiation Model

Abstract In support to the development of the Northern Aerosol Regional Climate Model, a single column model with explicit aerosol and cloud microphysics is described. It is designed specifically to investigate cloud–aerosol interactions in the Arctic. A total of 38 size bins discretize the aerosol and cloud spectra from 0.01- to 500-μm diameter. The model is based on three equations describing the time evolution of the aerosol, cloud droplet, and ice crystal spectra. The following physical processes are simulated: coagulation, sedimentation, nucleation, coalescence, aggregation, condensation, and deposition. Further, the model accounts for the water–ice phase interaction through the homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing, ice nuclei, and the Bergeron effect. The model has been validated against observations and other models. In this paper, the model is used to simulate diamond dust and ice fog in the Arctic during winter. It is shown that simulated cloud features such as cloud phase, cloud particle diame...

Sensitivity of sulphate aerosol size distributions and CCN concentrations over North America to SO x emissions and H2O2 concentrations

To assess the influence of aerosols on climate, the Northern Aerosol Regional Climate Model (NARCM) is currently being developed. NARCM includes size-segregated aerosols as prognostic and interactive constituents. In this paper, the model is being applied to sulphate aerosol over North America during time periods in July and December 1994. The results give evidence for considerable regional and seasonal variations in sulphate aerosol size distributions over North America. Comparisons of the results with different observations yield a reasonably good agreement in terms of meteorological and physicochemical parameters. Some of the differences in sulphate concentrations and wet deposition rates can be attributed to differences in cloud amounts and precipitation between model results and observations. Indirect tests of the simulated aerosol mass mean diameters are also encouraging. Additional simulations for hypothetical decreases in anthropogenic sulphur emissions and increases in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) background concentrations are performed for the same time periods to study the responses of concentration, size distribution, and wet deposition of sulphate aerosol to these changes. Also, responses of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentrations are investigated. The simulation results show that sulphate aerosol concentrations respond almost linearly in both time periods to decreases in sulphur emissions but that CCN number concentrations respond nonlinearly due to decreases in sulphate mass mean diameters. Especially for the December period, increases in hydrogen peroxide background concentrations lead to increases in CCN number concentrations at critical diameters larger than about 0.07 μm. These results lead to the hypothesis that increased in-cloud oxidation in convective clouds due to future increases in oxidant concentrations may produce larger CCN which eventually can be easily activated in subsequently forming stratiform clouds.

Microphysical parameterization of Arctic diamond dust, ice fog, and thin stratus for climate models

Abstract A parameterization is described for low-level clouds that are characteristic of the Arctic during winter. This parameterization simulates the activation of aerosols, the aggregation/coalescence, and the gravitational deposition of ice crystals/water droplets and the deposition/condensation of water vapor onto ice crystals/water droplets. The microphysics scheme uses four prognostic variables to characterize clouds: ice water content, liquid water content, and the mean diameter for ice crystals and for water droplets, and includes prognostic supersaturation. The parameterization simulates stable clouds where turbulence and entrainment are weak, like ice fogs, thin stratus, and diamond dust. The parameterization is tested into the Local Climate Model (LCM), which is the single column version of the Northern Aerosol Regional Climate Model (NARCM). NARCM is a regional model with an explicit representation of the aerosol physics and with the physics package of the Canadian Climate Center General Circu...