Aerocom wiki

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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

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/a/noaa.gov/spreadsheets/d/1rZ_pB-r2IDymqA-FUTqKtfcH-EAfhfhCA1Fyrf7QBvg/edit#gid=0

Follow project progress here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yI-FZDOJSMW44-BaJedgDba5KmAnGzKMKxoCrQE0r_E/edit

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

Experiment Description File

NH3 Emissions from Geia file