AeroCom phase III experiments

A new AeroCom phase III experiment was recently added (in March 2015) in order to compare in-situ aerosol optical property measurements to model output. The new experiment has three tiers: (I) Evaluation of dry, in-situ optical parameters, (II) Trend analysis of dry, in-situ optical properties, and (III) Evaluation of hygroscopicity of aerosol scattering. The objective of the dry aerosol comparison project is to evaluate the performance of multiple AeroCom aerosol models using in-situ surface aerosol optical property measurement climatologies in a way that will inform improvements to model aerosol modules. Modellers should have received an email request for model output in mid-April 2015. If you have not already, please respond to the request as soon as possible. Detailed information on the project can be found below.

During the 2013 AeroCom workshop in Hamburg, Germany, several comparison/perturbation model experiments were proposed, aiming to having better understanding of the controlling processes of aerosol distributions and effects and coordination with other international activities. They include:

HTAP2: This model experiment is in coordination with the UN TF HTAP phase 2 activity, focusing on (1) estimating the relative contributions of regional and extra-regional sources of anthropogenic, dust, and biomass burning aerosols in regions of interest, (2) defining source/receptor relationships in the context of surface air quality and vertical amount, (3) evaluating model simulations with observations to characterize the uncertainties, and (4) assessing the emission and transport impacts on regional and global air quality, ecosystems, human health, and climate.

Nitrate: Nitrate is an important aerosol component and is likely to play an increasingly significant role in future climate. This first AeroCom nitrate model experiment will (1) address the diversity of nitrate simulations by the AeroCom model and understand the reasons for the intermodal differences, (2) compare model simulated nitrate with measurements from ground networks, aircraft campaigns, and satellite retrievals, and (3) investigate how nitrate formation changes in different models in response the perturbation of precursor emissions and meteorological conditions.

Biomass burning: The goal of this proposed model experiment is to tackle two main biomass burning emission parameters: Source strength and injection height. The objectives are to (1) inter-compare and quantify the accuracy and diversity of AeroCom models in simulating biomass burning AOD with the same “standard” emission sources, (2) perturb the emissions with a range of scaling factors to identify the optimal emission strength in different regions, and (3) test the smoke injection height-emission strength relationship in global models.

Details of experiment design, priorities, requested output, and timeline are described in the linked documents below and also in the priority tables.

Files from AeroCom phase III experiments should be found on the aerocom-users server under /metno/aerocom/users/aerocom1/AEROCOM-PHASE-III/{model}

OVERVIEW table of experiments in excel see here

Frequently asked questions to AeroCom phase III see here

Submission of data procedure, see here

AeroCom Control 2015

Contact: Michael Schulz (MetNo), michael.schulz@met.no

Experiment Description and motivation:

The model versions used for the different experiments are often not easily comparable. New model versions should be documented regularly to establish a state of the art comparison yearly. For this purpose AeroCom offers a semi-automatic platform with visualization via the AeroCom webinterface. Evaluation with surface observations and Aeronet observations will complete the documentation of emissions, removal, burden, lifetime of the major aerosol species.

Deadline for model submissions to be anlaysed before the Frascati AeroCom workshop: 15.September, on the condition that formatting and naming of files follows the instructions below.

Experiment name: AP3-CTRL2015

Output requested (2D fields, Monthly averages, preferably year 2010 meteorology):
EMI Emissions: BC, OA, SO2, DMS, NOx, VOC, DUST, SS
LOAD Column Loads: BC, OA, SO4, NO3, DUST, SS
SCONC Surface concentrations: BC, OA, SO4, NO3, DUST, SS
DEP Total Deposition: BC, OA, SO4, NO3, DUST, SS
OD550 Aerosol optical depth @550nm: AER, OA, SO4, NO3, DUST, SS

The directory /media/scratch/incoming/AEROCOM-P3-AUTO-UPLOAD allows for automatic incorporation into the AeroCom database and workup. Uploaded files are processed automatically by the AeroCom tools and transfered into the AeroCom phase III data directory.

If correct in format and with correct filenames, results uploaded here will be processed over night and appear after few days as image catalogue on http://aerocom.met.no/cgi-bin/aerocom/surfobs_annualrs.pl?PROJECT=AEROCOM&MODELLIST=AEROCOM-Phase-III

Short Recipe (Long version: https://wiki.met.no/aerocom/data_submission)

1) Name files according to HTAPII/AeroComPhaseIII standards. One file per year and variable
aerocom3_<ModelName>_<ExperimentName>_<VariableName>_<VerticalCoordinateType>_<Period>_<Frequency>.nc
for example
aerocom3_GOCART-AP3-CTRL2015_od550aer_Column_2010_monthly.nc

2) Check for cf compliance some files (http://aerocom-test.met.no/upload)

3a) obtain account on aerocom-users server
3) create directory on aerocom-users server:
/media/scratch/incoming/AEROCOM_AUTO_UPLOAD/{MODELNAME}/renamed/
Use exactly the same model name as used for file names. Attention to lower&upper case!!

4) Put files directly into this “renamed” directory.

In-situ Measurement Comparison

Contact: Betsy Andrews (NOAA/ESRL/GMD), Betsy.Andrews@noaa.gov

Experiment Description insitu_aerocompiii_description.pdf

List of stations with in-situ measurements to be used in comparison project insitu_station_inventory.xlsx

Modeller commitments (updated as commitments are made): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NL-l5WQ0kUFQkq8SPEvAq2fmtCzHIjFWnoTmKsthUhU/edit?usp=sharing

Follow project progress here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1buqxPbJ7DhWrwBUgTGV8b47HWAzaeyTTeSzViq8Fo4M/edit?usp=sharing

Nitrate comparison

Contact: Huisheng Bian (GSFC/NASA, JCET/UMBC), Huisheng.Bian@nasa.gov

Experiment Description File

NH3 Emissions from Geia file

File name convention Nitrate Filename Protocol File

Essential nitrate variables file

Biomass Burning emissions experiments

Contact: Mariya Petrenko (NASA GSFC, USA; ORAU, USA), mariya.m.petrenko@nasa.gov

Experiment Description (updated November 26, 2014)File

Model output file naming convention (September 11, 2014) File

Variable names for model output (highlighted in blue/cyan; October 16, 2014) File

HTAP 2 experiments

Contact: Mian Chin (NASA) mian.chin@nasa.gov; Michael Schulz (MetNo) michael.schulz@met.no

AeroCom specific experiment description for HTAP2 File

HTAP2 experiment description HTAP website

Aerosol Lifetime experiments, Fukushima tracers

Model output Specifications