Dust Radiative Effects Research Articles

Dust radiative effects on atmospheric thermodynamics and tropical cyclogenesis over the Atlantic Ocean using WRF-Chem coupled with an AOD data assimilation system

Abstract. This study investigated the dust radiative effects on atmospheric thermodynamics and tropical cyclogenesis over the Atlantic Ocean using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) coupled with an aerosol data assimilation (DA) system. MODIS AOD (aerosol optical depth) data were assimilated with the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) three-dimensional variational (3DVAR) DA scheme to depict the Saharan dust outbreak events in the 2006 summer. Comparisons with Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET), and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) observations showed that the system was capable of reproducing the dust distribution. Two sets of 180 h forecasts were conducted with the dust radiative effects activated (RE_ON) and inactivated (RE_OFF) respectively. Differences between the RE_ON and RE_OFF forecasts showed that low-altitude (high-altitude) dust inhibits (favors) convection owing to changes in convective inhibition (CIN). Heating in dust layers immediately above the boundary layer increases inhibition, whereas sufficiently elevated heating allows cooling above the boundary layer that reduces convective inhibition. Semi-direct effects in which clouds are altered by thermodynamic changes are also noted, which then alter cloud-radiative temperature (T) changes. The analysis of a tropical cyclone (TC) suppression case on 5 September shows evidence of enhanced convective inhibition by direct heating in dust, but it also suggests that the low-predictability dynamics of moist convection reduces the determinism of the effects of dust on timescales of TC development (days).

Self-Gravitational Instability of Collisional Dusty Plasma With Dust Charge Variation and Radiative Effects

The self-gravitational instability of partially ionized dusty plasma with radiative effects of electrons and ions, dust polarization force, and dust charge fluctuation has been studied. Using basic sets of fluid equations for ion, electron, neutral, and dust components, a general dispersion relation is derived. In the dynamics of dust charge, an equilibrium dust charge inhomogeneity along with the dust charge fluctuation is also considered. It is found that the presence of radiative cooling of ions and electrons, polarization force, and dust charge fluctuation significantly affects the criterion as well as the growth rate of self-gravitational instability while the dust charge inhomogeneity and dust-neutral collisions affect only the growth rate of instability. The outcomes of this paper are useful in dusty molecular clouds.

Emission, transport, and radiative effects of mineral dust from the Taklimakan and Gobi deserts: comparison of measurements and model results

Abstract. The Weather Research and Forecasting Model with chemistry (WRF-Chem model) was used to investigate a typical dust storm event that occurred from 18 to 23 March 2010 and swept across almost all of China, Japan, and Korea. The spatial and temporal variations in dust aerosols and the meteorological conditions over East Asia were well reproduced by the WRF-Chem model. The simulation results were used to further investigate the details of processes related to dust emission, long-range transport, and radiative effects of dust aerosols over the Taklimakan Desert (TD) and Gobi Desert (GD). The results indicated that weather conditions, topography, and surface types in dust source regions may influence dust emission, uplift height, and transport at the regional scale. The GD was located in the warm zone in advance of the cold front in this case. Rapidly warming surface temperatures and cold air advection at high levels caused strong instability in the atmosphere, which strengthened the downward momentum transported from the middle and low troposphere and caused strong surface winds. Moreover, the GD is located in a relatively flat, high-altitude region influenced by the confluence of the northern and southern westerly jets. Therefore, the GD dust particles were easily lofted to 4 km and were the primary contributor to the dust concentration over East Asia. In the dust budget analysis, the dust emission flux over the TD was 27.2 ± 4.1 µg m−2 s−1, which was similar to that over the GD (29 ± 3.6 µg m−2 s−1). However, the transport contribution of the TD dust (up to 0.8 ton d−1) to the dust sink was much smaller than that of the GD dust (up to 3.7 ton d−1) because of the complex terrain and the prevailing wind in the TD. Notably, a small amount of the TD dust (PM2.5 dust concentration of approximately 8.7 µg m−3) was lofted to above 5 km and transported over greater distances under the influence of the westerly jets. Moreover, the direct radiative forcing induced by dust was estimated to be −3 and −7 W m−2 at the top of the atmosphere, −8 and −10 W m−2 at the surface, and +5 and +3 W m−2 in the atmosphere over the TD and GD, respectively. This study provides confidence for further understanding the climate effects of the GD dust.

Impact of dust size parameterizations on aerosol burden and radiative forcing in RegCM4

Abstract. We investigate the sensitivity of aerosol representation in the regional climate model RegCM4 for two dust parameterizations for the period 2007–2014 over the Sahara and the Mediterranean. We apply two discretization methods of the dust size distribution keeping the total mass constant: (1) the default RegCM4 4-bin approach, where the size range of each bin is calculated using an equal, logarithmic separation of the total size range of dust, using the diameter of dust particles, and (2) a newly implemented 12-bin approach with each bin defined according to an isogradient method where the size ranges are dependent on the dry deposition velocity of dust particles. Increasing the number of transported dust size bins theoretically improves the representation of the physical properties of dust particles within the same size bin. Thus, more size bins improve the simulation of atmospheric processes. The radiative effects of dust over the area are discussed and evaluated with the CALIPSO dust optical depth (DOD). This study is among the first studies evaluating the vertical profile of simulated dust with a pure dust product. Reanalysis winds from ERA-Interim and the total precipitation flux from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) observational gridded database are used to evaluate and explain the discrepancies between model and observations. The new dust binning approach increases the dust column burden by 4 and 3 % for fine and coarse particles, respectively, which increases DOD by 10 % over the desert and the Mediterranean. Consequently, negative shortwave radiative forcing (RF) is enhanced by more than 10 % at the top of the atmosphere and by 1 to 5 % on the surface. Positive longwave RF locally increases by more than 0.1 W m−2 in a large portion of the Sahara, the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. The four-bin isolog method is to some extent numerically efficient, nevertheless our work highlights that the simplified representation of the four-bin approach produces less dust optical depth and RF, a fact that should be taken into account by future studies of the same region.

Glacial to Holocene changes in trans-Atlantic Saharan dust transport and dust-climate feedbacks.

Saharan mineral dust exported over the tropical North Atlantic is thought to have significant impacts on regional climate and ecosystems, but limited data exist documenting past changes in long-range dust transport. This data gap limits investigations of the role of Saharan dust in past climate change, in particular during the mid-Holocene, when climate models consistently underestimate the intensification of the West African monsoon documented by paleorecords. We present reconstructions of African dust deposition in sediments from the Bahamas and the tropical North Atlantic spanning the last 23,000 years. Both sites show early and mid-Holocene dust fluxes 40 to 50% lower than recent values and maximum dust fluxes during the deglaciation, demonstrating agreement with records from the northwest African margin. These quantitative estimates of trans-Atlantic dust transport offer important constraints on past changes in dust-related radiative and biogeochemical impacts. Using idealized climate model experiments to investigate the response to reductions in Saharan dust's radiative forcing over the tropical North Atlantic, we find that small (0.15°C) dust-related increases in regional sea surface temperatures are sufficient to cause significant northward shifts in the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone, increased precipitation in the western Sahel and Sahara, and reductions in easterly and northeasterly winds over dust source regions. Our results suggest that the amplifying feedback of dust on sea surface temperatures and regional climate may be significant and that accurate simulation of dust's radiative effects is likely essential to improving model representations of past and future precipitation variations in North Africa.

Satellite-Based Estimation of Temporally Resolved Dust Radiative Forcing in Snow Cover

AbstractRunoff from mountain snowpack is an important freshwater supply for many parts of the world. The deposition of aeolian dust on snow decreases snow albedo and increases the absorption of solar irradiance. This absorption accelerates melting, impacting the regional hydrological cycle in terms of timing and magnitude of runoff. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Dust Radiative Forcing in Snow (MODDRFS) satellite product allows estimation of the instantaneous (at time of satellite overpass) surface radiative forcing caused by dust. While such snapshots are useful, energy balance modeling requires temporally resolved radiative forcing to represent energy fluxes to the snowpack, as modulated primarily by varying cloud cover. Here, the instantaneous MODDRFS estimate is used as a tie point to calculate temporally resolved surface radiative forcing. Dust radiative forcing scenarios were considered for 1) clear-sky conditions and 2) all-sky conditions using satellite-based cloud observations. Comparisons against in situ stations in the Rocky Mountains show that accounting for the temporally resolved all-sky solar irradiance via satellite retrievals yields a more representative time series of dust radiative effects compared to the clear-sky assumption. The modeled impact of dust on enhanced snowmelt was found to be significant, accounting for nearly 50% of the total melt at the more contaminated station sites. The algorithm is applicable to regional basins worldwide, bearing relevance to both climate process research and the operational management of water resources.

Size distribution and optical properties of mineral dust aerosols transported in the western Mediterranean

Abstract. This study presents in situ aircraft measurements of Saharan mineral dust transported over the western Mediterranean basin in June–July 2013 during the ChArMEx/ADRIMED (the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment/Aerosol Direct Radiative Impact on the regional climate in the MEDiterranean region) airborne campaign. Dust events differing in terms of source region (Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco), time of transport (1–5 days) and height of transport were sampled. Mineral dust were transported above the marine boundary layer, which conversely was dominated by pollution and marine aerosols. The dust vertical structure was extremely variable and characterized by either a single layer or a more complex and stratified structure with layers originating from different source regions. Mixing of mineral dust with pollution particles was observed depending on the height of transport of the dust layers. Dust layers carried a higher concentration of pollution particles below 3 km above sea level (a.s.l.) than above 3 km a.s.l., resulting in a scattering Ångström exponent up to 2.2 below 3 km a.s.l. However, the optical properties of the dust plumes remained practically unchanged with respect to values previously measured over source regions, regardless of the altitude. Moderate absorption of light by the dust plumes was observed with values of aerosol single scattering albedo at 530 nm ranging from 0.90 to 1.00. Concurrent calculations from the aerosol chemical composition revealed a negligible contribution of pollution particles to the absorption properties of the dust plumes that was due to a low contribution of refractory black carbon in regards to the fraction of dust and sulfate particles. This suggests that, even in the presence of moderate pollution, likely a persistent feature in the Mediterranean, the optical properties of the dust plumes could be assumed similar to those of native dust in radiative transfer simulations, modelling studies and satellite retrievals over the Mediterranean. Measurements also showed that the coarse mode of mineral dust was conserved even after 5 days of transport in the Mediterranean, which contrasts with the gravitational depletion of large particles observed during the transport of dust plumes over the Atlantic. Simulations with the WRF mesoscale meteorological model highlighted a strong vertical turbulence within the dust layers that could prevent deposition of large particles during their atmospheric transport. This has important implications for the dust radiative effects due to surface dimming, atmospheric heating and cloud formation. The results presented here add to the observational data set necessary for evaluating the role of mineral dust on the regional climate and rainfall patterns in the western Mediterranean basin and understanding their atmospheric transport at global scale.

Experimental determination of short- and long-wave dust radiative effects in the Central Mediterranean and comparison with model results

Downward and upward irradiance measurements, in the short-wave (SW) and long-wave (LW) spectral range, have been used in combination with simultaneous aerosol optical depths (AODs) to experimentally determine the instantaneous and clear-sky aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing (DRF) at the surface, during a desert dust outbreak which affected the Central Mediterranean from 9 to 13 July 2012. AODs were retrieved from AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) sun/sky photometer measurements collocated in space and time. The importance of downward and upward radiative flux measurements to properly account for both the surface albedo dependence on the solar zenith angle, and the land surface temperature (TLS) has been highlighted. Measured radiative fluxes were in reasonable agreement with the CERES (Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System) and AERONET corresponding ones collocated in space and time. SW and LW downward fluxes at the surface decreased up to 9% and increased up to 13%, respectively, as a consequence of a factor 5 increase of the AOD at 675nm (AOD675). This is due to the cooling and warming effect of desert dust in the SW and LW spectral range, respectively. In fact, we have also found that the TLS increased at a rate of about 250K per unit increase of the AOD675. The aerosol DRF at the surface varied from −8 to −74Wm−2 and from +1.2 to +9.6Wm−2 in the SW and LW spectral domains, respectively. In particular, we have found that the LW-DRF on average offsets 14% of the related SW component. It is shown that a two-stream radiative transfer model can reproduce the experimental findings at the surface by replacing the refractive indices typical of dust particles with the ones obtained for a mixture made of dust and soot particles. The dust contamination by anthropogenic particles during its transport to the monitoring site located several hundred kilometers away from the source region was responsible for this last result. We have also found by model simulations that the LW-DRF increased linearly with TLS both at the surface and at the top of the atmosphere.

The radiative impact of desert dust on orographic rain in the Cévennes–Vivarais area: a case study from HyMeX

Abstract. The study is focused on Intensive Observation Period (IOP) 14 of the Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment first Special Observing Period (HyMeX SOP 1) that took place from 17 to 19 October 2012 and was dedicated to the study of orographic rain in the Cévennes–Vivarais (CV) target area. During this IOP a dense dust plume originating from northern Africa (the Maghreb and Sahara) was observed to be transported over the Balearic Islands towards the south of France. The plume was characterized by an aerosol optical depth between 0.2 and 0.8 at 550 nm, highly variable in time and space over the western Mediterranean Basin. The impact of this dust plume, the biggest event observed during the 2-month-long HyMeX SOP 1, on the precipitation over the CV area has been analyzed using high-resolution simulations from the convection permitting mesoscale model Meso-NH (mesoscale non-hydrostatic model) validated against measurements obtained from numerous instruments deployed specifically during SOP 1 (ground-based/airborne water vapor and aerosol lidars, airborne microphysics probes) as well as space-borne aerosol products. The 4-day simulation reproduced realistically the temporal and spatial variability (including the vertical distribution) of the dust. The dust radiative impact led to an average 0.6 K heating at the altitude of the dust layer in the CV area (and up to +3 K locally) and an average 100 J kg−1 increase of most unstable convective available potential energy (and up to +900 J kg−1 locally) with respect to a simulation without prescribed dust aerosols. The rainfall amounts and location were only marginally affected by the dust radiative effect, even after 4 days of simulation. The transient nature of this radiative effect in dynamical environments such as those found in the vicinity of heavy precipitation events in the Mediterranean is not sufficient to impact 24 h of accumulated rainfall in the dust simulation.

Role of dust direct radiative effect on the tropical rain belt over Middle East and North Africa: A high‐resolution AGCM study

AbstractTo investigate the influence of direct radiative effect of dust on the tropical summer rain belt across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the present study utilizes the high‐resolution capability of an Atmospheric General Circulation Model, the High‐Resolution Atmospheric Model. Ensembles of Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project style simulations have been conducted with and without dust radiative impacts, to differentiate the influence of dust on the tropical rain belt. The analysis focuses on summer season. The results highlight the role of dust‐induced responses in global‐ and regional‐scale circulations in determining the strength and the latitudinal extent of the tropical rain belt. A significant response in the strength and position of the local Hadley circulation is predicted in response to meridionally asymmetric distribution of dust and the corresponding radiative effects. Significant responses are also found in regional circulation features such as African Easterly Jet and West African Monsoon circulation. Consistent with these dynamic responses at various scales, the tropical rain belt across MENA strengthens and shifts northward. Importantly, the summer precipitation over the semiarid strip south of Sahara, including Sahel, increases up to 20%. As this region is characterized by the “Sahel drought,” the predicted precipitation sensitivity to the dust loading over this region has a wide range of socioeconomic implications. Overall, the study demonstrates the extreme importance of incorporating dust radiative effects and the corresponding circulation responses at various scales, in the simulations and future projections of this region's climate.

The impact of land cover generated by a dynamic vegetation model on climate over east Asia in present and possible future climate

Abstract. This study investigates the impacts of land cover change, as simulated by a dynamic vegetation model, on the summertime climatology over Asia. The climate model used in this study has systematic biases of underestimated rainfall around Korea and overestimation over the South China Sea. When coupled to a dynamic vegetation model, the resulting change in land cover is accompanied by an additional direct radiative effect over dust-producing regions. Both the change in land surface conditions directly and the effect of increased bare-soil fraction on dust loading affect the climate in the region and are examined separately in this study. The direct radiative effect of the additional dust contributes to increasing the rainfall biases, while the land surface physical processes are related to local temperature biases such as warm biases over North China. In time slice runs for future climate, as the dust loading changes, anomalous anticyclonic flows are simulated over South China Sea, resulting in reduced rainfall over the South China Sea and more rainfall near Korea and south China. In contrast with the rainfall changes, the influence of land cover change and the associated dust radiative effects are very small for a future projection of temperature, which is dominated by atmospheric CO2 increase. The results in this study suggest that the land cover simulated by a dynamic vegetation model can affect, and be affected by, model systematic biases on regional scales over dust emission source regions such as Asia. In particular, the analysis of the radiative effects of dust changes associated with land cover change is important in order to understand future changes in regional precipitation in global warming.

Laboratory chamber measurements of the longwave extinction spectra and complex refractive indices of African and Asian mineral dusts

AbstractIn this study we present the first results from laboratory chamber experiments newly designed to investigate the longwave optical properties of mineral dust. Extinction spectra in the 2–16 µm range have been measured in situ (T = 293 K, RH < 2%) for polydispersed pure dust aerosols generated from natural parent soils from Tunisia, Niger, and the Gobi desert. Data are used in combination with particle size distributions to estimate the complex refractive index of each dust sample. Our results show that the magnitude and spectral dependence of the dust extinction and refractive indices differ according to particle mineralogy, suggesting the necessity for regionally resolved optical properties for modeling dust radiative effects in the longwave. The magnitude of extinction is controlled by the particle size distribution and remains significant down to low coarse particle concentrations, indicating that the longwave effect of mineral dust persists throughout long‐range transport and is thus relevant at the global scale.

Multiplatform analysis of the radiative effects and heating rates for an intense dust storm on 21 June 2007

Dust radiative effects and atmospheric heating rates are investigated for a Saharan dust storm on 21 June 2007 using a combination of multiple satellite data sets and ground and aircraft observations as input into a delta‐four stream radiative transfer model (RTM). This combines the strengths of the Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations and CloudSat satellites and in situ aircraft data to characterize the vertical structure of the dust layers (5 km in height with optical depths between 1.5 and 2.0) and underlying low‐level water clouds. These observations were used, along with Aerosol Robotic Network retrievals of aerosol optical properties, as input to the RTM to assess the surface, atmosphere, and top of atmosphere (TOA) shortwave aerosol radiative effects (SWAREs). Our results show that the dust TOA SWARE per unit aerosol optical depth was −56 W m−2 in cloud‐free conditions over ocean and +74 W m−2 where the dust overlay low‐level clouds, and show heating rates greater than 10 K/d. Additional case studies also confirm the results of the 21 June case. This study shows the importance of identifying clouds beneath dust as they can have a significant impact on the radiative effects of dust, and hence assessments of the role of dust aerosol on the energy budget and climate.

Case study of longwave contribution to dust radiative effects over East Asia

In order to evaluate the impacts of LW contribution to aerosol radiative effects over East Asia, a dust longwave radiative parameterization scheme is integrated into the online mesoscale dust forecasting model GRAPES_CUACE/dust. A case modeling study shows that about half at surface and one third at TOA of the dust negative shortwave radiative forcing are cancelled by its positive longwave forcing over the dust affected area. In the dust layer, longwave radiation emitting by dust cools the atmosphere, which counteracts about 17% of shortwave heating of atmosphere during daytime and results in cooling of atmosphere simply during nighttime. At the same time, the atmosphere beyond the dust layer is warmed because of absorbing the LW radiation emitted by dust layer. Dust longwave contribution exerts more evident impact on the air temperature in lower atmosphere and surface. The surface air temperature cooling rate resulting from the dust solar radiation is cancelled about 40% by dust longwave warming at daytime. At nighttime, dust longwave contribution warms land and sea surface. The online calculation of dust LW radiation reduces about 15% relative errors of predicted AOD based on the dust model with only SW radiative feedback. This case study result suggests that dust longwave contribution has important impacts on the earth-atmosphere energy process, especially on the surface and in the lower atmosphere and should not be neglected in the study of dust radiation effects.

Simulation of the Direct Radiative Effect of Mineral Dust and Sea Salt Aerosols in a Doubled Carbon Dioxide Climate

Simulation of the Direct Radiative Effect of Mineral Dust and Sea Salt Aerosols in a Doubled Carbon Dioxide Climate

Numerical Simulations of Asian Dust-Aerosols and Regional Impact on Weather and Climate- Part II: PRCM-Dust Model Simulation

ABSTRACTThe Purdue Regional Climate Model (PRCM)-Dust, an on-line coupled regional climate-dust model, has been developed to study the dust life cycle and radiative effect of dust on regional weather and climate in Asia in April 1998. The dust model is built on the PRCM discussed in Part I. The dust module includes the major phases of the mineral dust cycle, such as emission, advection, diffusion, and deposition. Furthermore, the optical properties of the dust aerosols are included in the radiation calculation of the PRCM, so that the feedback of radiative forcing of dust-aerosols can be considered in the PRCM modeling. The PRCM-Dust successfully simulated the uplifted dusts to reached around 500–800 hPa over the source regions and remained at 3–5 km or higher to be transported further eastward. The spatial and temporal distributions of the dust aerosols were consistent with the satellite images, the TOMS Aerosol Index maps, lidar observations, and the surface network reports. The regional climatic impacts due to radiative effect of dust aerosols include warming over the high concentration regions in North Asia and cooling in dust-free South Asia. Since there is no nudging, restart, or other artificial forcing in the PRCM-Dust model, the simulated dust concentrations, size distribution, as well as meteorological and soil environments follow the conservation laws of physics. They are suitable to study the interactions among dusts, soil, and regional weather/climate.

Direct Radiative Effect of Mineral Dust on the Development of African Easterly Waves in Late Summer, 2003–07

AbstractEpisodic events of both Saharan dust outbreaks and African easterly waves (AEWs) are observed to move westward over the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean. The relationship between the warm, dry, and dusty Saharan air layer on the nearby storms has been the subject of considerable debate. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting model is used to investigate the radiative effect of dust on the development of AEWs during August and September, the months of maximum tropical cyclone activity, in years 2003–07. The simulations show that dust radiative forcing enhances the convective instability of the environment. As a result, most AEWs intensify in the presence of a dust layer. The Lorenz energy cycle analysis reveals that the dust radiative forcing enhances the condensational heating, which elevates the zonal and eddy available potential energy. In turn, available potential energy is effectively converted to eddy kinetic energy, in which local convective overturning plays the primary role. The magnitude of the intensification effect depends on the initial environmental conditions, including moisture, baroclinity, and the depth of the boundary layer. The authors conclude that dust radiative forcing, albeit small, serves as a catalyst to promote local convection that facilitates AEW development.

Modeling Saharan desert dust radiative effects on clouds

This work aims at studying the Saharan desert dust storm effects on clouds. This is done through the investigation of the possible modifications that mineral desert dust aerosols may exert on clouds, modifying their properties and also through the estimation of the cloud radiative forcing in the presence of this type of aerosols, during strong desert dust events that occurred in the end of May 2006 and in the beginning of September 2007. The assessment of the cloud radiative forcing is made at a regional scale both at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface levels. The results are obtained from numerical simulations with a mesoscale atmospheric model (MesoNH) over Portugal area and nearby Atlantic Ocean.From the results obtained it is possible to observe that, for all days under study, a cooling effect is always found both at the TOA and surface levels. Also, for these two levels and for clouds developing in a dusty atmosphere, a more pronounced cooling effect (more negative cloud radiative forcing values) is found compared with the corresponding cloud radiative forcing values for clouds developing in a dust free atmosphere.

Feedback between windblown dust and planetary boundary-layer characteristics: Sensitivity to boundary and surface layer parameterizations

Inclusion of direct radiative forcing by mineral dust is important for accurate simulation of meteorological conditions, and planetary boundary-layer (PBL) parameterization plays a critical role in proper representation of such forcing. The direct radiative forcing of mineral dust and its feedback effects on boundary-layer dynamics are investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF/Chem) model. Furthermore, this study examines the sensitivity of dust radiative effects associated with two different PBL schemes: the Yonsei University (YSU) scheme with both Noah and RUC (Rapid Update Cycle) land-surface models (LSMs), and the Mellor–Yamada–Janjic (MYJ) scheme. By reflecting and absorbing solar radiation, dust aerosols are predicted to cool the atmosphere from the surface to near the boundary-layer top, while warm the boundary-layer top and lower free atmosphere by absorbing both solar and infrared radiation. The simulated surface cooling and heating at the boundary-layer top stabilizes the lower atmosphere, causing a reduction of boundary-layer depth. The stabilized atmosphere restricts vertical exchange of momentum, resulting in an overall decrease of wind speeds in the lower boundary layer and an increase within the upper boundary layer and lower free atmosphere. Use of the YSU-RUC scheme resulted in larger dust feedback effects on atmospheric characteristics, while the MYJ scheme produced lower radiative feedback effects because of lower dust concentrations and reduced vertical mixing of dust. The differences in radiative forcing by dust in model runs are found to be mainly due to differences in PBL scheme, rather than the LSM used in the model.

Radiative and climatic effects of dust over West Africa, as simulated by a regional climate model

CR Climate Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials CR 52:97-113 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01039 Contribution to the CR Special: 'The regional climate model RegCM4' Radiative and climatic effects of dust over West Africa, as simulated by a regional climate model Fabien Solmon1,*, Nellie Elguindi1, Marc Mallet2 1The Abdus salam International Center for Theoretical Physics, Strada Costiera 11, 34100 Trieste, Italy 2Laboratoire d’Aerologie, CNRS, Universite de Toulouse, 14 av. Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France *Email: fsolmon@ictp.it ABSTRACT: We used the Regional Circulation Model (RegCM) to investigate the direct effect of dust aerosol on climate over West Africa, with a specific focus on the Sahel region. First, we characterized the mechanisms linking dust radiative forcing and convective activity over Sahel and the net impact of dust on precipitation: The mean effect of dust over 11 summer seasons is to reduce precipitation over most of the Sahel region as a result of strong surface cooling and elevated diabatic warming inhibiting convection. However, on the very northern Sahel and in the vicinity of dust sources, a relative increase of precipitation is obtained as a result of enhanced diabatic warming in the lower atmosphere associated with high dust concentrations at low altitude. In the second part of the paper, we investigated the robustness of this signal with regards to different modeling conditions that are thought to be sensitive, namely the extension of the domain, the effect of dust on sea surface temperature, the land surface scheme, the convective scheme and the dust single scattering albedo. The simulated dust induced precipitation anomaly over West Africa is consistent and robust in these tests, but significant variations over the northern Sahel region are nevertheless pointed out. Among different factors, single scattering and surface albedo, as well as the nature of the convective scheme, have the greatest influence on the simulated response of West African climate to dust forcing. KEY WORDS: Dust · Aerosol · Sahel · West Africa · Regional climate · Radiative effect · Single scattering albedo · Convection Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Solmon F, Elguindi N, Mallet M (2012) Radiative and climatic effects of dust over West Africa, as simulated by a regional climate model. Clim Res 52:97-113. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01039 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in CR Vol. 52. Online publication date: March 22, 2012 Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.