Differences in Sulfate Aerosol Radiative Forcing between the Daytime and Nighttime over East Asia Using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) Model

Atmosphere

Xin Wang¹  Dan Zhao¹  Xiaorui Zhang¹  Zhou Zang¹  Tiangang Yuan¹  Yuan Luo¹  Siyu Chen¹  Hongyue Zhang¹  Nanxuan Jiang¹  Dongyou Wu¹  Jian Liu² 

[1] Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China;Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment of Ministry of Education, School of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China;

关键词: sulfate aerosols;    direct radiative forcing induced by sulfate aerosols;    WRF-Chem model;    maximum surface temperature;    minimum surface temperature;    diurnal temperature range;   

DOI  :  10.3390/atmos9110441

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The effect of aerosols is an important indicator of climate change. Sulfate aerosols, as the major scattering aerosols, which have attracted more and more attention in recent years. The Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) were utilized to investigate the spatial distribution of sulfate aerosols and their radiative forcing characteristics over East Asia in 2010. Results showed that sulfate aerosols were mainly distributed over eastern China (24⁻43° N, 101⁻126° E), especially in the Sichuan Basin. The concentration of sulfate aerosols decreased with increasing altitude over East Asia. It also exhibited obvious seasonal variations, where the largest range of sulfate aerosol concentrations was found in summer, with a maximum of 2.4 μg kg⁻¹ over eastern China. Although sulfate aerosol concentrations varied slightly during day and night, there was still a significantly difference in the sulfate aerosol radiative forcing. Specifically, the magnitude of the direct radiative forcing induced by sulfate aerosols at the surface was approximately −3.02 W m⁻² in the daytime, while that was +0.24 W m⁻² in the nighttime. This asymmetric change that was caused by the radiative forcing of sulfate aerosols between day and night would have significant impacts on climate change at the regional scale.

【 授权许可】

Unknown