Atmospheric heating rate due to black carbon aerosols: Uncertainties and impact factors

This study investigates the impacts of black carbon (BC) properties (vertical concentration, shape, size, and mixing state) and atmospheric variables (cloud and aerosol loading, surface albedo, and solar zenith angle) on BC radiative effects. Observations from aircraft measurements, lidar, and the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) are used to constrain BC and aerosol properties. The library for radiative transfer (Libradtran) model is used to calculate BC radiative forcing (RF). BC optical properties are obtained from numerical modeling with aggregate or spherical structures and different size distributions. By modifying the optical properties, different BC geometries and size distributions result in uncertainties in RF and heating rate less than 30%, while the uncertainty in heating rate due to different BC mixing states is as large as similar to 80%. The vertical distribution of BC concentrations explains less than 10% of the relative differences in RF and heating rate in the atmosphere, but can induce different heating rate vertical profiles, thus different planetary boundary layer (PBL) stabilities. Due to the significant influence of cloudy and aerosol conditions on incident solar radiation, atmospheric conditions play an important role in determining the BC heating rate. Meanwhile, the effects of surface albedo and solar zenith angle on the BC heating rate are most significantly near the surface. Taking the above factors into account, we introduce an empirical approximation of the BC heating rate to estimate its influence on the atmosphere. With the simple formula, the BC heating rate for a particular atmospheric layer can be approximated when the vertical condition is known, and this can be further applied to determine whether BC promotes or suppresses PBL development. Considering the importance of the BC vertical concentration in its heating rate, we suggest that light-absorbing aerosols and their vertical distributions must be better measured and modeled to improve the understanding of their radiative effects and interaction with PBL.