Article
Environmental Sciences
Igor B. Konovalov, Nikolai A. Golovushkin, Matthias Beekmann, Solene Turquety
Summary: This study examined the feasibility of statistically characterizing the evolution of BrC absorption and related parameters in smoke plumes from intense wildfires in Siberia using a combination of data from three satellite instruments. The results showed a significant decrease in BrC absorption over time, but it remained considerable. This study provides valuable insights into the atmospheric evolution of BrC absorption and the partitioning of BrC and BC contributions to the total light absorption by BB aerosol.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Daniel J. Varon, Daniel J. Jacob, Benjamin Hmiel, Ritesh Gautam, David R. Lyon, Mark Omara, Melissa Sulprizio, Lu Shen, Drew Pendergrass, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Zachary R. Barkley, Natasha L. Miles, Scott J. Richardson, Kenneth J. Davis, Sudhanshu Pandey, Xiao Lu, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Ilse Aben
Summary: We quantified weekly methane emissions from the Permian Basin, the largest oil production basin in the US, using satellite observations. The average oil and gas emission from the region was higher than previous estimates and showed strong week-to-week variability. New well development and natural gas spot price were significant drivers of emissions variability. The methane intensity steadily decreased but remained high compared to industry targets.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ruoxi Li, Xiang Zhou, Tianhai Cheng, Zui Tao, Xingfa Gu, Ning Wang, Hongming Zhang, Tingting Lv
Summary: This study evaluates the validation of CO2 satellite products by comparing them with ground observations and examines the influence of neighborhood definitions and colocation methods. The results demonstrate that spatial neighborhoods have a greater impact on bias than temporal neighborhoods. Different colocation methods can reduce the bias to varying degrees. Furthermore, there is a correlation between the bias and latitude, as well as a seasonal regularity in the bias.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Xin Nie, Qianjun Mao
Summary: This paper successfully implemented the parameterization of aerosol particle shape based on satellite and ground observation data and analyzed the polarization characteristics and distribution of aerosol depolarization ratio in different regions. The results show that the aerosol depolarization ratio data is mainly distributed below 6 km, with lower values in urban regions and higher values in desert regions. The aspect ratio and roundness of aerosols obtained by inversion also vary with region, with larger values in desert regions. The parameterized data of aerosol nonsphericity can provide an effective shape input for aerosol optical modeling, as confirmed by the calculation results of solar radiance.
ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Lauren A. Garofalo, Yicong He, Shantanu H. Jathar, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Carley D. Fredrickson, Brett B. Palm, Joel A. Thornton, Fabian Mahrt, Giuseppe V. Crescenzo, Allan K. Bertram, Danielle C. Draper, Juliane L. Fry, John Orlando, Xuan Zhang, Delphine K. Farmer
Summary: This study reveals the details of organic aerosol formation and the condensation patterns of different chemical substances in the air, providing a deeper understanding of air quality and Earth's radiative balance.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Fabian Mahrt, Elli Newman, Yuanzhou Huang, Markus Ammann, Allan K. Bertram
Summary: The research found that internal mixtures of POA and SOA in the atmosphere almost always formed two phases when the O/C ratio of the POA was less than 0.11. When the O/C ratio of the POA was between 0.11 and 0.29, the mixtures mostly resulted in particles with one liquid phase. However, depending on the types of SOA and POA surrogates, two liquid phases were also observed in some cases, and an increase in phase-separated particles was observed when increasing the relative humidity within this O/C range.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Ralph A. A. Kahn, Elisabeth Andrews, Charles A. A. Brock, Mian Chin, Graham Feingold, Andrew Gettelman, Robert C. C. Levy, Daniel M. M. Murphy, Athanasios Nenes, Jeffrey R. R. Pierce, Thomas Popp, Jens Redemann, Andrew M. M. Sayer, Arlindo M. M. da Silva, Larisa Sogacheva, Philip Stier
Summary: Aerosol forcing uncertainty remains the largest climate forcing uncertainty and has not diminished significantly in the past 20 years. This review summarizes the contributions made by satellite observations, atmospheric measurements, modeling, and data assimilation to reduce the uncertainty in aerosol forcing of climate. The review highlights the need for systematic aircraft in situ measurements, suborbital programs, and integration of satellite observations, measurements, and modeling to reduce the persistent uncertainty in aerosol climate forcing.
REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Tao Huang, Yannian Zhu, Daniel Rosenfeld, Yuanjian Yang, David H. Y. Lam, W. H. Leung, Harry F. Lee, Jack C. H. Cheng, Steve H. L. Yim
Summary: The regime dependence of aerosol-cloud interaction has been explored through idealized cloud-resolving models and observations. The activation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) is limited by particle numbers in clean conditions, while updraft velocities play a crucial role in polluted regimes. Warm rain suppression is significantly enhanced over inland areas. These findings are supported by satellite retrievals and LiDAR observations.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Christopher J. Cardinale, Brian E. J. Rose, Andrea L. Lang, Aaron Donohoe
Summary: The study examines the vertical structure of moist static energy flux into polar regions using NASA-MERRA-2 reanalysis data from 1980 to 2016. It finds a bimodal distribution of climatological flux in the middle to lower troposphere and middle to upper stratosphere, with a near-zero flux at the tropopause. Especially at 70 degrees N, the contribution of F-strat to F-wall is significant during winter, impacting the variability of F-wall.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yang Cao, Minghuai Wang, Daniel Rosenfeld, Yannian Zhu, Yuan Liang, Zhoukun Liu, Heming Bai
Summary: The study found that aerosols have a significant impact on cloud fraction over the East Coast of the United States. Factors such as cloud droplet number concentrations, cloud geometrical thickness, lower tropospheric stability, and relative humidity at 950 hPa were identified as major cloud controlling parameters. While there was no significant trend in annual-mean cloud fraction, a decline in cloud droplet number concentrations alone could lead to a relative decline in cloud fraction.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Editorial Material
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Seiji Kato, Fred G. Rose
Summary: This reply addresses criticisms on the study by Kato and Rose, agreeing on the significance of entropy storage and changes in entropy production with shortwave absorptivity variations.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Haiyue Tan, Lin Zhang, Xiao Lu, Yuanhong Zhao, Bo Yao, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch
Summary: China, as a major greenhouse gas emitter, has taken actions to address climate change. This study analyzed the changes in atmospheric CH4 mixing ratios and emissions in China, and found considerable uncertainties in the estimates of Chinese CH4 emissions. The study also emphasized the importance of intensive CH4 measurements in eastern China to better understand the sources and support emission mitigation efforts.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Tamanna Subba, Mukunda M. Gogoi, K. Krishna Moorthy, Pradip K. Bhuyan, Binita Pathak, Anirban Guha, Manoj Kumar Srivastava, B. M. Vyas, Karamjit Singh, Jayabala Krishnan, T. V. Lakshmi Kumar, S. Suresh Babu
Summary: This study estimates the regional aerosol direct radiative forcing (ARF) in the Indian region using multi-year observations and satellite data. The synergistic approach improves the accuracy of ARF estimates and avoids overestimation or underestimation of atmospheric forcing. The study also reveals that aerosols in the atmosphere reduce the surface solar radiation flux, especially during autumn and winter.
ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
S. Ramachandran, Maheswar Rupakheti
Summary: Recent satellite observations reveal a dipole pattern in atmospheric aerosol loading over Asia, with a decrease in East Asia and an increase in South Asia. Aerosol emissions in Asia are also changing rapidly. However, the quantification of the physical, optical, and chemical characteristics of aerosols and their impacts on climate and associated risks is still lacking. This study examines ground-based observations from the Indo-Gangetic Plain in South Asia and the North China Plain in East Asia. The results show diverging trends in aerosol optical depth (AOD) and an increase in scattering nature of aerosols in both regions. The observed aerosol content and composition trends are statistically significant in Kanpur and Beijing. The aerosol radiative forcing of atmosphere (ARF(ATM)) and atmospheric heating rate (HR) are decreasing in both regions but still have severe implications for climate and other systems.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lei Li, Huizheng Che, Xin Su, Xindan Zhang, Ke Gui, Yu Zheng, Hujia Zhao, Hengheng Zhao, Yuanxin Liang, Yadong Lei, Lei Zhang, Junting Zhong, Zhili Wang, Xiaoye Zhang
Summary: The aerosol optical property products of MERRA-2 reanalysis dataset have been extensively studied, but there is still limited understanding of its temporal and spatial scale. Recently, aerosol component products have been derived from satellite observations and evaluated against MERRA-2 products. The results show good agreement in temporal variation of dust and black carbon concentration, with some regional differences.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Greg M. McFarquhar, Christopher S. Bretherton, Roger Marchand, Alain Protat, Paul J. DeMott, Simon P. Alexander, Greg C. Roberts, Cynthia H. Twohy, Darin Toohey, Steve Siems, Yi Huang, Robert Wood, Robert M. Rauber, Sonia Lasher-Trapp, Jorgen Jensen, Jeffrey L. Stith, Jay Mace, Junshik Um, Emma Jaervinen, Martin Schnaiter, Andrew Gettelman, Kevin J. Sanchez, Christina S. McCluskey, Lynn M. Russell, Isabel L. McCoy, Rachel L. Atlas, Charles G. Bardeen, Kathryn A. Moore, Thomas C. J. Hill, Ruhi S. Humphries, Melita D. Keywood, Zoran Ristovski, Luke Cravigan, Robyn Schofield, Chris Fairall, Marc D. Mallet, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Bryan Rainwater, John D'Alessandro, Yang Wang, Wei Wu, Georges Saliba, Ezra J. T. Levin, Saisai Ding, Francisco Lang, Son C. H. Truong, Cory Wolff, Julie Haggerty, Mike J. Harvey, Andrew R. Klekociuk, Adrian McDonald
Summary: Projects between 2016 and 2018 conducted comprehensive measurements of thermodynamics, surface radiation, cloud, precipitation, aerosol, and other factors over the Southern Ocean cold waters. Findings indicate a high dependence of cloud properties on aerosols, and the importance of dynamics and turbulence in driving cloud phase heterogeneity.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Kevin R. Barry, Thomas C. J. Hill, Ezra J. T. Levin, Cynthia H. Twohy, Kathryn A. Moore, Zachary D. Weller, Darin W. Toohey, Mike Reeves, Teresa Campos, Roy Geiss, Gregory P. Schill, Emily V. Fischer, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Paul J. DeMott
Summary: Research has shown that wildfires in the western United States can impact cloud formation by releasing particulate matter that may serve as ice-nucleating particles (INPs). Additionally, particles released from wildfires have various effects on cloud radiative properties and precipitation development. While smoke itself is not an efficient source of INPs, the high numbers of particles released from western US wildfires in summer elevate INP concentrations in the free troposphere regionally.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Jakob Lindaas, Ilana B. Pollack, Lauren A. Garofalo, Matson A. Pothier, Delphine K. Farmer, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Teresa L. Campos, Frank Flocke, Andrew J. Weinheimer, Denise D. Montzka, Geoffrey S. Tyndall, Brett B. Palm, Qiaoyun Peng, Joel A. Thornton, Wade Permar, Catherine Wielgasz, Lu Hu, Roger D. Ottmar, Joseph C. Restaino, Andrew T. Hudak, I-Ting Ku, Yong Zhou, Barkley C. Sive, Amy Sullivan, Jeffrey L. Collett, Emily V. Fischer
Summary: Reactive nitrogen (N-r) in smoke plumes from wildfires in the western U.S. is mainly in reduced form, with rapid chemical transformations occurring after emission. The relationship between nitrogen compounds and modified combustion efficiency (MCE) is robust, showing that burn conditions and fuel characteristics contribute to the variability in the distribution of reduced and oxidized N-r. Comparisons with laboratory studies suggest that NHx emissions are similar or larger, while NOy emissions are smaller, than lab-based estimates.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Liji M. David, A. R. Ravishankara, Steven J. Brey, Emily Fischer, John Volckens, Sonia Kreidenweis
Summary: The study analyzed the trend and impact of air quality exceptional events caused by wildfire smoke, finding that the frequency of exceptional events for PM2.5 and PM10 has increased since 2007. Wildfire and windblown dust were identified as important factors driving exceptional events in multiple EPA regions. The future increase in exceptional event days due to wildfire smoke as a result of climate change may necessitate changes to NAAQS and its implementations.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Adam C. Varble, Stephen W. Nesbitt, Paola Salio, Joseph C. Hardin, Nitin Bharadwaj, Paloma Borque, Paul J. DeMott, Zhe Feng, Thomas C. J. Hill, James N. Marquis, Alyssa Matthews, Fan Mei, Rusen Oktem, Vagner Castro, Lexie Goldberger, Alexis Hunzinger, Kevin R. Barry, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Greg M. McFarquhar, Lynn A. McMurdie, Mikhail Pekour, Heath Powers, David M. Romps, Celeste Saulo, Beat Schmid, Jason M. Tomlinson, Susan C. van den Heever, Alla Zelenyuk, Zhixiao Zhang, Edward J. Zipser
Summary: The CACTI field campaign aimed to improve understanding of orographic cloud life cycles in relation to surrounding atmospheric thermodynamic, flow, and aerosol conditions. Conducted in the Sierras de Cordoba range in north-central Argentina, the campaign collected comprehensive datasets, providing new opportunities to study orographic cloud evolution and interactions with meteorological conditions, aerosols, surface conditions, and radiation in mountainous terrain.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Qijing Bian, Sonia Kreidenweis, J. Christine Chiu, Steven D. Miller, Xiaoguang Xu, Jun Wang, Ralph A. Kahn, James A. Limbacher, Lorraine A. Remer, Robert C. Levy
Summary: Passive satellite observations are crucial in monitoring global aerosol properties, with accurate retrievals relying on well-calibrated radiance measurements and appropriate particle optical models. By utilizing high-spatial resolution, dual-view observations from geostationary satellites, this study demonstrates the reconstruction of aerosol phase function, which improves the accuracy of aerosol optical depth retrievals. Evaluation against independent retrievals shows good agreement, with root-mean-square differences of 0.019-0.047, highlighting the reliability of the methodology.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Baptiste Testa, Thomas C. J. Hill, Nicholas A. Marsden, Kevin R. Barry, Carson C. Hume, Qijing Bian, Jun Uetake, Hannah Hare, Russell J. Perkins, Ottmar Mohler, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Paul J. DeMott
Summary: A multi-season study in north-central Argentina found that heat-labile biological INPs dominated at temperatures between -5 and -20 degrees C, while non-heat-labile organic INPs were prevalent at lower temperatures. The study also highlighted the influence of regional arable topsoil on INP activity, with known mineral INP sources identified along with a significant organic component in soil particles aerosolized from common agricultural topsoil. This suggests that the observed INP spectra may be typical of many arable landscapes worldwide.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Sabin Kasparoglu, Russell Perkins, Paul J. Ziemann, Paul J. DeMott, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Zachary Finewax, Benjamin L. Deming, Marla P. DeVault, Markus D. Petters
Summary: This study presents measurements of the ice nucleating ability of secondary organic material at low temperatures and high ice saturation, and finds that heterogeneous ice nucleation of glassy secondary organic materials is likely uncommon.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Kathryn A. Moore, Simon P. Alexander, Ruhi S. Humphries, Jorgen Jensen, Alain Protat, J. Michael Reeves, Kevin J. Sanchez, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Paul J. DeMott
Summary: This study focuses on estimating dry marine aerosol surface area using bulk optical measurements. Two field campaigns were conducted to evaluate the estimation methods. The results show that the approximation of dry aerosol surface area based on the angstrom ngstrom exponent is valid under certain conditions, but caution is needed for different distributions. The study also proposes new lidar conversion parameters applicable to marine aerosol in the Southern Ocean.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kevin R. Barry, Thomas C. J. Hill, Kathryn A. Moore, Thomas A. Douglas, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Paul J. DeMott, Jessie M. Creamean
Summary: Permafrost, which covers a significant portion of the Northern Hemisphere, is undergoing changes due to global warming. Recent research has found that permafrost contains ice-nucleating particles (INPs) that can impact the Arctic's surface energy budget by affecting mixed-phase clouds. Experiments simulating the transport of thawed permafrost into seawater showed that older permafrost produced the highest and most stable airborne INP concentrations, comparable to desert dust. This highlights the need to quantify permafrost INP sources and airborne emission mechanisms in climate models.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Christina S. McCluskey, Andrew Gettelman, Charles G. Bardeen, Paul J. DeMott, Kathryn A. Moore, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Thomas C. J. Hill, Kevin R. Barry, Cynthia H. Twohy, Darin W. Toohey, Bryan Rainwater, Jorgen B. Jensen, John M. Reeves, Simon P. Alexander, Greg M. McFarquhar
Summary: Southern Ocean low-level mixed phase clouds pose a challenge for accurately representing in Earth system models. Simulated clouds in the Community Earth System Model version 2 now have too little ice, while observations show that marine particles are the main contributors to cloud ice nucleation. This study emphasizes the importance of assessing simulated mineral dust properties in order to better represent ice nucleating particle populations in the Southern Ocean.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gavin C. Cornwell, Christina S. McCluskey, Thomas C. J. Hill, Ezra T. Levin, Nicholas E. Rothfuss, Sheng-Lun Tai, Markus D. Petters, Paul J. DeMott, Sonia Kreidenweis, Kimberly A. Prather, Susannah M. Burrows
Summary: This study presents a method to differentiate ice-nucleating particles (INPs) into contributions from dust, sea spray aerosol (SSA), and bioaerosol. Field campaign data from Bodega Bay, California, showed that bioaerosols were the primary source of INPs between -12 degrees and -20 degrees C, while dust and SSA had little impact. The study found that the current parameterizations for dust and SSA accurately predicted ambient INP concentrations, but the simulation of bioaerosol INPs needs further research.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Nicole A. June, Anna L. Hodshire, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, Claire E. Robinson, K. Lee Thornhill, Kevin J. Sanchez, Richard H. Moore, Demetrios Pagonis, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Matthew M. Coggon, Jonathan M. Dean-Day, T. Paul Bui, Jeff Peischl, Robert J. Yokelson, Matthew J. Alvarado, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Shantanu H. Jathar, Jeffrey R. Pierce
Summary: This study evaluates the differences in evolving aerosol size distributions, organic aerosol, and oxygen to carbon ratios between and within smoke plumes. The observations show that higher initial organic aerosol concentrations lead to faster particle diameter growth. Additionally, evaporation and secondary organic aerosol formation are found to be more significant in less concentrated smoke.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ali Akherati, Yicong He, Lauren A. Garofalo, Anna L. Hodshire, Delphine K. Farmer, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Wade Permar, Lu Hu, Emily Fischer, Coty N. Jen, Allen H. Goldstein, Ezra J. T. Levin, Paul J. DeMott, Teresa L. Campos, Frank Flocke, John M. Reeves, Darin W. Toohey, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Shantanu H. Jathar
Summary: Wildfires are a significant source of organic aerosol (POA and SOA) in the atmosphere at regional and global scales. This study develops a kinetic model to simulate the behavior of organic aerosol in wildfire smoke and applies it to study smoke plumes intercepted during a field campaign in the western United States. The model suggests that the evolution of organic aerosol mass with physical age can be explained by dilution-driven evaporation of primary aerosol and simultaneous photochemical production of secondary aerosol.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-ATMOSPHERES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Russell J. Perkins, Peter J. Marinescu, Ezra J. T. Levin, Don R. Collins, Sonia M. Kreidenweis
Summary: This study analyzes high quality data from seven independent instruments at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains site to build a CCN spectrum product. The study examines the probability distribution shapes of aerosols and CCN metrics, identifies the primary drivers of CCN differences, and explores the dynamics of CCN spectral clusters and concentrations.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
