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First Surface-based Estimation of the Aerosol Indirect Effect over a Site in Southeastern China


doi: 10.1007/s00376-017-7106-2

  • The deployment of the U.S. Atmospheric Radiation Measurement mobile facility in Shouxian from May to December 2008 amassed the most comprehensive set of measurements of atmospheric, surface, aerosol, and cloud variables in China. This deployment provided a unique opportunity to investigate the aerosol-cloud interactions, which are most challenging and, to date, have not been examined to any great degree in China. The relationship between cloud droplet effective radius (CER) and aerosol index (AI) is very weak in summer because the cloud droplet growth is least affected by the competition for water vapor. Mean cloud liquid water path (LWP) and cloud optical depth (COD) significantly increase with increasing AI in fall. The sensitivities of CER and LWP to aerosol loading increases are not significantly different under different air mass conditions. There is a significant correlation between the changes in hourly mean AI and the changes in hourly mean CER, LWP, and COD. The aerosol first indirect effect (FIE) is estimated in terms of relative changes in both CER (FIE CER) and COD (FIE COD) with changes in AI for different seasons and air masses. FIE COD and FIE CER are similar in magnitude and close to the typical FIE value of ∼0.23, and do not change much between summer and fall or between the two different air mass conditions. Similar analyses were done using spaceborne Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data. The satellite-derived FIE is contrary to the FIE estimated from surface retrievals and may have large uncertainties due to some inherent limitations.
    摘要: 2008年5月至12月, 美国大气辐射观测移动设施在我国寿县地区进行了连续观测, 并获得了该地区大气, 地面, 气溶胶以及云等大量的综合观测资料. 该观测为地基研究我国气溶胶和云的相互作用提供了极为难得的机会. 气溶胶与云的相互作用是气候变化研究中最具有挑战性的科学问题之一, 而到目前为止, 我国几乎没有地基观测研究. 由于云滴粒子增长受到水汽竞争的影响, 云滴有效半径与气溶胶指数之间的关系在夏季较弱. 秋季, 云平均的液态水路径以及云光学厚度随气溶胶指数的增加显著增加. 云滴有效半径和云液态水路径对气溶胶增加的敏感性在不同大气团影响下并没有显著的差异. 平均的气溶胶指数的小时变化与平均的云滴有效半径, 液态水路径和光学厚度存在显著的相关性. 利用云滴有效半径和云光学厚度对气溶胶指数的相对变化, 分别评估了不同季节以及不同气团影响下的气溶胶第一间接效应的量级. 利用两个云的参数计算的气溶胶第一间接效应的量级相似, 接近于典型的第一间接效应的量级(~0.23), 并且在夏季与冬季以及不同的两个气团情况下并不存在明显的变化. 与地面观测值得到的第一间接效应相比, 由于某些固有的限制, 利用中分辨率成像光谱仪(MODIS)得到的第一间接效应存在着很大的不缺定性.
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  • Bréon, F.-M., D. Tanré, S. Generosol, 2002: Aerosol effect on cloud droplet size monitored from satellite.Science295,834-838,https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1066434.10.1126/science.106643411823636e9a4daccab00f60831c0bb4e9d31a096http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpubmed%2F11823636http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.1066434Aerosol concentration and cloud droplet radii derived from space-borne measurements are used to explore the effect of aerosols on cloud microphysics. Cloud droplet size is found to be largest (14 micrometers) over remote tropical oceans and smallest (6 micrometers) over highly polluted continental areas. Small droplets are also present in clouds downwind of continents. By using estimates of droplet radii coupled with aerosol load, a statistical mean relationship is derived. The cloud droplet size appears to be better correlated with an aerosol index that is representative of the aerosol column number under some assumptions than with the aerosol optical thickness. This study reveals that the effect of aerosols on cloud microphysics is significant and occurs on a global scale.
    Bulgin, C. E., Coauthors, 2008: Regional and seasonal variations of the Twomey indirect effect as observed by the ATSR-2 satellite instrument.Geophys. Res. Lett.,35,L02811,https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031394.10.1029/2007GL031394d33746c19cebfe5823148316ee0002f1http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2007GL031394%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL031394/pdfWe use satellite observations of aerosol optical depth τ and cloud effective radius r from the ATSR-2 instrument in 1997 to investigate the Twomey indirect effect (IE, -68 ln r /68 ln τ ) in regions of continental outflow. We generally find a negative correlation between τ and r , with the strongest inverse relationships downwind of Africa. North American and eastern Asian continental outflow exhibits a strong seasonal dependence, as expected. Global values for IE range from 0.10 to 0.16, consistent with theoretical predictions. Downwind of Africa, we find that the IE is unphysically high but robust (r = -0.85) during JJA associated with high aerosol loading, and attribute this tentatively to the Twomey hypothesis accounting only for a limited number of physical properties of aerosols.
    Chiu J. C., C.-H. Huang, A. Marshak, I. Slutsker, D. M. Giles, B. N. Holben, Y. Knyazikhin, and W. J. Wiscombe, 2010: Cloud optical depth retrievals from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) cloud mode observations.J. Geophys. Res.,115,D14202,https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013121.10.1029/2009JD01312182cb989b65b5a37fe3b774aaed46fafchttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2009JD013121%2Ffullhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2009JD013121[1] Cloud optical depth is one of the most poorly observed climate variables. The new 090008cloud mode090009 capability in the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) will inexpensively yet dramatically increase cloud optical depth observations in both number and accuracy. Cloud mode optical depth retrievals from AERONET were evaluated at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program's Oklahoma site in sky conditions ranging from broken clouds to overcast. For overcast cases, the 1.5 min average AERONET cloud mode optical depths agreed to within 15% of those from a standard ground-based flux method. For broken cloud cases, AERONET retrievals also captured rapid variations detected by the microwave radiometer. For 3 year climatology derived from all nonprecipitating clouds, AERONET monthly mean cloud optical depths are generally larger than cloud radar retrievals because of the current cloud mode observation strategy that is biased toward measurements of optically thick clouds. This study has demonstrated a new way to enhance the existing AERONET infrastructure to observe cloud optical properties on a global scale.
    Chiu, J. C., Coauthors, 2012: Cloud droplet size and liquid water path retrievals from zenith radiance measurements: Examples from the Atmospheric Radiation MEASUREMENT Program and the Aerosol Robotic Network.Atmos. Chem. Phys.12(21),10 313-10 329,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-10313-2012.10.5194/acpd-12-19163-201253a4cda53dfbd0a2ec4d09536e03e48ehttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.oalib.com%2Fpaper%2F1375992http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/10313/2012/The ground-based Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) and NASA Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) routinely monitor clouds using zenith radiances at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Using the transmittance calculated from such measurements, we have developed a new retrieval method for cloud effective droplet size and conducted extensive tests for non-precipitating liquid water clouds. The underlying principle is to combine a water-absorbing wavelength (i.e. 1640 nm) with a non-water-absorbing wavelength for acquiring information on cloud droplet size and optical depth. For simulated stratocumulus clouds with liquid water path less than 300 g m-12 and horizontal resolution of 201 m, the retrieval method underestimates the mean effective radius by 0.8 μm, with a root-mean-squared error of 1.7 μm and a relative deviation of 13%. For actual observations with a liquid water path less than 450 g m-12 at the ARM Oklahoma site during 2007–2008, our 1.5 min-averaged retrievals are generally larger by around 1 μm than those from combined ground-based cloud radar and microwave radiometer at a 5 min temporal resolution. We also compared our retrievals to those from combined shortwave flux and microwave observations for relatively homogeneous clouds, showing that the bias between these two retrieval sets is negligible, but the error of 2.6 μm and the relative deviation of 22% are larger than those found in our simulation case. Finally, the transmittance-based cloud effective droplet radii agree to better than 11% with satellite observations and have a negative bias of 1 μm. Overall, the retrieval method provides reasonable cloud effective radius estimates, which can enhance the cloud products of both ARM and AERONET.
    Costantino L., F.-M. Bréon, 2013: Aerosol indirect effect on warm clouds over South-East Atlantic, from co-located MODIS and CALIPSO observations. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13(1), 69-88, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-69-2013.
    Dong X. Q., P. Minnis, B. K. Xi, S. Sun-Mack, and Y. Chen, 2008: Comparison of CERES-MODIS stratus cloud properties with ground-based measurements at the DOE ARM Southern Great Plains site.J. Geophys. Res.,113,D03204,https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008438.10.1029/2007JD008438c3c58345e440be1b3680a54e164cea0ehttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2007JD008438%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007JD008438/pdf[1] Overcast stratus cloud properties derived for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project using Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are compared with observations taken at the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains site from March 2000 through December 2004. Retrievals from ARM surface-based data were averaged over a 1-h interval centered at the time of each satellite overpass, and the CERES-MODIS cloud properties were averaged within a 30 km 0103 30 km box centered on the ARM SGP site. Two data sets were analyzed: all of the data (ALL), which include multilayered, single-layered, and slightly broken stratus decks and a subset, single-layered unbroken decks (SL). The CERES-MODIS effective cloud heights were determined from effective cloud temperature using a lapse rate method with the surface temperature specified as the 24-h mean surface air temperature. For SL stratus, they are, on average, within the ARM radar-lidar estimated cloud boundaries and are 0.534 00± 0.542 km and 0.108 00± 0.480 km lower than the cloud physical tops and centers, respectively, and are comparable for day and night observations. The mean differences and standard deviations are slightly larger for ALL data, but not statistically different to those of SL data. The MODIS-derived effective cloud temperatures are 2.7 00± 2.4 K less than the surface-observed SL cloud center temperatures with very high correlations (0.860900090.97). Variations in the height differences are mainly caused by uncertainties in the surface air temperatures, lapse rates, and cloud top height variability. The biases are mainly the result of the differences between effective and physical cloud top, which are governed by cloud liquid water content and viewing zenith angle, and the selected lapse rate, 0908087.1 K km0908081. On the basis of a total of 43 samples, the means and standard deviations of the differences between the daytime Terra and surface retrievals of effective radius re, optical depth, and liquid water path for SL stratus are 0.1 00± 1.9 0204m (1.2 00± 23.5%), 0908081.3 00± 9.5 (0908083.6 00± 26.2%), and 0.6 00± 49.9 gm0908082 (0.3 00± 27%), respectively, while the corresponding correlation coefficients are 0.44, 0.87, and 0.89. For Aqua, they are 0.2 00± 1.9 0204m (2.5 00± 23.4%), 2.5 00± 7.8 (7.8 00± 24.3%), and 28.1 00± 52.7 gm0908082 (17.2 00± 32.2%), as well as 0.35, 0.96, and 0.93 from a total of 21 cases. The results for ALL cases are comparable. Although a bias in re was expected because the satellite retrieval of effective radius only represents the top of the cloud, the surface-based radar retrievals revealed that the vertical profile of re is highly variable with smaller droplets occurring at cloud top in some cases. The larger bias in optical depth and liquid water path for Aqua is due, at least partially, to differences in the Terra and Aqua MODIS visible channel calibrations. Methods for improving the cloud top height and microphysical property retrievals are suggested.
    Fan J. W., L. R. Leung, Z. Q. Li, H. Morrison, H. B. Chen, Y. Q. Zhou, Y. Qian, and Y. Wang, 2012: Aerosol impacts on clouds and precipitation in eastern China: Results from bin and bulk microphysics.J. Geophys. Res.,117,D00K36,https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016537.10.1029/2011JD016537908da331884122c6ea055a96cda40546http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2011JD016537%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2011JD016537/pdf[1] Using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with a spectral-bin microphysics (090008SBM090009) and measurements from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility field campaign in China (AMF-China), the authors examine aerosol indirect effects (AIE) in the typical cloud regimes of the warm and cold seasons in Southeast China: deep convective clouds (DCC) and stratus clouds (SC), respectively. Comparisons with a two-moment bulk microphysics (090008Bulk090009) are performed to gain insights for improving bulk schemes in estimating AIE in weather and climate simulations. For the first time, measurements of aerosol and cloud properties acquired in China are used to evaluate model simulations to better understand aerosol impact on clouds in the southeast of China. It is found that changes in cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration significantly change the timing of storms, the spatial and temporal distributions of precipitation, the frequency distribution of precipitation rate, as well as cloud base and top heights for the DCC, but not for the SC. Increasing CCN increases cloud droplet number (Nc) and mass concentrations, decreases raindrop number concentration, and delays the onset of precipitation. Compared with SBM, Bulk predicts much higher Ncand the opposite CCN effects on convection and heavy rain, stemming from the fixed CCN prescribed in Bulk. CCN have a significant effect on ice microphysical properties with SBM but not Bulk and different condensation/deposition freezing parameterizations employed could be the main reason. This study provided insights to further improve the bulk scheme to better account for aerosol-cloud interactions in regional and global climate simulations, which will be the focus for a follow-on paper.
    Fan X. H., H. B. Chen, X. G. Xia, Z. Q. Li, and M. Cribb, 2010: Aerosol optical properties from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility at Shouxian,China.J. Geophys. Res.,115(D7),D00K33,https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014650.10.1029/2010JD014650541e7db1ca015371122f08aa88c086d4http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2010JD014650%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010JD014650/full[1] The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program's Mobile Facility was deployed at Shouxian, China (32.5600°N, 116.7800°E, elevation 22.7 m), from May to December 2008. Aerosol optical properties derived from the Aerosol Observation System (AOS) measurements are analyzed. The median value of the light scattering coefficient (0303sp) at 550 nm is 302.8 Mm0908081. The lowest value of 0303sp appeared in the summer and was mainly due to strong wet deposition and upward transport. Averaged over the measurement period from May to July (arithmetic mean 00± standard deviation), the aerosol light absorption coefficient, 0303ap, is 29.4 00± 31.1 Mm0908081 (550 nm) which is lower than most measurements made in urban areas in China but higher than those observed in background sites such as Shangdianzi, a suburb of Beijing. The mean single scattering albedo (0309o) is 0.92, which is greater than values found in the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze Delta, and northern China, indicating less absorbing aerosols at the Shouxian site. The mean values and standard deviations of the 0105ngstr0109m exponent (, 700090009550 nm), the submicron scattering ratio (Rsp), and the hemispheric backscattering ratio (b) at 550 nm are 1.19 00± 0.23, 0.47 00± 0.15, and 0.101 00± 0.017, respectively. These values are lower than those observed at continental sites in the United States, implying the relatively large contributions of coarse mode particles at Shouxian. A distinct diurnal variation of aerosol optical properties is observed. Absorption coefficients are highest in the early morning and minimum values appear at noon. The 0309o shows nearly the same cycle as the absorption coefficient but with the maximum and minimum reversed. Impacts of local agricultural residue burning and long-range transport of dust on aerosol loading and properties are presented using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) fire spot data, MODIS level-2 aerosol optical depth data and micropulse lidar data together with AOS data.
    Feingold G., W. L. Eberhard, D. E. Veron, and M. Previdi, 2003: First measurements of the Twomey indirect effect using ground-based remote sensors. Geophys. Res. Lett.,30(6), https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GL016633.10.1029/2002GL0166333ebe8cd7246e670a1f6ab1e4352dd35fhttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2002GL016633%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2002GL016633/pdfWe demonstrate first measurements of the aerosol indirect effect using ground-based remote sensors at a continental US site. The response of nonprecipitating, ice-free clouds to changes in aerosol loading is quantified in terms of a relative change in cloud-drop effective radius for a relative change in aerosol extinction under conditions of equivalent cloud liquid water path. This is done in a single column of air at a temporal resolution of 20 s (spatial resolution of ~100 m). Cloud-drop effective radius is derived from a cloud radar and microwave radiometer. Aerosol extinction is measured below cloud base by a Raman lidar. Results suggest that aerosols associated with maritime or northerly air trajectories tend to have a stronger effect on clouds than aerosols associated with northwesterly trajectories that also have local influence. There is good correlation (0.67) between the cloud response and a measure of cloud turbulence.
    Feingold G., R. Furrer, P. Pilewskie, L. A. Remer, Q. L. Min, and H. Jonsson, 2006: Aerosol indirect effect studies at Southern Great Plains during the May 2003 Intensive Operations Period.J. Geophys. Res.,111,D05S14,https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005648.10.1029/2004JD00564834884a7d18ee96938a0014c0f02f2489http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2004JD005648%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2004JD005648/pdf[1] During May 2003 the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program conducted an Intensive Operations Period (IOP) to measure the radiative effects of aerosol and clouds. A suite of both in situ and remote sensing measurements were available to measure aerosol and cloud parameters. This paper has three main goals: First, it focuses on comparison between in situ retrievals of the radiatively important drop effective radius re and various satellite, airborne, and surface remote sensing retrievals of the same parameter. On 17 May 2003, there was a fortuitous, near-simultaneous sampling of a stratus cloud by five different methods. The retrievals of re agree with one another to within 芒聢录20%, which is approximately the error estimate for most methods. Second, a methodology for deriving a best estimate of re from these different instruments, with their different physical properties and sampling volumes, is proposed and applied to the 17 May event. Third, the paper examines the response of re to changes in aerosol on 3 days during the experiment and examines the consistency of remote sensing and in situ measurements of the effect of aerosol on re. It is shown that in spite of the generally good agreement in derived re, the magnitude of the response of re to changes in aerosol is quite sensitive to the method of retrieving re and to the aerosol proxy for cloud condensation nuclei. Nonphysical responses are sometimes noted, and it is suggested that further work needs to be done to refine these techniques.
    Garrett T. J., C. Zhao, X. Dong, G. G. Mace, and P. V. Hobbs, 2004: Effects of varying aerosol regimes on low-level Arctic stratus.Geophys. Res. Lett.,31,L17105,https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL019928.10.1029/2004GL01992858ba327d86db7fd10bf2fb16576ae654http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2004GL019928%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2004GL019928/fullThe effects on low-level cloud microstructures of varying aerosol regimes in the Arctic are examined using ground-based measurements obtained near Barrow, Alaska. Episodic `arctic haze' events produced high cloud droplet concentrations, and small cloud droplet effective radii. By contrast, the fresh nucleation of aerosols within the Arctic produced particles high in number concentration but generally too small to be efficient cloud condensation nuclei. Comparisons with similar analyses done at lower latitudes suggest that the `indirect effect' of haze aerosol on low-cloud effective radii is particularly high in the Arctic.
    Harikishan G., B. Padmakumari, R. S. Maheskumar, G. Pand ithurai, and Q. L. Min, 2016: Aerosol indirect effects from ground-based retrievals over the rain shadow region in Indian subcontinent.J. Geophys. Res.,121,2369-2382,https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024577.10.1002/2015JG0033112f2d9f1661f2ae513a952bf963326e97http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1002%2F2015JG003311%2Fpdfhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/jgrg.v121.9We analyzed 2065years (1993–2013) of observations of dissolved inorganic macronutrients (nitrate, N; phosphate, P; and silicate, Si) and chlorophyll a (Chl) at Palmer Station, Antarctica (64.8°S, 64.1°W) to elucidate how large-scale climate and local physical forcing affect the interannual variability in the seasonal phytoplankton bloom and associated drawdown of nutrients. The leading modes of nutrients (N, P, and Si empirical orthogonal functions 1, EOF1) represent overall negative anomalies throughout growing seasons, showing a mixed signal of variability in the initial levels and drawdown thereafter (low-frequency dynamics). The second most common seasonal patterns of nitrate and phosphate (N and P EOF2) capture prolonged drawdown events during December–March, which are correlated to Chl EOF1. Si EOF2 captures a drawdown event during November–December, which is correlated to Chl EOF2. These different drawdown patterns are shaped by different sets of physical and climate forcing mechanisms. N and P drawdown events during December–March are influenced by the winter and spring Southern Annular Mode (SAM) phase, where nutrient utilization is enhanced in a stabilized upper water column as a consequence of SAM-driven winter sea ice and spring wind dynamics. Si drawdown during November–December is influenced by early sea ice retreat, where ice breakup may induce abrupt water column stratification and a subsequent diatom bloom or release of diatom cells from within the sea ice. Our findings underscore that seasonal nutrient dynamics in the coastal WAP are coupled to large-scale climate forcing and related physics, understanding of which may enable improved projections of biogeochemical responses to climate change.
    Heintzenberg, J., Coauthors, 2006: Intercomparisons and aerosol calibrations of 12 commercial integrating nephelometers of three manufacturers.J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol.,23,902-914,https://doi.org/10.1175/jtech1892.1.10.1175/JTECH1892.145b996d5e6922530840af1182ba3481chttp%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F2006JAtOT..23..902Hhttp://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JTECH1892.1Abstract This study determined measured and Mie-calculated angular signal truncations for total and backscatter TSI, Inc., nephelometers, as a function of wavelength and for particles of known size and composition. Except for the total scattering channels, similar agreements as in a previous study of measured and calculated truncations were derived for submicrometer test aerosols. For the first time, instrument responses were also determined for supermicrometer test aerosols up to 1.9 μ m in geometric mean diameter. These supermicrometer data confirm the theoretical predictions of strong angular truncations of the total scatter signals in integrating nephelometers due to the limited range of measured forward scattering angles. Truncations up to 60% were determined for the largest measured particles. Rough empirical truncation corrections have been derived from the calibration data for Radiance Research and Ecotech nephelometers for which no detailed response characteristics exist. Intercomparisons of the nephelometers measuring urban atmospheric aerosols yield average deviations of the slope from a 1:1 relation with a TSI reference nephelometer of less than 7%. Average intercepts range between +0.53 and 610.19 Mm 611 . For the Radiance Research and Ecotech nephelometers ambient regressions of the Radiance Research and Ecotech instruments with the TSI nephelometer show larger negative intercepts, which are attributed to their less well characterized optics.
    Holben, B. N., Coauthors, 1998: AERONET-a federated instrument network and data archive for aerosol characterization.Remote Sensing of Environment66,1-16,https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(98)00031- 5.10.1016/S0034-4257(98)00031-598803f79ae78aca6042724f876bbb469http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS0034425798000315http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0034425798000315The concept and description of a remote sensing aerosol monitoring network initiated by NASA, developed to support NASA, CNES, and NASDA’s Earth satellite systems under the name AERONET and expanded by national and international collaboration, is described. Recent development of weather-resistant automatic sun and sky scanning spectral radiometers enable frequent measurements of atmospheric aerosol optical properties and precipitable water at remote sites. Transmission of automatic measurements via the geostationary satellites GOES and METEOSATS’ Data Collection Systems allows reception and processing in near real-time from approximately 75% of the Earth’s surface and with the expected addition of GMS, the coverage will increase to 90% in 1998. NASA developed a UNIX-based near real-time processing, display and analysis system providing internet access to the emerging global database. Information on the system is available on the project homepage, http://spamer.gsfc.nasa.gov . The philosophy of an open access database, centralized processing and a user-friendly graphical interface has contributed to the growth of international cooperation for ground-based aerosol monitoring and imposes a standardization for these measurements. The system’s automatic data acquisition, transmission, and processing facilitates aerosol characterization on local, regional, and global scales with applications to transport and radiation budget studies, radiative transfer-modeling and validation of satellite aerosol retrievals. This article discusses the operation and philosophy of the monitoring system, the precision and accuracy of the measuring radiometers, a brief description of the processing system, and access to the database.
    IPCC, 2013: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,T.F. Stocker,et al.,Eds,CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge,UnitedKingdomandNewYork,NY,USA,1535pp,https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.
    Jeong M.-J., Z. Q. Li, 2010: Separating real and apparent effects of cloud,humidity, and dynamics on aerosol optical thickness near cloud edges.J. Geophys. Res.,115,D00K32,https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013547.10.1029/2009JD0135473bee6eae125f2a58e2118f40af69bea8http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2009JD013547%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2009JD013547/full[1] Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) is one of aerosol parameters that can be measured on a routine basis with reasonable accuracy from Sun-photometric observations at the surface. However, AOT-derived near clouds is fraught with various real effects and artifacts, posing a big challenge for studying aerosol and cloud interactions. Recently, several studies have reported correlations between AOT and cloud cover, pointing to potential cloud contamination and the aerosol humidification effect; however, not many quantitative assessments have been made. In this study, various potential causes of apparent correlations are investigated in order to separate the real effects from the artifacts, using well-maintained observations from the Aerosol Robotic Network, Total Sky Imager, airborne nephelometer, etc., over the Southern Great Plains site operated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. It was found that aerosol humidification effects can explain about one fourth of the correlation between the cloud cover and AOT. New particle genesis, cloud-processed particles, atmospheric dynamics, and aerosol indirect effects are likely to be contributing to as much as the remaining three fourth of the relationship between cloud cover and AOT.
    Kim B.-G., S. E. Schwartz, M. A. Miller, and Q. L. Min, 2003: Effective radius of cloud droplets by ground-based remote sensing: Relationship to aerosol.J. Geophys. Res.,108(D23),4740,https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003721.10.1029/2003JD0037217c613677694615a1f6a25cd2c46837a5http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2003JD003721%2Ffullhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2003JD003721[1] Enhancement of cloud droplet number concentration by anthropogenic aerosols has previously been demonstrated by in-situ measurements, but there remains large uncertainty in the resultant enhancement of cloud optical depth and reflectivity. Detection of this effect is made difficult by the large inherent variability in cloud liquid water path (LWP); the dominant influence of LWP on optical depth and albedo masks any aerosol influences. Here we use ground-based remote sensing of cloud optical depth (0304c) by narrowband radiometry and LWP by microwave radiometry to determine the dependence of optical depth on LWP, thereby permitting examination of aerosol influence; the method is limited to complete overcast conditions with single layer clouds, as determined mainly by millimeter wave cloud radar. Measurements in north central Oklahoma on 13 different days in the year 2000 show wide variation in LWP and optical depth on any given day, but with near linear proportionality between the two quantities; variance in LWP accounts as much as 97% of the variance in optical depth on individual days and for about 63% of the variance in optical depth for the whole data set. The slope of optical depth vs. LWP is inversely proportional to the effective radius of cloud droplets (re); event-average cloud droplet effective radius ranged from 5.6 00± 0.1 to 12.3 00± 0.6 0204m (average 00± uncertainty in the mean). This effective radius is negatively correlated with aerosol light scattering coefficient at the surface as expected for the aerosol indirect effect; the weak correlation (R2 = 0.24) might be due in part to vertically decoupled structure of aerosol particle concentration and possible meteorological influence such as vertical wind shear. Cloud albedo and radiative forcing for a given LWP are highly sensitive to effective radius; for solar zenith angle 6000° and typical LWP of 100 g m0908082, as effective radius decreases from 10.2 to 5.8 0204m determined on different days, the resultant decrease in calculated net shortwave irradiance at the top of the atmosphere (Twomey forcing) is about 50 W m0908082.
    Kim B.-G., M. A. Miller, S. E. Schwartz, Y. G. Liu, and Q. L. Min, 2008: The role of adiabaticity in the aerosol first indirect effect.J. Geophys. Res.,113,D05210,https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008961.10.1029/2007JD0089612b17775e4cdce50bbee0876d13b8639ehttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2007JD008961%2Fabstracthttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007JD008961/abstract[1] Aerosol indirect effects are the most uncertain of the climate forcing mechanisms that have operated through the industrial period. Several studies have demonstrated modifications of cloud properties due to aerosols and corresponding changes in shortwave and longwave radiative fluxes under specific cloud conditions, but some recent studies have indicated that cloud dynamical processes such as entrainment-mixing may be the primary modulator of cloud optical properties in certain situations. For example, day-to-day variations of the cloud drop effective radius ( r e ) determined from the ground-based remote sensing at the Southern Great Plains were found to be weakly associated with the variations in aerosol loading as characterized by its light-scattering coefficient at the surface, implying that other processes were impacting the cloud radiative properties. To study these other impacts, we extend a previous study to investigate the role of changes in liquid water path (LWP) and r e in single layer stratiform clouds that are induced by entrainment-mixing processes and their effects on cloud radiative properties. We quantify the degree of entrainment-mixing in terms of the adiabaticity defined as the ratio of the observed cloud liquid water path to the corresponding adiabatic value. The cloud optical depth is, as expected, governed primarily by LWP, but that adiabaticity is the next most influential factor. In contrast, r e is found to be equally sensitive to adiabaticity and LWP. In adiabatic clouds the aerosol first indirect effect is clearly observed and related to independent measures of aerosol loading. In sub-adiabatic clouds the aerosol first indirect effect is not readily observed; this may in some circumstances be due to interference from heterogeneous mixing processes that change the droplet number density in a manner that attenuates the effect.
    Lee K. H., Z. Q. Li, M. C. Cribb, J. J. Liu, L. Wang, Y. F. Zheng, X. G. Xia, H. B. Chen, and B. Li, 2010: Aerosol optical depth measurements in eastern China and a new calibration method.J. Geophys. Res.,115,D00K11,https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012812.10.1029/2009JD012812f4c56ad98e63e890ebe1e8f1ff75fdb1http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2009JD012812%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2009JD012812/full[1] We present a new calibration method to derive aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the MultiFilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR) under extremely hazy atmospheric conditions during the East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols: an International Regional Experiment (EAST-AIRE) and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF) deployment in China. MFRSR measurements have been made at Xianghe since September 2004 and at Taihu and Shouxian since March and May 2008, respectively. Aerosol property retrievals from CIMEL Electonique, Paris, Sun and sky radiometers located at each site show that aerosol loading is substantial and highly variable during a given year (averaged daily AOD550 = 0.80 00± 0.14). The conventional application of the Langley method to calibrate the MFRSR is not possible at these sites because there is a dearth of stable atmospheric and low-AOD conditions. To overcome this limitation of the traditional Langley plot method, highest irradiance values at a given air mass during a given period are used here. These highest values can represent the clear-sky and minimum aerosol loading conditions. A scatterplot of the AOD estimated by this method with the CIMEL Sun and sky radiometer AOD shows very good agreement: correlation coefficients are on the order of 0.980900090.99, slopes range from 0.93 to 0.97, and offsets are less than 0.02 for the three sites. AOD and 0105ngstr0109m exponents were derived from application of the method to all MFRSR data acquired at the three sites. AOD values at 500 nm are 0304500 = 0.99 00± 0.71 (500090009870 = 1.45 00± 0.59) at Xianghe, 0.87 00± 0.54 (1.14 00± 0.31) at Taihu, and 0.84 00± 0.43 (1.15 00± 0.28) at Shouxian. Anthropogenic aerosols appear to dominate in the study region with significant contributions from large dust particles and influence of hydroscopic growth.
    Lee S. S., J. E. Penner, and S. M. Saleeby, 2009: Aerosol effects on liquid-water path of thin stratocumulus clouds.J. Geophys. Res.,114,D07204,https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD010513.10.1029/2008JD0105139985f36bed4faeb702c422961358a23bhttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2008JD010513%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008JD010513/pdf[1] Thin clouds with mean liquid water path (LWP) of 09080450 g m0908082 cover 27.5% of the globe and thus play an important role in Earth's radiation budget. Radiative fluxes at Earth's surface and top of atmosphere are very sensitive to the LWP variation when the LWP becomes smaller than 09080450 g m0908082. This indicates that aerosol effects on thin clouds can have a substantial impact on the variation of global radiative forcing if LWP changes. This study examines the aerosol indirect effect through changes in the LWP in three cases of thin warm stratocumulus clouds with LWP < 50 g m0908082. We use a cloud-system resolving model coupled with a double-moment representation of cloud microphysics. Intensified interactions among the cloud droplet number concentration, condensation, and dynamics at high aerosol play a critical role in the LWP responses to aerosol increases. Increased aerosols lead to increased CDNC, providing the increased surface area of droplets where water vapor condenses. This increases condensation, and thus condensational heating, to produce stronger updrafts, leading to an increased LWP with increased aerosols in two of the cases where precipitation reaches the surface. In a case with no surface precipitation, LWP decreases with increases in aerosols. In this case, most of precipitation evaporates just below the cloud base. With decreases in aerosols, precipitation increases and leads to increasing evaporation of precipitation, thereby increasing instability around the cloud base. This leads to increased updrafts, and thus condensation, from which increased LWP results.
    Li, Z., Coauthors, 2009: Uncertainties in satellite remote sensing of aerosols and impact on monitoring its long-term trend: A review and perspective.Annales Geophysicae27,2755-2770,https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-27-2755-2009.10.5194/angeo-27-2755-20090097c8ee990a3e76540595f3cbb7aa83http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oalib.com%2Fpaper%2F1371973http://www.ann-geophys.net/27/2755/2009/As a result of increasing attention paid to aerosols in climate studies, numerous global satellite aerosol products have been generated. Aerosol parameters and underlining physical processes are now incorporated in many general circulation models (GCMs) in order to account for their direct and indirect effects on the earth's climate, through their interactions with the energy and water cycles. There exists, however, an outstanding problem that these satellite products have substantial discrepancies, that must be lowered substantially for narrowing the range of the estimates of aerosol's climate effects. In this paper, numerous key uncertain factors in the retrieval of aerosol optical depth (AOD) are articulated for some widely used and relatively long satellite aerosol products including the AVHRR, TOMS, MODIS, MISR, and SeaWiFS. We systematically review the algorithms developed for these sensors in terms of four key elements that influence the quality of passive satellite aerosol retrieval: calibration, cloud screening, classification of aerosol types, and surface effects. To gain further insights into these uncertain factors, the NOAA AVHRR data are employed to conduct various tests, which help estimate the ranges of uncertainties incurred by each of the factors. At the end, recommendations are made to cope with these issues and to produce a consistent and unified aerosol database of high quality for both environment monitoring and climate studies.
    Li, Z. Q., Coauthors, 2007: Preface to special section on East Asian studies of tropospheric aerosols: An international regional experiment (EAST-AIRE).J. Geophys. Res.,112,D22S00,https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008853.10.1029/2007JD00885322ebd90fd4caec698e16b2bdd09c0a91http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2007JD008853%2Fsuppinfohttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007JD008853/suppinfoPapers published in this special section report findings from the East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols: An International Regional Experiment (EAST-AIRE). They are concerned with (1) the temporal and spatial distributions of aerosol loading and precursor gases, (2) aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA), (3) aerosol direct radiative effects, (4) validation of satellite products, (5) transport mechanisms, and (6) the effects of air pollution on ecosystems. Aerosol loading is heaviest in mideastern China with a mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) of 0.5 and increasing to 0.7 around major cities that reduced daily mean surface solar radiation by 0030-40 W m, but barely changed solar reflection at the top of the atmosphere. Aerosol loading, particle size and composition vary considerably with location and season. The MODIS AOD data from Collection 5 (C5) agree much better with ground data than earlier releases, but considerable discrepancies still exist because of treatments of aerosol SSA and surface albedo. Four methods are proposed/adopted to derive the SSA by means of remote sensing and in situ observation, which varies drastically with time and space. The nationwide means of AOD, 03ngstr02m exponent, and SSA (0.5 μm) in China are 0.69 ± 0.17, 1.06 ± 0.26, and 0.89 ± 0.04, respectively. Measurements of trace gases reveal substantial uncertainties in emission inventories. An analysis of aircraft measurements revealed that dry convection is an important mechanism uplifting pollutants over northern China. Model simulations of nitrogen deposition and impact of ozone pollution on net primary productivity indicate an increasing threat of air pollution on the ecosystem.
    Li, Z. Q., Coauthors, 2011: East Asian studies of tropospheric aerosols and their impact on regional climate (EAST-AIRC): An overview.J. Geophys. Res.,116,D00K34,https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD015257.10.1029/2010JD0152573f575ca7ffa840b7da2bd7ef31898499http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2010JD015257%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010JD015257/pdfAs the most populated region of the world, Asia is a major source of aerosols with potential large impact over vast downstream areas. Papers published in this special section describe the variety of aerosols observed in China and their effects and interactions with the regional climate as part of the East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols and their Impact on Regional Climate (EAST-AIRC). The majority of the papers are based on analyses of observations made under three field projects, namely, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements ( ARM) Mobile Facility mission in China (AMF-China), the East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols: An International Regional Experiment (EAST-AIRE), and the Atmospheric Aerosols of China and their Climate Effects (AACCE). The former two are U.S.-China collaborative projects, and the latter is a part of the China's National Basic Research program ( or often referred to as "973 project"). Routine meteorological data of China are also employed in some studies. The wealth of general and specialized measurements lead to extensive and close-up investigations of the optical, physical, and chemical properties of anthropogenic, natural, and mixed aerosols; their sources, formation, and transport mechanisms; horizontal, vertical, and temporal variations; direct and indirect effects; and interactions with the East Asian monsoon system. Particular efforts are made to advance our understanding of the mixing and interaction between dust and anthropogenic pollutants during transport. Several modeling studies were carried out to simulate aerosol impact on radiation budget, temperature, precipitation, wind and atmospheric circulation, fog, etc. In addition, impacts of the Asian monsoon system on aerosol loading are also simulated.
    Liljegren J. C., B. M. Lesht, 2004: Preliminary results with the twelve-channel microwave radiometer profiler at the North Slope of Alaska Climate Research Facility. Fourteenth ARM Science Team Meeting Proceedings, Albuquerque, New Mexico.5d6242105e3d2ee8ab8adff514762d94http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F228728364_Preliminary_results_with_the_twelvechannel_microwave_radiometer_profiler_at_the_North_Slope_of_Alaska_Climate_Research_Facilityhttp://www.researchgate.net/publication/228728364_Preliminary_results_with_the_twelvechannel_microwave_radiometer_profiler_at_the_North_Slope_of_Alaska_Climate_Research_FacilityCoincident with the Arctic winter water vapor intensive operational period (IOP), the 12-channel microwave radiometer profiler (MWRP) was permanently deployed at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) North Slope of Alaska (NSA) site at Barrow, Alaska, in February 2004. The purpose of the permanent deployment is to augment the routine onceper-weekday
    Liljegren J. C., E. E. Clothiaux, G. G. Mace, S. Kato, and X. Q. Dong, 2001: A new retrieval for cloud liquid water path using a ground-based microwave radiometer and measurements of cloud temperature.J. Geophys. Res.,106,14 485-14 500,https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JD900817.10.1029/2000JD900817e07426e9ad44e4c5b0a306cd36ada90ahttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2000JD900817%2Ffullhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2000JD900817A new method to retrieve cloud liquid water path using 23.8 and 31.4 GHz microwave radiometer brightness temperature measurements is developed. This method does not depend on climatological estimates of either the mean radiating temperature of the atmosphere Tmr or the mean cloud liquid water temperature Tcloud. Rather, Tmr is estimated from surface temperature and relative humidity measurements, while Tcloud is estimated using millimeter-wave cloud radar data, together with atmospheric temperature profiles obtained from either radiosonde or rapid update cycle (RUC) model output. Simulations demonstrate that the new retrieval method significantly reduces the biases in the liquid water path estimates that are apparent in a site-specific retrieval based on monthly stratified, local climatology. An analysis of the liquid water path estimates produced by the two retrievals over four case study days illustrates trends and retrieval performances consistent with the model simulations.
    Liu G. S., H. F. Shao, J. A. Coakley Jr., J. A. Curry, J. A. Haggerty, and M. A. Tschudi, 2003: Retrieval of cloud droplet size from visible and microwave radiometric measurements during INDOEX: Implication to aerosols' indirect radiative effect.J. Geophys. Res.,108(D1),4006,https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD001395.10.1029/2001JD001395910f6ce014dafb11d81772fda8e61a08http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2001JD001395%2Ffullhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2001JD001395[1] The effective radius of water cloud droplets is retrieved using remotely sensed passive microwave and visible data collected by aircraft during the Indian Ocean Experiment. The purpose of this study is to assess the aerosols' effect on cloud microphysical and radiative properties. To study this effect, we investigate the relationships among effective radius, liquid water path and number concentration of cloud droplets. The effective radius retrieval uses imager observations of reflected sunlight at 0.64 m and liquid water path derived from microwave measurements. Results of an error analysis show that retrieval error is the largest for thin clouds having small visible reflectances and small liquid water path. For this reason, only pixels with visible reflectances greater than 0.2 are used in our data analysis, so that the maximum RMS error in effective radius is limited to about 4 m. The relation between liquid water path and effective radius is examined for four different latitudinal regions. Results show that for the same liquid water path, effective radii are significantly smaller in the north than in the south, in correspondence to the north-south gradient of aerosol concentration in this region. In situ aircraft observations reveal larger cloud droplet number concentrations in the north than in the south. The north-south gradient of these variables are consistent with the aerosols' effect on cloud microphysics, that is, higher aerosol concentration increases the number concentration of cloud droplets, which, in turn, reduces droplet sizes given the same liquid water path and cloud thickness. Results based on comparison between data collected from northern and southern hemispheres suggest that the increase in aerosol number concentration alters cloud droplet numbers and sizes while leaving liquid water contents approximately the same.
    Liu J. J., Z. Q. Li, 2014: Estimation of cloud condensation nuclei concentration from aerosol optical quantities: Influential factors and uncertainties.Atmos. Chem. Phys.14(1),471-483,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-471-2014.10.5194/acpd-13-23023-20136180c7892ee302f4850d1fdac1afc418http%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F2014ACP....14..471Lhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014ACP....14..471LCloud condensation nuclei (CCN) is a key variable for understanding cloud formation, but it is hard to obtain on large scales on a routine basis, whereas aerosol optical quantities are more readily available. This study presents an in-depth investigation on the relationship between CCN and aerosol optical quantities in regions of distinct aerosol types using extensive measurements collected at multiple Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (CRF) sites around the world. The influences of relative humidity (RH), aerosol hygroscopicity (if/isubRH/sub) and single scattering albedo (SSA) on the relationship are analyzed. Better relationships are found between aerosol optical depth (AOD) and CCN at the Southern Great Plains (US), Ganges Valley (India) and Black Forest sites (Germany) than those at the Graciosa Island and Niamey (Niger) sites, where sea salt and dust aerosols dominate, respectively. In general, the correlation between AOD and CCN decreases as the wavelength of AOD measurement increases, suggesting that AOD measured at a shorter wavelength is a better proxy of CCN. The correlation is significantly improved if aerosol index (AI) is used together with AOD. The highest correlation exists between CCN and aerosol scattering coefficients (sigma;subsp/sub) and scattering AI measured in-situ. The CCN-AOD (AI) relationship deteriorates with increasing RH. If RH exceeds 75%, the relationship becomes almost invalid for using AOD as a CCN proxy, whereas a tight sigma;subsp/sub-CCN relationship exists for dry particles. Aerosol hygroscopicity has a weak impact on the sigma;subsp/sub-CCN relationship. Particles with low SSA are generally associated with higher CCN concentrations, suggesting that SSA affects the relationship between CCN concentration and aerosol optical quantities. It may thus be used as a constraint to reduce uncertainties in the relationship. A significant increase in sigma;subsp/sub and decrease in CCN with increasing SSA is observed, leading to a significant decrease in their ratio (CCN/sigma;subsp/sub) with increasing SSA. The relationships and major influential factors are parameterization for improving CCN estimation with varying amount of information on RH, particle size and SSA.
    Liu J. J., Y. F. Zheng, Z. Q. Li, C. Flynn, E. J. Welton, and M. Cribb, 2011a: Transport,vertical structure and radiative properties of dust events in southeast China determined from ground and space sensors.Atmos. Environ.,45(35),6469-6480,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.04. 031.10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.04.031956c5df526da39f3145bfd77e6dc94fbhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS1352231011004092http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1352231011004092Two dust events were detected over the Yangtze Delta region of China during March 14–17 and April 25–26 in 2009 where such dust events are uncommon. The transport behavior, spatio-temporal evolution, vertical structure, direct radiative effects, as well as induced heating rates, are investigated using a combination of ground-based and satellite-based measurements, a back-trajectory analysis, an aerosol model and a radiative transfer model. Back-trajectories, wind fields and aerosol model analyses show that the first dust originated in northern/northwestern China and the second generated in the Taklimakan desert in northwest China, and traveled across the Hexi corridor and Loess Plateau to the Yangtze Delta region (the so-called “dust corridor”). The mean lidar extinction-to-backscatter ratio (LR) during the two dust events was 38.7 ± 10.4 sr and 42.7 ± 15.2 sr, respectively. The mean aerosol depolarization ratio ( δ a) for the first dust event was 0.16 ± 0.07, with a maximum value of 0.32. For the second, the mean δ a was around 0.19 ± 0.06, with a maximum value of 0.29. Aerosol extinction coefficient and δ a profiles for the two events were similar: two aerosol layers consisting of dust aerosols and a mixture of dust and anthropogenic pollution aerosols. The topmost aerosol layer is above 3.5 km. The maximum mean aerosol extinction coefficients were 0.5 km 611 and 0.54 km 611 at about 0.7 km and 1.1 km, respectively. Significant effects of cooling at the surface and heating in the atmosphere were found during these dust events. Diurnal mean shortwave radiative forcings (efficiencies) at the surface, the top-of-the-atmosphere and within the atmosphere were026136.8 (6180.0),026113.6 (6129.6) and 23.2 (50.4) W m 612, respectively, during the first dust event, and026148.2 (6170.9),026121.4 (6131.5) and 26.8 (39.4) W m 612, respectively, during the second dust event. Maximum heating rates occurred at 0.7 km during the first dust event and at 1.1 km during the second dust event, with a maximum value of 2.74 K day 611 for each case. This significant atmospheric heating induced by elevated dust aerosol layers can affect convection and stability in the lower troposphere.
    Liu J. J., Y. F. Zheng, Z. Q. Li, and M. Cribb, 2011b: Analysis of cloud condensation nuclei properties at a polluted site in southeastern China during the AMF-China Campaign.J. Geophys. Res.,116,D00K35,https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016395.10.1029/2011JD0163951e9b3a86856ada5b32f362bdabf3b606http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2011JD016395%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2011JD016395/pdf[1] Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) measurements are essential to understanding cloud processes but CCN measurements are scarce. This study analyzes CCN measurements acquired at Shouxian, a polluted site in southeastern China, from August 1090009October 31, 2008 during the deployment of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF). The ranges of daily mean condensation nuclei concentrations (NCN) were approximately 310009000912000, 23000900097400, and 426009000915500 cm0908083 in August, September, and October, respectively; the corresponding ranges of CCN concentrations (NCCN) at 0.49% supersaturation were about 19600900095670, 17700900093530, and 15000900095700 cm0908083. The average ratio of NCCN/NCN was 0.04, 0.12, 0.35, 0.53, 0.65, 0.69 and 0.72 for supersaturation values of 0.08%, 0.20%, 0.34%, 0.49%, 0.78%, 1.07% and 1.37%, respectively. NCN and NCCN peaked in the early morning and late afternoon, when human activities were most intense. CCN were more abundant in air masses influenced by anthropogenic pollution from densely populated areas. NCCN was proportional to NCN, but NCCN/NCN decreased with increasing NCN. There was a good correlation between NCCN (at 0.49% supersaturation) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) (500 nm), that is especially strong for fine-mode aerosols (Angstrom exponent () > 0.8). This relationship can be fitted with a power law function. The changes of NCCN with various factors are explained. A dust event was identified showing a significant increase in NCN and a dramatic decrease in the NCCN/NCN ratio, implying that dust particles do not increase NCCN much, despite mixing with other anthropogenic aerosols.
    Liu J. J., Y. F. Zheng, Z. Q. Li, C. Flynn, and M. Cribb, 2012: Seasonal variations of aerosol optical properties,vertical distribution and associated radiative effects in the Yangtze Delta region of China.J. Geophys. Res.,117,D00K38,https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016490.10.1029/2011JD0164903b0eabb5e28afbef91d921c12e5314fbhttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2011JD016490%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2011JD016490/pdf[1] Four years of columnar aerosol optical properties and a one-year vertical profiles of aerosol particle extinction coefficient at 527 nm are analyzed at Taihu in the central Yangtze River Delta region in eastern China. Seasonal variations of aerosol optical properties, vertical distribution, and influence on shortwave radiation and heating rates were investigated. Multiyear variations of aerosol optical depths (AOD), 0105ngstrom exponents, single scattering albedo (SSA) and asymmetry factor (ASY) are analyzed, together with the vertical profile of aerosol extinction. AOD is largest in summer and smallest in winter. SSAs exhibit weak seasonal variation with the smallest values occurring during winter and the largest during summer. The vast majority of aerosol particles are below 2 km, and about 62%, 67%, 67% and 83% are confined to below 1 km in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. Five-day back trajectory analyses show that the some aerosols aloft are traced back to northern/northwestern China, as far as Mongolia and Siberia, in spring, autumn and winter. The presence of dust aerosols were identified based on the linear depolarization measurements together with other information (i.e., back trajectory, precipitation, aerosol index). Dust strongly impacts the vertical particle distribution in spring and autumn, with much smaller effects in winter. The annual mean aerosol direct shortwave radiative forcing (efficiency) at the bottom, top and within the atmosphere are 09080834.8 00± 9.1 (09080854.4 00± 5.3), 0908088.2 00± 4.8 (09080813.1 00± 1.5) and 26.7 00± 9.4 (41.3 00± 4.6) W/m2 (Wm0908082 03040908081), respectively. The mean reduction in direct and diffuse radiation reaching surface amount to 109.2 00± 49.4 and 66.8 00± 33.3 W/m2, respectively. Aerosols significantly alter the vertical profile of solar heating, with great implications for atmospheric stability and dynamics within the lower troposphere.
    Liu J. J., Z. Q. Li, Y. F. Zheng, J. C. Chiu, F. S. Zhao, M. Cadeddu, F. Z. Weng, and M. Cribb, 2013: Cloud optical and microphysical properties derived from ground-based and satellite sensors over a site in the Yangtze Delta region.J. Geophys. Res.,118,9141-9152,https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50648.10.1002/jgrd.506485dd4fb6dbb3c84edaf4b19d48d6244c3http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1002%2Fjgrd.50648%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jgrd.50648/pdf[1] Comprehensive surface-based retrievals of cloud optical and microphysical properties were made at Taihu, a highly polluted site in the central Yangtze Delta region, during a research campaign from May 2008 to December 2009. Cloud optical depth (COD), effective radius (Re), and liquid water path (LWP) were retrieved from measurements made with a suite of ground-based and spaceborne instruments, including an Analytical Spectral Devices spectroradiometer, a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer, a multichannel microwave radiometer profiler, and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua satellites. Retrievals from zenith radiance measurements capture better the temporal variation of cloud properties than do retrievals from hemispherical fluxes. Annual mean LWP, COD, and Re are 115.809000900±09000990.8090009g/m2, 28.509000900±09000919.2, and 6.909000900±0900094.20900090008m. Over 90% of LWP values are less than 250090009g/m2. Most of the COD values (>90%) fall between 5 and 60, and ~80% of Re values are less than 100900090008m. Maximum (minimum) values of LWP and Re occur in summer (winter); COD is highest in winter and spring. Raining and nonraining clouds have significant differences in LWP, COD, and Re. Rainfall frequency is best correlated with LWP, followed by COD and Re. Cloud properties retrieved from multiple ground-based instruments are also compared with those from satellite retrievals. On average, relative to surface retrievals, mean differences of satellite retrievals in cloud LWP, COD, and Re were 09080833.6090009g/m2 (09080826.4%), 0908085.8 (09080831.4%), and 2.90900090008m (29.3%) for 11 MODIS-Terra overpasses and 09080843.3 g/m2 (09080822.3%), 0908083.0 (09080810.0%), and 0908081.30900090008m (09080812.0%) for 8 MODIS-Aqua overpasses, respectively. These discrepancies indicate that MODIS cloud products still suffer from large uncertainties in this region.
    Liu J. J., Z. Q. Li, Y. F. Zheng, and M. Cribb, 2015: Cloud-base distribution and cirrus properties based on micropulse lidar measurements at a site in southeastern China.Adv. Atmos. Sci.,32(7),991-1004,https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-014-4176-2.10.1007/s00376-014-4176-2ac578051bcd276f36d4d008cc71d743ehttp%3A%2F%2Fkns.cnki.net%2FKCMS%2Fdetail%2Fdetail.aspx%3Ffilename%3Ddqjz201507010%26dbname%3DCJFD%26dbcode%3DCJFQhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00376-014-4176-2
    Liu J. J., Z. Q. Li, and M. Cribb, 2016: Response of marine boundary layer cloud properties to aerosol perturbations associated with meteorological conditions from the 19-Month AMF-Azores campaign.J. Atmos. Sci.,73(11),4253-4268,https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-15-0364.1.10.1175/JAS-D-15-0364.1720e352d5cce617db4839dfe071e5154http%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F2016JAtS...73.4253Lhttp://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/JAS-D-15-0364.1Abstract This study investigates the response of marine boundary layer (MBL) cloud properties to aerosol loading by accounting for the contributions of large-scale dynamic and thermodynamic conditions and quantifies the first indirect effect (FIE). It makes use of 19-month measurements of aerosols, clouds, and meteorology acquired during theAtmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility field campaign over the Azores. Cloud droplet number concentrations Nc and cloud optical depth (COD) significantly increased with increasing aerosol number concentration Na. Cloud droplet effective radius (DER) significantly decreased with increasing Na. The correlations between cloud microphysical properties [Nc, liquid water path (LWP), and DER] and Na were stronger undermore stable conditions. The correlations between Nc, LWP, DER, and Na were stronger under ascendingmotion conditions, while the correlation between COD and Na was stronger under descending-motion conditions. The magnitude and corresponding uncertainty of the FIE (=[- ln(DER)/ ln(Na)] at constant LWP) ranged from 0.060 0.022 to 0.101 0.006 depending on the different LWP values. Under more stable conditions, cloud-base heights were generally lower than those under less stable conditions. This enabled a more effective interaction with aerosols, resulting in a larger value for the FIE. However, the dependence of the response of cloud properties to aerosol perturbations on stability varied according to whether ground- or satellite-based DER retrievals were used. The magnitude of the FIE had a larger variation with changing LWP under ascending-motion conditions and tended to be higher under ascending-motion conditions for clouds with low LWP and under descending-motion conditions for clouds with highLWP.Acontrasting dependence of FIE on atmospheric stability estimated fromthe surface and satellite cloud properties retrievals reported in this study underscores the importance of assessing all-level properties of clouds in aerosol-cloud interaction studies.
    Ma J. Z., Y. Chen, W. Wang, P. Yan, H. J. Liu, S. Y. Yang, Z. J. Hu, and J. Lelieveld, 2010: Strong air pollution causes widespread haze-clouds over China.J. Geophys. Res.,115,D18204,https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013065.10.1029/2009JD013065cbf1302fdfca96a592792f85fc7666bdhttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2009JD013065%2Ffullhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2009JD013065[1] North China (Huabei in Chinese) is a geographical region located between 3200°N and 4200°N latitude in eastern China, including several provinces and large municipalities (e.g., Beijing and Tianjin). In the past decades the region has experienced dramatic changes in air quality and climate. Among the multiple causes aerosol pollution is expected to play a particularly important role. To investigate this, a field measurement campaign was performed in April090009May 2006 as part of the project Influence of Pollution on Aerosols and Cloud Microphysics in North China. Here we report the first aircraft measurements of atmospheric trace gases, aerosols, and clouds over this part of China, a region strongly affected by both natural desert dust and pollution smog. We observed very high concentrations of gaseous air pollutants and haze particles, partly together with nonprecipitating stratiform clouds. The clouds were characterized by numerous droplets, much smaller than in a less-polluted atmosphere. Our data reveal that the highly efficient coating of dust particles by pollution acids provides the predominant source of cloud condensation nuclei. The pollution-enhanced activation of dust particles into droplets is shown to be remarkably efficient so that clouds even form below 100% relative humidity. Contrary to previous analyses, we find that the haze particles influence the spectral shape of the cloud droplet size distribution such that the indirect climate cooling effect of aerosols on clouds is increased. The widespread haze, combined with low clouds, diminishes air quality and exerts an unusually strong cooling forcing on climate.
    Marshak A., Y. Knyazikhin, K. D. Evans, and W. J. Wiscombe, 2004: The "RED versus NIR" plane to retrieve broken-cloud optical depth from ground-based measurements. J. Atmos. Sci., 61, 1911-1925, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469 (2004)061<1911:TRVNPT>2.0.CO;2.10.1175/1520-0469(2004)0612.0.CO;26450a39e30efa2f16dfe1fc26aac58fdhttp%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F2004JAtS...61.1911Mhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004JAtS...61.1911MA new method for retrieving cloud optical depth from ground-based measurements of zenith radiance in the red (RED) and near-infrared (NIR) spectral regions is introduced. Because zenith radiance does not have a one-to-one relationship with optical depth, it is absolutely impossible to use a monochromatic retrieval. On the other side, algebraic combinations of spectral radiances, such as normalized difference cloud index (NDCI), while largely removing nonuniqueness and the radiative effects of cloud inhomogeneity, can result in poor retrievals due to its insensitivity to cloud fraction. Instead, both RED and NIR radiances as points on the “RED versus NIR” plane are proposed to be used for retrieval. The proposed retrieval method is applied to Cimel measurements at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) site in Oklahoma. Cimel, a multichannel sun photometer, is a part of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET)—a ground-based network for monitoring aerosol optical properties. The results of retrieval are compared with the ones from microwave radiometer (MWR) and multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR) located next to Cimel at the ARM site. In addition, the performance of the retrieval method is assessed using a fractal model of cloud inhomogeneity and broken cloudiness. The preliminary results look very promising both theoretically and from measurements.<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="30%">
    McComiskey A., G. Feingold, 2008: Quantifying error in the radiative forcing of the first aerosol indirect effect.Geophys. Res. Lett.,35,L02810,https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL032667.10.1029/2007GL032667024c326e42848af7ecd198fcb7f14f5ahttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2007GL032667%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL032667/fullAnthropogenic aerosol plays a major role in the Earth's radiation budget, particularly via effects on clouds. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lists the uncertainty in aerosol modification of cloud albedo as the largest unknown in the radiative forcing of climate change. Common measures of aerosol effects on clouds, Aerosol-Cloud Interaction (ACI = -68lnr /68lnα, where r is drop size and α aerosol burden), cover an enormous range and, as these measures are now being used as parameterizations in global-scale models, this has large implications for radiative forcing. We quantify the relationship between radiative forcing and changes in ACI over the range of values found in the literature. Depending on anthropogenic aerosol perturbation, radiative forcing ranges from -3 to -10 W mfor each 0.05 increment in ACI. Narrowing uncertainty in measures of ACI to an accuracy of 0.05 would place estimated cloud radiative forcing on a sounder footing.
    McComiskey A., G. Feingold, 2012: The scale problem in quantifying aerosol indirect effects.Atmos. Chem. Phys.12(2),1031-1049,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-1031-2012.10.5194/acpd-11-26741-2011754e2c7292a5c4d30b2a1ad71440d1e7http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oalib.com%2Fpaper%2F1366006http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/1031/2012/A wide range of estimates exists for the radiative forcing of the aerosol effect on cloud albedo. We argue that a component of this uncertainty derives from the use of a wide range of observational scales and platforms. Aerosol affects cloud properties at the microphysical scale, or the process scale but observations are most often made of bulk properties over a wide range of resolutions, or analysis scales. We show that differences between process and analysis scales incur biases in quantification of the albedo effect through the impact that data aggregation has on statistical properties of the aerosol or cloud variable, and their covariance. Measures made within this range of scales are erroneously treated as equivalent, leading to a large uncertainty in associated radiative forcing estimates. Issues associated with the coarsening of observational resolution particular to quantifying the albedo effect are discussed. Specifically, the omission of the constraint on cloud liquid water path and the separation in space of cloud and aerosol properties from passive, space-based remote sensors dampen the measured strength of the albedo effect. Based on our understanding of these biases we propose a new approach for an observationally-based, robust method for estimating aerosol indirect effects that can be used for radiative forcing estimates as well as a better characterization of the uncertainties associated with those estimates.
    McComiskey A., G. Feingold, A. S. Frisch, D. D. Turner, M. A. Miller, J. C. Chiu, Q. L. Min, and J. A. Ogren, 2009: An assessment of aerosol-cloud interactions in marine stratus clouds based on surface remote sensing.J. Geophys. Res.,114,D09203,https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011006.10.1029/2008JD011006ddbc19dd2ad1f5cebe4d783a19746260http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2008JD011006%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008JD011006/pdf[1] An assessment of aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) from ground-based remote sensing under coastal stratiform clouds is presented. The assessment utilizes a long-term, high temporal resolution data set from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program deployment at Pt. Reyes, California, United States, in 2005 to provide statistically robust measures of ACI and to characterize the variability of the measures based on variability in environmental conditions and observational approaches. The average ACIN (= dlnNd/dln, the change in cloud drop number concentration with aerosol concentration) is 0.48, within a physically plausible range of 00900091.0. Values vary between 0.18 and 0.69 with dependence on (1) the assumption of constant cloud liquid water path (LWP), (2) the relative value of cloud LWP, (3) methods for retrieving Nd, (4) aerosol size distribution, (5) updraft velocity, and (6) the scale and resolution of observations. The sensitivity of the local, diurnally averaged radiative forcing to this variability in ACIN values, assuming an aerosol perturbation of 500 cm0908083 relative to a background concentration of 100 cm0908083, ranges between 0908084 and 0908089 W m0908082. Further characterization of ACI and its variability is required to reduce uncertainties in global radiative forcing estimates.
    Menon S., A. D. Del Genio, Y. Kaufman, R. Bennartz, D. Koch, N. Loeb, and D. Orlikowski, 2008: Analyzing signatures of aerosol-cloud interactions from satellite retrievals and the GISS GCM to constrain the aerosol indirect effect.J. Geophys. Res.,113,D14S22,https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD009442.10.1029/2007JD0094425fe81e0a7050c54a97931f9359712fb5http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2007JD009442%2Fabstracthttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007JD009442/abstract[1] Evidence of aerosol-cloud interactions is evaluated using satellite data from MODIS, CERES, and AMSR-E; reanalysis data from NCEP; and data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies climate model. We evaluate a series of model simulations: (1) Exp N, aerosol direct radiative effects; (2) Exp C, like Exp N but with aerosol effects on liquid-phase cumulus and stratus clouds; and (3) Exp CN, like Exp C but with model wind fields nudged to reanalysis data. Comparison between satellite-retrieved data and model simulations for June to August 2002 over the Atlantic Ocean indicate the following: a negative correlation between aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and cloud droplet effective radius (Reff) for all cases and satellite data, except for Exp N, a weak but negative correlation between liquid water path (LWP) and AOT for MODIS and CERES, and a robust increase in cloud cover with AOT for both MODIS and CERES. In all simulations, there is a positive correlation between AOT and both cloud cover and LWP (except in the case of LWP-AOT for Exp CN). The largest slopes are obtained for Exp N, implying that meteorological variability may be an important factor. On the basis of NCEP data, warmer temperatures and increased subsidence were found for less clean cases (AOT &gt; 0.06) that were not well captured by the model. Simulated cloud fields compared with an enhanced data product from MODIS and AMSR-E indicate that model cloud thickness is overpredicted and cloud droplet number is within retrieval uncertainties. Since LWP fields are comparable, this implies an underprediction of Reff and thus an overprediction of the indirect effect.
    Min Q.-L., M. Duan, and R. Marchand, 2003: Validation of surface retrieved cloud optical properties with in situ measurements at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) South Great Plains site. J. Geophys. Res.,108(D17), https://doi.org/10.1029/2003jd003385.10.1029/2003JD0033856ac3e39920ab26eb81584743998db21fhttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2003JD003385%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2003JD003385/full[1] Cloud optical properties inferred from a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer have been validated against in situ measurements during the second ARM Enhanced Shortwave Experiment (ARESE II) field campaign at the ARM South Great Plains (SGP) site. On the basis of eight aircraft in situ vertical profiles (constructed from measurements), Forward Spectra Scattering Probe (FSSP), we find that our retrieved cloud effective radii for single-layer warm water clouds agree well with in situ measurements, within 5.5%. A sensitivity study also illustrates that (for this case) a 13% uncertainty in observed liquid water path (LWP, 20 g/m2) results in 1.5% difference in retrieved cloud optical depth and 12.7% difference in inferred cloud effective radius, on average. The uncertainty of the LWP measured by the microwave radiometer (MWR) is the major contributor to the uncertainty of retrieved cloud effective radius. Further, we conclude that the uncertainty of our inferred cloud optical properties is better than 5% for warm water clouds based on a surface closure study, in which cloud optical properties inferred from narrowband irradiances are applied to a shortwave model and the modeled broadband fluxes are compared to a surface pyranometer.
    Myhre, G., Coauthors, 2007: Aerosol-cloud interaction inferred from MODIS satellite data and global aerosol models.Atmos. Chem. Phys.7,3081-3101,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-7-3081-2007.10.5194/acpd-6-9351-20061699c92207e4b39e458d1d951300768ehttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.oalib.com%2Fpaper%2F1365908http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/7/3081/2007/We have used the MODIS satellite data and two global aerosol models to investigate the relationships between aerosol optical depth (AOD) and cloud parameters that may be affected by the aerosol concentration. The relationships that are studied are mainly between AOD, on the one hand, and cloud cover, cloud liquid water path, and water vapour, on the other. Additionally, cloud droplet effective radius, cloud optical depth, cloud top pressure and aerosol ngstrm exponent, have been analysed in a few cases. In the MODIS data we found, as in earlier studies, an enhancement in the cloud cover with increasing AOD. We find it likely that most of the strong increase in cloud cover with AOD, at least for AOD<0.2, is a result of aerosol-cloud interactions and a prolonged cloud lifetime. Large and mesoscale weather systems seem not to be a cause for the increase in cloud cover with AOD in this range. Sensitivity simulations show that when water uptake of the aerosols is not taken into account in the models the modelled cloud cover mostly decreases with AOD. Part of the relationship found in the MODIS data for AOD>0.2 can be explained by larger water uptake close to the clouds since relative humidity is higher in regions with higher cloud cover. The efficiency of the hygroscopic growth depends on aerosol type, the hygroscopic nature of the aerosol, the relative humidity, and to some extent the cloud screening. By analysing the ngstrm exponent we find that the hygroscopic growth of the aerosol is not likely to be a main contributor to the cloud cover increase with AOD. Since the largest increase in cloud cover with AOD is for low AOD (~0.2) and thus also for low cloud cover, we argue that cloud contamination is not likely to play a large role. However, interpretation of the complex relationships between AOD and cloud parameters should be made with great care and further work is clearly needed.
    Nakajima T., A. Higurashi, K. Kawamoto, and J. E. Penner, 2001: A possible correlation between satellite derived cloud and aerosol microphysical parameters.Geophys. Res. Lett.,28(7),1171-1174,https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL012186.10.1029/2000GL012186e87624a1a85a4376095294db1e0a6441http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2000GL012186%2Ffullhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2000GL012186The column aerosol particle number and low cloud microphysical parameters derived from AVHRR remote sensing are compared over ocean for four months in 1990. There is a positive correlation between cloud optical thickness and aerosol number concentration, whereas the effective particle radius has a negative correlation with aerosol number. The cloud liquid water path (LWP), on the other hand, tends to be constant with no large dependence on aerosol number. This result contrasts with results from recent model simulations which imply that there is a strong positive feedback between LWP and aerosol number concentration. Estimates for indirect forcing over oceans derived from the satellite data/model comparison range from -0.7 to -1.7 Wm.
    Pand ithurai, G., T. Takamura, J. Yamaguchi, K. Miyagi, T. Takano, Y. Ishizaka, S. Dipu, A. Shimizu, 2009: Aerosol effect on cloud droplet size as monitored from surface-based remote sensing over East China Sea region.Geophys. Res. Lett.,36,L13805,https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL038451.10.1029/2009GL03845106e52b323b9c5e8085894a95b807a7e9http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2009GL038451%2Ffullhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2009GL038451The effect of increased aerosol concentrations on the low-level, non-precipitating, ice-free stratus clouds is examined using a suite of surface-based remote sensing systems. Cloud droplet effective radius and liquid water path are retrieved using cloud radar and microwave radiometer. Collocated measurements of aerosol scattering coefficient, size distribution and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations were used to examine the response of cloud droplet size and optical thickness to increased CCN proxies. During the episodic events of increase in aerosol accumulation-mode volume distribution, the decrease in droplet size and increase in cloud optical thickness is observed. The indirect effect estimates are made for both droplet effective radius and cloud optical thickness for different liquid water path ranges and they range 0.02-0.18 and 0.005-0.154, respectively. Data are also categorized into thin and thick clouds based on cloud geometric thickness (z) and estimates show IE values are relatively higher for thicker clouds.
    Quaas, J., Coauthors, 2009: Aerosol indirect effects-General circulation model intercomparison and evaluation with satellite data.Atmos. Chem. Phys.9,8697-8717,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-8697-2009.10.5194/acp-9-8697-200957a724fb850e34bfa588ae60472184b5http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oalib.com%2Fpaper%2F2702900http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/9/8697/2009/Aerosol indirect effects continue to constitute one of the most important uncertainties for anthropogenic climate perturbations. Within the international AEROCOM initiative, the representation of aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions in ten different general circulation models (GCMs) is evaluated using three satellite datasets. The focus is on stratiform liquid water clouds since most GCMs do not include ice nucleation effects, and none of the models explicitly parameterizes aerosol effects on convective clouds. We compute statistical relationships between aerosol optical depth (τa) and various cloud and radiation quantities in a manner that is consistent between the models and the satellite data. It is found that the model-simulated influence of aerosols on cloud droplet number concentration (Nd) compares relatively well to the satellite data at least over the ocean. The relationship between τa and liquid water path is simulated much too strongly by the models. It is shown that this is partly related to the representation of the second aerosol indirect effect in terms of autoconversion. A positive relationship between total cloud fraction (fcld) and τa as found in the satellite data is simulated by the majority of the models, albeit less strongly than that in the satellite data in most of them. In a discussion of the hypotheses proposed in the literature to explain the satellite-derived strong fcld – τa relationship, our results indicate that none can be identified as unique explanation. Relationships similar to the ones found in satellite data between τa and cloud top temperature or outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) are simulated by only a few GCMs. The GCMs that simulate a negative OLR – τa relationship show a strong positive correlation between τa and fcld. The short-wave total aerosol radiative forcing as simulated by the GCMs is strongly influenced by the simulated anthropogenic fraction of τa, and parameterisation assumptions such as a lower bound on Nd. Nevertheless, the strengths of the statistical relationships are good predictors for the aerosol forcings in the models. An estimate of the total short-wave aerosol forcing inferred from the combination of these predictors for the modelled forcings with the satellite-derived statistical relationships yields a global annual mean value of -11.5amp;plusmn;0.5 Wm-12. An alternative estimate obtained by scaling the simulated clear- and cloudy-sky forcings with estimates of anthropogenic τa and satellite-retrieved Nd – τa regression slopes, respectively, yields a global annual mean clear-sky (aerosol direct effect) estimate of -10.4amp;plusmn;0.2 Wm-12 and a cloudy-sky (aerosol indirect effect) estimate of -10.7amp;plusmn;0.5 Wm-12, with a total estimate of -11.2amp;plusmn;0.4 Wm-12.
    Rolph G. D., 2016: Real-time Environmental Applications and Display System (READY). NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, College Park, MD.8a6995778fed9a76da0a1448cadf3ccfhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS1364815217302360http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364815217302360READY provides a “quasi-operational” portal to run the HYSPLIT atmospheric transport and dispersion model and interpret its results. Typical user applications include modeling the release of hazardous pollutants and volcanic ash, forest fire and prescribed burn smoke forecasting, poor air quality events, and various climatological studies. In addition, READY provides the user with quick access to meteorological data interpolated to the location of interest, helping in the interpretation of the HYSPLIT model results.
    Rosenfeld D., G. Feingold, 2003: Explanation of the discrepancies among satellite observations of the aerosol indirect effects. Geophys. Res. Lett.,30(14), https://doi.org/10.1029/ 2003GL017684.10.1029/2003GL01768498f4314234de55fc36c588f938191e44http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2003GL017684%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2003GL017684/fullSatellite-based remote sensing instruments for measuring the aerosol indirect effect (IE = -d ln r /d ln where r is the cloud drop effective radius and is the aerosol optical depth) show large disparities in the magnitude of the effect for similar regions of the globe. Over the oceans, the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) measures an indirect effect twice that measured by the POLarization and Directionality of the Earth Reflectances (POLDER) (0.17 vs. 0.085). We address possible reasons for these disparities. It is argued that AVHRR misses the optically thin and broken clouds, especially over land, while POLDER misses clouds with variable top heights in its field of view. POLDER is also biased to thinner, less turbulent clouds. The sensitivity of the indirect effect to cloud turbulence therefore biases POLDER to lower values. POLDER measures an indirect effect over the ocean that is about twice that over the land (0.085 vs. 0.04). By considering factors such as dynamics, variability in cloud liquid water path, decoupling of the boundary layer, and the effect of salt particles, we argue that this could be an artifact, and that the indirect effect on cloud microstructure may be stronger over land than over the ocean.
    Stein A. F., R. Draxle, G. D. Rolph, B. J. B. Stunder, M. D. Cohen, and F. Ngan, 2015: NOAA's HYSPLIT atmospheric transport and dispersion modeling system.Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.,96,2059-2077,https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00110.1.10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00110.10b6e34d894e3f706ccfb63451853ef07http%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F2015BAMS...96.2059Shttp://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00110.1A. F. Stein, R. R. Draxler, G. D. Rolph, B. J. B. Stunder, M. D. Cohen, and F. Ngan, 2015: NOAA’s HYSPLIT Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion Modeling System. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 96, 2059–2077. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00110.1
    Tang J. P., P. C. Wang, L. J. Mickley, X. G. Xia, H. Liao, X. Yue, L. Sun, and J. R. Xia, 2014: Positive relationship between liquid cloud droplet effective radius and aerosol optical depth over Eastern China from satellite data.Atmos. Environ.,84,244-253,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.08.024.10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.08.0242519a7a227cbb4631fb21f4ecac28f26http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS135223101300633Xhttp://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S135223101300633XCorrelations between water cloud effective radius (CER) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are examined over seven sub-regions in Eastern China for 2003–2012. Water phase cloud is defined as having a cloud top pressure greater than 800hPa. Significant negative correlation coefficients ( r =610.7965610.94) between AOD and CER are derived over the East Sea and the South China Sea for grid cells with AOD0.3. In contrast, significant positive correlations ( r =0.67–0.95) are derived over the Eastern China mainland and Yellow Sea. Further analysis for North China Plain shows that variations in wind speed and relative humidity may account for such positive correlations. Southerly winds carry high levels of pollutants and abundant water vapor, resulting in coincident increases in both AOD and CER in North China Plain, while the northerly winds transport dry and clean air from high latitudes, leading to decreases in AOD and CER. Both processes contribute to the positive correlations between AOD and CER over Eastern China, suggesting that the influence of background weather conditions need to be considered when studying the interactions between aerosol and cloud.
    Twohy C. H., M. D. Petters, J. R. Snider, B. Stevens, W. Tahnk, M. Wetzel, L. Russell, and F. Burnet, 2005: Evaluation of the aerosol indirect effect in marine stratocumulus clouds: Droplet number,size, liquid water path, and radiative impact.J. Geophys. Res.,110,D08203,https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005116.10.1029/2004JD005116fd7c8454ae6d7dc070d88c8e08d81e4fhttp%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2004JD005116%2Fabstracthttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2004JD005116/abstract[1] Data from nine stratocumulus clouds in the northeastern Pacific Ocean were analyzed to determine the effect of aerosol particles on cloud microphysical and radiative properties. Seven nighttime and two daytime cases were included. The number concentration of below-cloud aerosol particles (>0.10 m diameter) was highly correlated with cloud droplet number concentration. Droplet number concentrations were typically about 75% of particle number concentration in the range of particle concentrations studied (鈮400 cm 3 ). Particle number was anticorrelated with droplet size and with liquid water content in drizzle-sized drops. Radiative impact also depends upon cloud liquid water content and geometric thickness. Although most variability in these macroscopic properties of the clouds could be attributed to variability in the large-scale environment, a weak anticorrelation between particle concentration and cloud geometric thickness was observed. Because of these variations, no correlation between calculated cloud optical thickness or albedo and particle concentration was detectable for the data set as a whole. For regions with comparable liquid water contents in an individual cloud, higher particle concentrations did correspond to increased cloud optical thickness. These results verify that higher particle concentrations do directly affect the microphysics of stratiform clouds. However, the constant liquid water path assumption usually invoked in the Twomey aerosol indirect effect may not be valid.
    Twomey S., 1977: The influence of pollution on the shortwave albedo of clouds. J. Atmos. Sci., 34(7), 1149-1152, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1977)034<1149: TIOPOT>2.0.CO;2.10.1175/1520-0469(1977)0342.0.CO;287d30a8ee5cb88296547d53b6f7b6dbahttp%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F1977JAtS...34.1149Thttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977JAtS...34.1149TBy increasing droplet concentration and thereby the optical thickness of a cloud, pollution acts to increase the reflectance (albedo) of clouds; by increasing the absorption coefficient it acts to decrease the reflectance. Calculations suggest that the former effect (brightening of the clouds in reflection, hence climatically a cooling effect) dominates for thin to moderately thick clouds, whereas for sufficiently thick clouds the latter effect (climatically a warming effect) can become dominant.
    Várnai, T., A. Marshak, 2014: Near-cloud aerosol properties from the 1-km resolution MODIS ocean product.J. Geophys. Res.,119,1546-1554,https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD020633.10.1002/2013JE004559abfd16639b39fecb03a32243689a3825http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1002%2F2013JE004559%2Fpdfhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/2013JE004559Abstract The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission has sampled lunar gravity with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. The lunar GM , the product of the gravitational constant G and the mass M , is very well determined. However, uncertainties in the mass and mean density, 3345.5665±650.4065kg/m3, are limited by the accuracy of G . Values of the spherical harmonic degree-2 gravity coefficients J 2 and C 22, as well as the Love number k 2 describing lunar degree-2 elastic response to tidal forces, come from two independent analyses of the 365month GRAIL Primary Mission data at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Goddard Space Flight Center. The two k 2 determinations, with uncertainties of ~1%, differ by 1%; the average value is 0.0241665±650.00022 at a 165month period with reference radius R 65=65173865km. Lunar laser ranging (LLR) data analysis determines ( C 656165 A )/ B and ( B 656165 A )/ C , where A 652</sub> and C 22 with LLR-derived ( C 656165 A )/ B and ( B 656165 A )/ C . The normalized mean moment of inertia of the solid Moon is Is / MR 265=650.39272865±650.000012. Matching the density, moment, and Love number, calculated models have a fluid outer core with radius of 200–38065km, a solid inner core with radius of 0–28065km and mass fraction of 0–1%, and a deep mantle zone of low seismic shear velocity. The mass fraction of the combined inner and outer core is ≤1.5%.
    Wang F., J. P. Guo, Y. R. Wu, X. Y. Zhang, M. J. Deng, X. W. Li, J. H. Zhang, and J. Zhao, 2014: Satellite observed aerosol-induced variability in warm cloud properties under different meteorological conditions over eastern China.Atmos. Environ.,84,122-132,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.11.018.10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.11.01813b33a8e445f8513c39c8a61fe46eee6http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS1352231013008479http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1352231013008479Results show that cloud droplet radius (CDR) decreases with increasing aerosol optical depth (AOD) over ECS, while increases with increasing aerosol abundance over YRD. By taking CTP and RH into account, aerosol effects on cloud fraction (CF) are investigated. When aerosol loading is relatively small, CF is found to increase more sharply over YRD than over ECS in response to aerosol enhancement regardless of RH conditions. Therefore, we argue that the horizontal extension of cloud is prone to be driven by aerosol rather than meteorological conditions. Meanwhile, joint correlative analysis of AOD–CF and AOD–CTP reveals that CTP effect on AOD–CF is not significant, indicating CTP makes little contribution to observed AOD–CF relationship. Constrained by lower tropospheric stability (LTS) and pressure vertical velocity (750hPa), CDR variation in response to AOD is analyzed. In general, CDR tends to decrease as aerosol increases over both ECS and YRD under stable conditions (higher LTS value). In contrast, CDR positively responds to aerosol over land under unstable conditions. Dynamically, CDR has stronger effects on than the ascending motion than on the sinking motion with the same aerosol loading over both land and ocean. The reason can be partially explained by the phenomena that updrafts favor the growth of cloud droplets. Overall, the observed cloud variations can be extremely difficult to be attributed to aerosol particles alone due to dynamical and thermodynamical processes in cloud systems.
    Wang, M. H., Coauthors, 2012: Constraining cloud lifetime effects of aerosols using A-Train satellite observations.Geophys. Res. Lett.,39,L15709,https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL052204.10.1029/2012GL052204f99886f417465241e71b4fd1d4873524http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2012GL052204%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012GL052204/fullAerosol indirect effects have remained the largest uncertainty in estimates of the radiative forcing of past and future climate change. Observational constraints on cloud lifetime effects are particularly challenging since it is difficult to separate aerosol effects from meteorological influences. Here we use three global climate models, including a multi-scale aerosol-climate model PNNL-MMF, to show that the dependence of the probability of precipitation on aerosol loading, termed the precipitation frequency susceptibility (S pop), is a good measure of the liquid water path response to aerosol perturbation (&), as both S pop and & strongly depend on the magnitude of autoconversion, a model representation of precipitation formation via collisions among cloud droplets. This provides a method to use satellite observations to constrain cloud lifetime effects in global climate models. S pop in marine clouds estimated from CloudSat, MODIS and AMSR-E observations is substantially lower than that from global climate models and suggests a liquid water path increase of less than 5% from doubled cloud condensation nuclei concentrations. This implies a substantially smaller impact on shortwave cloud radiative forcing over ocean due to aerosol indirect effects than simulated by current global climate models (a reduction by one-third for one of the conventional aerosol-climate models). Further work is needed to quantify the uncertainties in satellite-derived estimates of S pop and to examine S pop in high-resolution models. 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
    Wang Y., J. W. Fan, R. Y. Zhang, L. R. Leung, and C. Franklin, 2013: Improving bulk microphysics parameterizations in simulations of aerosol effects.J. Geophys. Res.,118,5361-5379,https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50432.10.1002/jgrd.50421ec22fa12f7f6c1baacc3d1566f344c77http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1002%2Fjgrd.50432%2Fabstracthttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jgrd.50432/abstract[1] To improve the microphysical parameterizations for simulations of the aerosol effects in regional and global climate models, the Morrison double-moment bulk microphysical scheme presently implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting model is modified by replacing the prescribed aerosols in the original bulk scheme (Bulk-OR) with a prognostic double-moment aerosol representation to predict both aerosol number concentration and mass mixing ratio (Bulk-2M). Sensitivity modeling experiments are performed for two distinct cloud regimes: maritime warm stratocumulus clouds (Sc) over southeast Pacific Ocean from the VOCALS project and continental deep convective clouds in the southeast of China. The results from Bulk-OR and Bulk-2M are compared against atmospheric observations and simulations produced by a spectral bin microphysical scheme (SBM). The prescribed aerosol approach (Bulk-OR) produces unreliable aerosol and cloud properties throughout the simulation period, when compared to the results from those using Bulk-2M and SBM, although all of the model simulations are initiated by the same initial aerosol concentration on the basis of the field observations. The impacts of the parameterizations of diffusional growth and autoconversion of cloud droplets and the selection of the embryonic raindrop radius on the performance of the bulk microphysical scheme are also evaluated by comparing the results from the modified Bulk-2M with those from SBM simulations. Sensitivity experiments using four different types of autoconversion schemes reveal that the autoconversion parameterization is crucial in determining the raindrop number, mass concentration, and drizzle formation for warm stratocumulus clouds. An embryonic raindrop size of 40m is determined as a more realistic setting in the autoconversion parameterization. The saturation adjustment employed in calculating condensation/evaporation in the bulk scheme is identified as the main factor responsible for the large discrepancies in predicting cloud water in the Sc case, suggesting that an explicit calculation of diffusion growth with predicted supersaturation is necessary to improve the bulk microphysics scheme. Lastly, a larger rain evaporation rate below clouds is found in the bulk scheme in comparison to the SBM simulation, which may contribute to a lower surface precipitation in the bulk scheme.
    Wang Z. E., K. Sassen, 2001: Cloud type and macrophysical property retrieval using multiple remote sensors. J. Appl. Meteor., 40, 1665-1682, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(2001)040<1665:CTAMPR>2.0.CO;2.10.1175/1520-0450(2001)0402.0.CO;255786ff428e78e7d59e7290d958c6334http%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F2001japme..40.1665whttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001japme..40.1665wA cloud detection algorithm based on ground-based remote sensors has been developed that can differentiate among various atmospheric targets such as ice and water clouds, virga, precipitation, and aerosol layers. Standard cloud type and macrophysical properties are identified by combining polarization lidar, millimeter-wave radar, infrared radiometer, and dual-channel microwave radiometer measurements. These algorithms are applied to measurements collected during 1998 from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program Cloud and Radiation Test Bed site in north-central Oklahoma. The statistical properties of clouds for this year are presented, illustrating how extended-time remote sensing datasets can be converted to cloud properties of concern to climate research.
    Xia X. G., Z. Q. Li, B. Holben, P. C. Wang, T. Eck, H. B. Chen, M. Cribb, and Y. X. Zhao, 2007: Aerosol optical properties and radiative effects in the Yangtze Delta region of China.J. Geophys. Res.,112,D22S12,https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008859.10.1029/2007JD00885908288d96398caab233bebec4e60460c0http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2007JD008859%2Ffullhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007JD008859/full[1] One year's worth of aerosol and surface irradiance data from September 2005 to August 2006 were obtained at Taihu, the second supersite for the East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols: An International Regional Experiment (EAST-AIRE). Aerosol optical properties derived from measurements by a Sun photometer were analyzed. The aerosol data were used together with surface irradiance data to quantitatively estimate aerosol effects on surface shortwave radiation (SWR) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The annual mean aerosol optical depth at 500 nm is 0.77, and mean 0105ngstrom wavelength exponent is 1.17. The annual mean aerosol single scattering albedo and mean aerosol asymmetry factor at 440 nm are 0.90 and 0.72, respectively. Both parameters show a weak seasonal variation, with small values occurring during the winter and larger values during the summer. Clear positive relationships between relative humidity and aerosol properties suggest aerosol hygroscopic growth greatly modifies aerosol properties. The annual mean aerosol direct radiative forcing at the surface (ADRF) is 09080838.4 W m0908082 and 09080817.8 W m0908082 for SWR and PAR, respectively. Because of moderate absorption, the instantaneous ADRF at the top of the atmosphere derived from CERES SSF data is close to zero. Heavy aerosol loading in this region leads to 090808112.6 W m0908082 and 09080845.5 W m0908082 reduction in direct and global SWR, but 67.1 W m0908082 more diffuse SWR reaching the surface. With regard to PAR, the annual mean differences in global, direct and diffuse irradiance are 09080823.1 W m0908082, 09080865.2 W m0908082 and 42.1 W m0908082 with and without the presence of aerosol, respectively.
    Xu J., M. H. Bergin, X. Yu, G. Liu, J. Zhao, C. M. Carrico, and K. Baumann, 2002: Measurement of aerosol chemical,physical and radiative properties in the Yangtze delta region of China. Atmos. Environ.-, 36(2), 161-173, https://doi.org/10.1016/ S13522310(01) 00455-1.10.1016/S1352-2310(01)00455-184d7e4973d6333eb36565d99641cd884http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS1352231001004551http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231001004551In order to understand the possible influence of aerosols on the environment in the agricultural Yangtze delta region of China, a one-month field sampling campaign was carried out during November 1999 in Linan, China. Measurements included the aerosol light scattering coefficient at 53002nm, σ sp , measured at both dry relative humidity (RH<40%) and under ambient conditions (sample RH=63±19%), and the absorption coefficient at 56502nm, σ ap , for aerosol particles having diameters <2.502μm (PM 2.5 ). At the same time, daily filter samples of PM 2.5 as well as aerosol particles having diameters <1002μm (PM 10 ) were collected and analyzed for mass, major ion, organic compound (OC), and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations in order to determine which anthropogenic chemical species were primarily responsible for aerosol light extinction. The aerosol loading in the rural Yangtze delta region was comparable to highly polluted urban areas, with mean and standard deviation (S.D.) values for σ sp , σ ap and PM 2.5 of 35302Mm 611 (20202 Mm 611 ), 2302Mm 611 (1402Mm 611 ) and 9002μg02m 613 (4702μg02m 613 ), respectively. A clear diurnal pattern was observed in σ sp and σ ap with minimum values occurring in the middle of the day, most likely associated with the maximum midday mixing height. The ratio of the change in light scattering coefficient at ambient RH to that at controlled RH (RH<40%), F σ sp (RH), indicates that condensed water typically contributed 6540% to the light scattering budget in this region. The mass scattering efficiency of the dry aerosol, E scat_2.5 , and mass absorption efficiency of EC, E abs_2.5 , have mean and S.D. values of 4.002m 2 02g 611 (0.402m 2 02g 611 ) and 8.602m 2 02g 611 (7.002m 2 02g 611 ), respectively. PM 2.5 concentrations in Linan and two other locations in the Yangtze delta, Sheshan and Changshu (which have monthly mean values ranging from 6580 to 11002μg02m 613 ), are all significantly higher than the proposed 24-h average US PM 2.5 NAAQS of 6502μg02m 613 . Organic compounds are the dominant chemical species accounting for 6550% of the PM 2.5 mass at all three sites. The results indicate that aerosol loadings in the agricultural Yangtze delta region of China are relatively high, and suggest that aerosols have a significant impact on visibility, climate, crop production, and human health in this region.
    Yuan T. L., Z. Q. Li, R. Y. Zhang, and J. W. Fan, 2008: Increase of cloud droplet size with aerosol optical depth: An observation and modeling study.J. Geophys. Res.,113,D04201,https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008632.10.1029/2007JD00863288998c52fb5097b29de42ed4e421b637http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1029%2F2007JD008632%2Fpdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007JD008632/pdf[1] Cloud droplet effective radius (DER) is generally negatively correlated with aerosol optical depth (AOD) as a proxy of cloud condensation nuclei. In this study, cases of positive correlation were found over certain portions of the world by analyzing the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite products, together with a general finding that DER may increase or decrease with aerosol loading depending on environmental conditions. The slope of the correlation between DER and AOD is driven primarily by water vapor amount, which explains 70% of the variance in our study. Various potential artifacts that may cause the positive relation are investigated including the effects of aerosol swelling, partially cloudy, atmospheric dynamics, cloud three-dimensional (3-D) and surface influence effects. None seems to be the primary cause for the observed phenomenon, although a certain degree of influence exists for some of the factors. Analyses are conducted over seven regions around the world representing different types of aerosols and clouds. Only two regions show positive dependence of DER on AOD, near coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and South China Sea, which implies physical processes may at work. Using a 2-D Goddard Cumulus Ensemble model (GCE) with spectral-bin microphysics which incorporated a reformulation of the Khler theory, two possible physical mechanisms are hypothesized. They are related to the effects of slightly soluble organics (SSO) particles and giant cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Model simulations show a positive correlation between DER and AOD, due to a decrease in activated aerosols with an increasing SSO content. Addition of a few giant CCNs also increases the DER. Further investigations are needed to fully understand and clarify the observed phenomenon.
    Zhang, S. P., Coauthors, 2016: On the characteristics of aerosol indirect effect based on dynamic regimes in global climate models.Atmos. Chem. Phys.16(5),2765-2783,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2765-2016.10.5194/acpd-15-23683-2015ee0c40994fb3dfb15f731a5dfb13b7bahttp%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F2016ACP....16.2765Zhttp://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/2765/2016/Aerosol–cloud interactions continue to constitute a major source ofuncertainty for the estimate of climate radiative forcing. The variation ofaerosol indirect effects (AIE) in climate models is investigated acrossdifferent dynamical regimes, determined by monthly mean 500 hPa verticalpressure velocity ( ω ), lower-tropospheric stability (LTS)and large-scale surface precipitation rate derived from several globalclimate models (GCMs), with a focus on liquid water path (LWP) response tocloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. The LWP sensitivity toaerosol perturbation within dynamic regimes is found to exhibit a largespread among these GCMs. It is in regimes of strong large-scale ascent( ω < 6125 hPa day) and low clouds (stratocumulus andtrade
    Zhao C. F., S. A. Klein, S. C. Xie, X. H. Liu, J. S. Boyle, and Y. Y. Zhang, 2012: Aerosol first indirect effects on non-precipitating low-level liquid cloud properties as simulated by CAM5 at ARM sites.Geophys. Res. Lett.,39,L08806,https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL051213.10.1029/2012GL051213feda4b6e750cd39f53bfa8a7e5519f50http%3A%2F%2Fadsabs.harvard.edu%2Fabs%2F2012AGUFM.A43K..08Zhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012AGUFM.A43K..08ZWe quantitatively examine the aerosol first indirect effects (FIE) for non-precipitating low-level single-layer liquid phase clouds simulated by the Community Atmospheric Model version 5 (CAM5) running in the weather forecast mode at three DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) sites. The FIE is quantified in terms of a relative change in cloud droplet effective radius for a relative change in accumulation mode aerosol number concentration under conditions of fixed liquid water content (LWC). CAM5 simulates aerosol-cloud interactions reasonably well for this specific cloud type, and the simulated FIE is consistent with the long-term observations at the examined locations. The FIE in CAM5 generally decreases with LWC at coastal ARM sites, and is larger by using cloud condensation nuclei rather than accumulation mode aerosol number concentration as the choice of aerosol amount. However, it has no significant variations with location and has no systematic strong seasonal variations at examined ARM sites.
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Manuscript History

Manuscript received: 24 April 2017
Manuscript revised: 15 August 2017
Manuscript accepted: 18 September 2017
通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
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    沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

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First Surface-based Estimation of the Aerosol Indirect Effect over a Site in Southeastern China

  • 1. Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA
  • 2. State Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Abstract: The deployment of the U.S. Atmospheric Radiation Measurement mobile facility in Shouxian from May to December 2008 amassed the most comprehensive set of measurements of atmospheric, surface, aerosol, and cloud variables in China. This deployment provided a unique opportunity to investigate the aerosol-cloud interactions, which are most challenging and, to date, have not been examined to any great degree in China. The relationship between cloud droplet effective radius (CER) and aerosol index (AI) is very weak in summer because the cloud droplet growth is least affected by the competition for water vapor. Mean cloud liquid water path (LWP) and cloud optical depth (COD) significantly increase with increasing AI in fall. The sensitivities of CER and LWP to aerosol loading increases are not significantly different under different air mass conditions. There is a significant correlation between the changes in hourly mean AI and the changes in hourly mean CER, LWP, and COD. The aerosol first indirect effect (FIE) is estimated in terms of relative changes in both CER (FIE CER) and COD (FIE COD) with changes in AI for different seasons and air masses. FIE COD and FIE CER are similar in magnitude and close to the typical FIE value of ∼0.23, and do not change much between summer and fall or between the two different air mass conditions. Similar analyses were done using spaceborne Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data. The satellite-derived FIE is contrary to the FIE estimated from surface retrievals and may have large uncertainties due to some inherent limitations.

摘要: 2008年5月至12月, 美国大气辐射观测移动设施在我国寿县地区进行了连续观测, 并获得了该地区大气, 地面, 气溶胶以及云等大量的综合观测资料. 该观测为地基研究我国气溶胶和云的相互作用提供了极为难得的机会. 气溶胶与云的相互作用是气候变化研究中最具有挑战性的科学问题之一, 而到目前为止, 我国几乎没有地基观测研究. 由于云滴粒子增长受到水汽竞争的影响, 云滴有效半径与气溶胶指数之间的关系在夏季较弱. 秋季, 云平均的液态水路径以及云光学厚度随气溶胶指数的增加显著增加. 云滴有效半径和云液态水路径对气溶胶增加的敏感性在不同大气团影响下并没有显著的差异. 平均的气溶胶指数的小时变化与平均的云滴有效半径, 液态水路径和光学厚度存在显著的相关性. 利用云滴有效半径和云光学厚度对气溶胶指数的相对变化, 分别评估了不同季节以及不同气团影响下的气溶胶第一间接效应的量级. 利用两个云的参数计算的气溶胶第一间接效应的量级相似, 接近于典型的第一间接效应的量级(~0.23), 并且在夏季与冬季以及不同的两个气团情况下并不存在明显的变化. 与地面观测值得到的第一间接效应相比, 由于某些固有的限制, 利用中分辨率成像光谱仪(MODIS)得到的第一间接效应存在着很大的不缺定性.

1. Introduction
  • Atmospheric aerosol particles can directly affect Earth's radiative balance by absorbing and scattering solar radiation (direct effects). They can also indirectly alter cloud microphysical and macrophysical properties, and precipitation, by serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) (indirect effects). For a fixed cloud liquid water path (LWP), the cloud droplet size decreases with increasing CCN and reflects more energy to space. This is called the aerosol first indirect effect (FIE) or Twomey effect (Twomey, 1977). Under overcast sky conditions in the midlatitudes, the radiative forcing induced by the aerosol indirect effect varies from -3 to -10 W m-2 for each 0.05 increment in FIE (McComiskey and Feingold, 2008). Although the FIE has been studied extensively, it remains one of the largest uncertainties of all known climate forcing mechanisms (IPCC, 2013).

    Using satellite measurements, the FIE has been investigated on regional (Nakajima et al., 2001; Liu et al., 2003; Menon et al., 2008; Yuan et al., 2008) and global (Bréon et al., 2002) scales. Such studies suffer from major inherent retrieval problems associated with retrievals of aerosol loading in general (Li et al., 2009), and aerosols near cloud edges in particular (Várnai and Marshak, 2014), which originate from the fundamental limitation that aerosol and cloud properties cannot be retrieved at the same time over the same location. These limitations can be overcome or lessened by ground and in-situ measurements (Feingold et al., 2003, 2006; Kim et al., 2003; Garrett et al., 2004; Pandithurai et al., 2009; Ma et al., 2010). (McComiskey and Feingold, 2012) argued that aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) can only be assessed accurately from aircraft or ground-based in-situ data and depend on cloud and meteorological regimes (Wang et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2016). Long-term observations of atmospheric variables and aerosol and cloud properties are thus needed to study the sensitivity of cloud properties to aerosols in different climatic regions.

    East Asia, especially southeastern China, is a fast developing and densely populated region where anthropogenic emissions of aerosol particles and precursors are high and the aerosol composition is complex (Li et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2010; Liu et al., 2011a, 2012). Aerosol optical properties over East Asia and their influence on the radiation budget at the surface (Xu et al., 2002; Xia et al., 2007; Liu et al., 2012) and within the atmosphere (Liu et al., 2012) have been investigated extensively. However, up until now, no FIE study has been done using ground-based measurements made in China due to the dearth of coincident aerosol, cloud, and meteorological observations (Liu et al., 2013, 2015). Only a few FIE studies using satellite measurements have been carried out (Yuan et al., 2008; Tang et al., 2014). Significant anti-Twomey effects have been reported based upon Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals made over southeastern China (Yuan et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2014).

    Two major international field experiments have been conducted in mainland China with the goal of studying aerosol properties and their direct and indirect effects: the "East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols: An International Regional Experiment" (Li et al., 2007) and the "East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols and Impact on Regional Climate" (Li et al., 2011). In the latter experiment, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF-China) was deployed at Shouxian (SX), approximately 500 km northwest of Shanghai City, from May to December 2008. The experiment provided simultaneous observations of clouds, aerosols, radiative properties, and meteorological factors for the first time, and the opportunity to study the influence of aerosols on radiative fluxes, clouds, and precipitation in this key region.

    Taking advantage of the extensive measurements made during AMF-China, the first comprehensive investigation into ACI over this polluted region is presented based upon the dataset compiled at SX. Brief descriptions of the measurements and methods used in the analyses are given in section 2. Section 3 presents the aerosol and cloud properties and analyses of the influence of aerosols on cloud properties for different seasons and air mass conditions. A summary is given in section 4.

2. Measurements and methodology
  • The cloud optical depth (COD) was retrieved following the method described by (Marshak et al., 2004) and (Chiu et al., 2010). The method is based on ground-based measurements of zenith radiances at red and near-infrared channels where the surface albedos in the two channels differ significantly. The downwelling zenith radiance was measured by a two-channel narrow field-of-view (NFOV) radiometer with a 5.7° field of view at 673 and 870 nm and at a 1-s time resolution. Biases in the NFOV radiance measurements were quantified through comparisons with Aerosol Robotic Network sun photometer radiance measurements, which are deemed to be more accurate (Holben et al., 1998). In general, the two datasets correlate well at both wavelengths. However, NFOV-measured zenith radiances at 673 nm are underestimated by ∼ 11%. On the basis of regression analyses, adjusted NFOV zenith radiances at 673 nm, F673, adj, were calculated using the following formula: \begin{equation} F_{673,{\rm adj}}=1.1066F_{673,{\rm obs}}-0.0007 ,\ \ (1) \end{equation} where F673, obs represents the originally-measured zenith radiances. The total uncertainty in COD retrievals using the zenith radiance measurement method is ∼ 17% (Chiu et al., 2010).

    Atmospheric brightness temperatures at 12 frequencies were measured by a profiling microwave radiometer (TP/ WVP-3000, Radiometrics Corporation, US) and installed at SX. Vertical profiles of temperature and humidity, as well as integrated water vapor column amount and LWP, were retrieved with a 1-min time resolution using this instrument. Retrieval coefficients were derived for each season to account for seasonal variations in the atmosphere and in the mean radiating temperature. Typical uncertainties in LWP retrievals from microwave radiometers are ∼ 20 g m-2 for LWP <200 g m-2 and ∼ 10% for LWP >200 g m-2 (Liljegren et al., 2001; Liljegren and Lesht, 2004; Dong et al., 2008). When COD and LWP are retrieved, the cloud droplet effective radius (CER) can be calculated using the following equation: \begin{equation} \label{eq1} \tau=\frac{3{\rm LWP}}{2\rho_{\rm w}r_{\rm e}} , \ \ (2)\end{equation} where τ represents COD, r e represents CER, and ρ w is the density of water. The uncertainty in CER is determined by the uncertainties in COD and LWP. Cloud retrievals following the same method have been used to assess ACI in marine stratus clouds (McComiskey et al., 2009). Cloud-base heights were measured by a micropulse lidar (MPL), which is an elastic backscatter lidar developed by the NASA Goddard Space Corporation (Wang and Sassen, 2001). The MPL installed at SX operates at 527 nm and has a 30-m range vertical resolution and a 30-s time resolution.

    In this study, clouds with base heights greater than 3 km and CER >25 μm or CER <2 μm are excluded because these are unrealistic values for low-level warm clouds (Bulgin et al., 2008). Also, clouds with LWP <20 g m-2 and LWP >700 g m-2 are excluded to remove unaccounted-for biases and rainy periods, respectively (Min et al., 2003; Liu et al., 2013). To examine the influence of aerosols on non-precipitating cloud properties, only clouds with LWP <300 g m-2 are analyzed (Chiu et al., 2012; Harikishan et al., 2016).

  • Total scattering coefficients (σ) of aerosol particles with diameters <1 μm and <10 μm were measured by two three-wavelength (450, 550, and 700 nm) nephelometers (Model 3653, TSI, US) with a 1-min time resolution under dry conditions with relative humidity (RH) less than 40% and varying RH levels. The nephelometers were calibrated weekly using CO2 gas to ensure the accuracy of measurements. The uncertainty in nephelometer-measured σ ranges from 1-4 Mm-1 for 1-min averages (Heintzenberg et al., 2006). Here, the σ of particles with diameters <10 μm measured at 450 and 550 nm under dry conditions were used to calculate the Ångström exponent (AE). The aerosol index (AI) was then calculated using the σ at 550 nm and the AE. The AI was used as a proxy for CCN to study ACI because AI is more related to CCN concentration than σ (Nakajima et al., 2001; Liu and Li, 2014). The aerosol properties were then matched with cloud retrievals and integrated over 1-min time intervals.

  • The prevalent meteorological conditions and dominant aerosol type largely depend on the air mass. Potential differences in aerosols, cloud properties, and ACI for different air masses at SX were accounted for using a Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model simulation (Stein et al., 2015; Rolph, 2016). All three-day simulated air mass back trajectories arriving at the site at 500 m were classified into four major clusters: air masses originating from the northwest (cluster I), the northeast (cluster II), the East China Sea (cluster III), and the south (cluster IV) of China. Detailed descriptions of each air mass are discussed in the study by (Liu et al., 2011b). The number of days with a cluster I, II, III, and IV air mass is 30, 46, 81, and 37, respectively. This corresponds to 15.5%, 23.7%, 41.8%, and 19%, respectively, of the total number of days of the field campaign at SX.

3. Results
  • 3.1.1. Seasonal characteristics of aerosol and cloud properties

    Mean aerosol and cloud properties in summer (June, July, and August; JJA), fall (September, October, and November; SON), and winter (December; Dec.) are summarized in Table 1. The probability distribution functions (PDFs) of aerosol properties (σ, AE, and AI) and cloud properties (COD, LWP, and CER) for JJA, SON, and Dec. are shown in Fig. 1. The number of aerosol and cloud samples in each season are shown in panels (c) and (f), respectively, of the figure. Aerosol loadings in JJA and Dec. are similar and smaller than that in fall. The small magnitude of mean σ in JJA occurs because there is more frequent precipitation and relatively higher mixing heights in that season. Relatively strong winds play a major role in the low mean σ in Dec. (Fan et al., 2010). Mean values of AE in JJA, SON, and Dec. are similar, suggesting that aerosols have similar mean aerosol particle sizes during the three periods. The broad distribution of AE (Fig. 1b) indicates that aerosol particle sizes in all seasons are highly variable.

    The COD varies greatly, with larger mean values in Dec. than in JJA and SON (Fig. 1d). Distributions of COD in JJA and SON have similar shapes and significantly more cloud samples with large COD are observed in Dec. Clouds have the largest LWP values in SON and similar values in JJA and Dec. (Fig. 1e). During all three periods, clouds have similar distributions of LWP, with more samples in the range of 60-120 g m-2. The CER is smallest in Dec., with most of the distribution located below 5 μm (Fig. 1f).

    Figure 1.  PDFs of aerosol and cloud properties in JJA (blue lines), SON (green lines) and December (red lines): (a) scattering coefficient (σ); (b) Ångström exponent (AE), (c) aerosol index (AI); (d) cloud optical depth (COD), (e) liquid water path (LWP); and (f) cloud droplet effective radius (CER). The number of aerosol and cloud samples in each season are shown in panels (c) and (f), respectively.

    Figure 2.  As in Fig. 1 but for different air masses.

    3.1.2. Characteristics of aerosol and cloud properties under different air mass conditions

    Table 1 also lists the means and standard deviations of aerosol and cloud properties for each air mass type. Air masses I and IV have the highest and smallest mean values of σ, respectively. The σ for air mass IV has a narrower distribution than that for other air masses (Fig. 2a). Figure 2b shows that relatively more aerosol particles with large particle sizes arrive at the site from the northwest and northeast, and relatively more aerosol particles with small particle sizes arrive at the site from the east and southeast. The AIs for the different air masses have similar properties to the σ.

    Mean values of COD and LWP are largest (smallest) when air mass I (IV) influences the site, and the mean CER is largest (smallest) under air mass IV (I) conditions. Figure 2e shows that most of the LWP values are less than 200 g m-2 for all air masses. The PDFs of CER for each air mass in Fig. 2f have similar shapes. A shift in CER toward larger values from air mass I to air mass IV is apparent.

    Figure 3.  Diurnal cycle of the (a) σ, (b) AE, (c) AI, (d) COD, (e) LWP, and (f) CER during the observation period.

    3.1.3. Diurnal cycle of aerosol and cloud properties

    Hourly mean aerosol and cloud properties are calculated from all available samples in each hour from 0800 to 1600 local standard time (LST; Fig. 3). Hourly mean σ varies significantly, with the highest value in the morning and the lowest value in the afternoon. The high value of σ in the morning is mainly due to local cooking emissions and emissions from transportation sources, as well as the low mixing height because of the low temperature (Fan et al., 2010; Liu et al., 2011b). After sunrise, the temperature, and thus the mixing height, increases, which leads to the dilution of surface aerosols with air aloft and results in a corresponding decrease in σ (Fan et al., 2010). Figure 3b shows that AE slightly increases from morning to afternoon, but the increase is small, suggesting that the aerosol particle size does not change much from morning to afternoon. The diurnal cycle of AI in Fig. 3c is similar to the diurnal cycle of σ.

    The hourly mean COD is nearly constant from morning to noon, and then significantly increases from noon to late afternoon, suggesting that clouds attenuate more in the afternoon than in the morning. In general, the variations in hourly mean LWP from morning to afternoon seen in Fig. 3e vary in the same way as the hourly mean COD, with maxima occurring around noon. CER increases slightly from morning to noon, then decreases significantly (Fig. 3f).

  • 3.2.1. Relationship between cloud properties and AI for different seasons

    Figures 4a-c show the logarithmic relationship between CER, LWP, COD, and AI during the JJA and SON periods, respectively. The total number of samples in JJA and SON is 2343 and 2812, respectively. Cloud properties were sorted as a function of AI and averaged in each of the 10 AI bins. Each bin contains the same number of samples. Major meteorological parameters (e.g., RH), as well as large-scale dynamic (e.g., vertical velocity) and thermodynamic (e.g., lower-tropospheric stability) parameters, show no significant seasonal differences when going from low AI to high AI. For both JJA and SON, CER decreases as AI increases, but the relationship between CER and AI is very weak for JJA. As AI increases from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile, CER decreases by ∼9% (from 10.3 μm to 9.4 μm) in JJA and by ∼ 36% (from 7.8 μm to 5.0 μm) in SON. The strength of the aerosol impact on CER is quantified by the linear regression slope of the CER-AI relationship in log-log scale (Costantino and Bréon, 2013). The powers of the calculated exponential regression functions are equal to -0.04 and -0.17 in JJA and SON, respectively. Based on MODIS measurements, (Yuan et al., 2008) showed that the slope of the correlation between CER and aerosol optical depth (AOD) is driven primarily by the water vapor amount, which explains 70% of the variance. The slope of the correlation between CER and AOD is positive for moist regions and negative for dry regions (Yuan et al., 2008). The higher water vapor amount in JJA than in SON may thus partly explain the weaker CER sensitivity to aerosol loading in JJA, in addition to other potential factors (e.g., dynamic and thermodynamic conditions, and aerosol type).

    Figure 4.  The (a) CER, (b) LWP and (c) COD as a function of AI in summer (gray) and fall (black). Cloud properties were first sorted as a function of AI and averaged in each of the 10 AI bins. Error bars represent the confidence level of the mean values if independent data are assumed, and are calculated as \(\rm sd^2/\sqrt{N-2}\), where sd2 is the standard deviation of the cloud property data in a bin and N is the number of data points in the AI bin. Axes are scaled logarithmically.

    Figure 4b shows that, in JJA, LWP does not strongly depend on AI. As AI increases from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile, the mean value of LWP changes from 136 g m-2 to 130 g m-2, which is a decrease of ∼ 4%. The linear regression slope of the LWP-AI relationship in log-log scale is -0.02. During the SON period, the mean LWP increases by ∼ 10% (from 126 g m-2 to 139 g m-2) as AI changes from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile. The linear regression slope in log-log scale is 0.06. Results from current studies on the response of LWP to increases in aerosol loading are diverse, showing a positive correlation in some studies (Quaas et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2013) and a negative correlation in others (Twohy et al., 2005; Lee et al., 2009). The balance between two competitive processes determines the response of LWP to increases in aerosol loading: (1) moistening from precipitation suppression; and (2) drying from the increased entrainment of dry overlaying air. Since the two processes commonly occur together, the difference in the response of LWP to increases in AI between the two seasons possibly happens because the different meteorology, aerosols, and other settings in each season may make one process dominate over the other.

    During the JJA period, COD increases with increasing AI, but not in a significant way. As AI changes from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile, the mean COD increases by ∼7% (from 24.9 to 26.6). The weak changes in LWP and CER with increasing AI lead to a weak response of COD to AI. Figure 4c shows that, during the SON period, COD significantly increases with increasing AI. The mean value of COD increases by ∼ 63% (from 26.3 to 43.0) as AI increases from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile. The slope of the COD-AI exponential regression line is 0.21. This large value suggests that aerosols favor the growth of clouds in terms of thickness by inhibiting CER (Twomey, 1977; Liu et al., 2016), and thus enhance the reflection of solar radiation by clouds.

    Figure 5.  As in Fig. 4 but for air mass II (gray) and air mass III (black).

    3.2.2. Relationship between cloud properties and AI under different air mass conditions

    Figures 5a-c show the logarithmic relationships between CER, LWP, COD and AI under different air mass conditions. Due to the limited number of aerosol and cloud samples for air masses I and IV, only samples under air mass II and III conditions are analyzed. Major meteorological parameters under both air mass conditions show no significant difference as AI increases. Under both air mass conditions, CER significantly decreases as AI increases, suggesting a strong influence of aerosols on cloud microphysical properties. The mean CER decreases by ∼ 34% (from 5.8 to 3.8 μm) and by ∼ 22% (from 8.1 to 6.3 μm) under air mass II and III conditions, respectively. No significant difference in the strength of the sensitivity of CER to increasing aerosols is seen between both air mass types.

    Figure 5b shows that, under both air mass II and III conditions, LWP increases with increasing AI, but not in a significant way. As AI increases from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile, the mean LWP increases by 20% (from 94 to 113 g m-2) and by 12% (from 135 to 151 g m-2) under air mass II and III conditions, respectively. The strength of the LWP sensitivity to increasing aerosols is almost the same under air mass II and III conditions.

    Figure 5c shows that, as AI increases, the mean COD increases by ∼26% (from 34 to 43) and by ∼ 25% (from 32 to 40) when air mass II and III, respectively, influence the site. The slope of the COD-AI exponential regression line is larger for samples influenced by air mass II (0.15) than for those influenced by air mass III (0.08), suggesting that under air mass II conditions, the sensitivity of COD to aerosols is greater.

  • Figure 6 shows the PDFs of percentage changes in hourly mean CER (CER), LWP (LWP), and COD (COD) for the lowest (AI L) and highest (AI H) quartile of percentage changes in AI. The percentage change in hourly mean cloud and aerosol properties is calculated as: \begin{equation} \Delta M=(\overline{M}_i-\overline{M}_{i-1})/\overline{M}_{i-1},i=9,\ldots,15 \ \ (3)\end{equation} where M represents an aerosol or cloud variable, ∆ M is the percentage change in the variable, \(\overline{M}\) is the mean value over an hour of the variable, and i is the LST. When i=9, \(\overline{M}_i-1\) represents the mean value of the variable from 0800 LST to 0900 LST, and \(\overline{M}_i\) represents the mean value of the variable from 0900 LST to 1000 LST. Due to the relatively short time scale (one hour), such a procedure can be viewed as a high temporal filter, since it largely removes the effects of synoptic and large-scale processes. The mean values of AI L and AI H are -0.26 and 0.22, respectively, which represents a decrease by 26% and an increase by 22%, respectively. The PDF of CER in Fig. 6a shows that there is a shift in CER toward positive values for the AI L case and toward negative values for the AI H case. For the AI L case, the mean CER is 0.18 (an increase of 18%), and for the AI H case the mean CER is -0.06 (a decrease of 6%). A negative relationship between CER and AI is found, which suggests that when AI increases after an hour, the CER tends to decrease simultaneously. Figures 6b and c show that LWP and COD are positively correlated with AI. For the AI L case, there are more samples with LWP <0 and COD <0 than with LWP >0 and COD >0, but for the AI H case the opposite is seen. This suggests that, when AI increases after an hour, the LWP and COD tend to increase simultaneously. In general, the larger the AI, the smaller the CER and the larger the LWP and COD.

    Figure 6.  PDFs of percentage changes in the hourly means of (a) CER (CER), (b) LWP (LWP), and (c) COD (COD) for the lowest (AI L, in gray) and highest (AI H, in black) quartile of changes in AI.

  • The aerosol FIE can be calculated as \begin{equation} {\rm FIE}=\left.\dfrac{\partial\ln{\rm COD}}{\partial\ln\alpha}\right|_{\rm LWP}= -\left.\dfrac{\partial\ln{\rm CER}}{\partial\ln\alpha}\right|_{\rm LWP} , \ \ (4)\end{equation} where α is the CCN concentration or a CCN proxy, such as aerosol number concentration, AOD, etc. In the current study, aerosol and cloud measurements were first separated into different LWP bins ranging from 20 to 300 g m-2 in 20 g m-2 increments. Then, the FIE in each LWP bin was estimated using the linear regression slope of all scatter points representing the CER/COD and AI relationship in log-log scale. The FIE estimated from changes in CER and COD with changes in AI is expressed as FIE CER and FIE COD, respectively.

    Figure 7.  Magnitudes of the first indirect effect (FIE) (bars) estimated from changes in CER with changes in AI (FIE CER) in each LWP bin from 20 to 300 g m-2 in 20 g m-2 intervals in (a) JJA and (b) SON, and (c) under air mass II and (d) air mass III conditions. The dotted lines indicate the number of samples in each LWP bin (right-hand ordinates). Only cases with sample numbers greater than 50 and with a calculated FIE CER that is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level are considered.

    Figure 8.  As in Fig. 7 but for the magnitude of the FIE estimated from changes in COD with changes in AI (FIE COD).

    Figure 7 shows the magnitude of FIE CER in each LWP bin for the different seasons (Figs. 7a and b for JJA and SON, respectively) and for different air mass conditions (Figs. 7c and d for air mass II and air mass III, respectively). Only cases with sample numbers greater than 50 and with a calculated FIE CER that is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level are considered. The mean value of FIE CER is 0.16 0.06 and 0.17 0.06 in JJA and SON, respectively, which suggests that FIE CER has no systematically strong seasonal variation at the SX site. The mean FIE CER values under air mass II and III conditions (0.23 0.09 and 0.20 0.06, respectively) are not significantly different. The FIE CER in JJA and when air mass II is over the site increases as LWP increases. In SON and when air mass III is over the site, the FIE CER increases and then slightly decreases as LWP increases. Figure 8 shows the magnitude of FIE COD for each season (Fig. 8a for JJA and Fig. 8b for SON) and for each air mass (Fig. 8c for air mass II and Fig. 8d for air mass III). The FIE COD is similar to the FIE CER in each season and under each air mass condition. The variation in FIE COD with increasing LWP is also consistent with that of FIE CER in each season and under each air mass condition.

    It is difficult to directly compare various estimates of FIE from different studies because the conditions under which FIE is calculated, e.g., LWP ranges and the CCN proxy used, and the method used to retrieve CER, to which the FIE might be sensitive (Rosenfeld and Feingold, 2003; Feingold et al., 2006; McComiskey et al., 2009; Zhao et al., 2012), are usually different. Most studies have shown that the magnitude of the FIE generally lies between 0.02 and 0.33, with most values between 0.05 and 0.25 (Zhao et al., 2012). Ground-based studies that focus on FIE and its quantification over East Asia, especially over China, are few due to the lack of simultaneous observations of aerosol and cloud properties, with the latter being the primary constraint. The FIE metric estimated from satellite measurements ranges from 0.02 to 0.20 for midlatitude continental clouds (Nakajima et al., 2001; Myhre et al., 2007) and is usually lower than that estimated in airborne- and surface-based studies. Table 2 summarizes results from previous studies on estimating FIE for non-precipitating, warm clouds based on ground measurements. The FIE metric calculated in this study generally falls within the range of the published values listed in Table 2, and is close to the typical FIE value of ∼ 0.23 reported by (Twomey, 1977).

  • Based on MODIS measurements of AOD and cloud microphysical properties, previous studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between cloud CER and AOD over southeastern China (Yuan et al., 2008; Tang et al., 2014). However, a significant decrease in CER with increased surface-measured aerosol loading is found in this study. Ten years (2003-2012) of MODIS/Terra and MODIS/Aqua retrievals of AOD and cloud microphysical properties made over the site were used to examine the relationship between AOD and CER, and to see whether there are any discrepancies with results derived from surface measurements. Aerosol and cloud properties were averaged over a 50 km × 50 km box centered on the SX site. To ensure data quality, the following criteria were used (Yuan et al., 2008): (1) only overcast cloudy pixels flagged as "high confidence" by the retrieval algorithm were selected; (2) clouds with COD <5 were discarded to reduce the uncertainty in cloud particle size retrievals; and (3) only liquid water clouds with CER <25 μm were chosen. Figure 9 shows MODIS-retrieved CER as a function of MODIS-retrieved AOD for different LWP bins. Only samples from LWP bins with more than 50 samples were used to estimate the FIE. During the JJA period, the relationship between CER and AOD is very weak, with the slope fluctuating around zero across all LWP bins. During the SON period, a positive correlation between CER and AOD is found, especially in the LWP range of 20 to 40 g m-2. The weak and positive correlation between CER and AOD at the site is consistent with previous MODIS studies (Yuan et al., 2008; Tang et al., 2014), but contrary to the results obtained from surface-based retrievals presented in the current study. Substantially smaller droplet sizes under high CCN concentration conditions were simulated at the SX site using the Weather Research and Forecasting model (Fan et al., 2012), which is consistent with the results of this study.

    Figure 9.  CER as a function of AOD for different LWP bins: (a) JJA; (b) SON. Data are from MODIS on the Terra and Aqua platforms and cover the period 2003-12.

    Results show that the effect of aerosols on cloud microphysical properties retrieved from satellite measurements are weaker, even contrary to the Twomey effect, and are affected by much more noise, compared with the results from surface-based measurements. One reason is that a passive remote sensing instrument like MODIS cannot measure aerosol and cloud properties simultaneously because clouds block signals from aerosols located beneath them. This introduces some uncertainties when analyzing the relationship between aerosol and cloud microphysical properties. A second reason is that satellite-retrieved CER typically represents the cloud particle size near the top of optically thick clouds, while surface-retrieved CER, weighted by the water mass in the cloud, represents the layer mean particle size. Under the same aerosol loading conditions, the MODIS-derived CER is significantly larger than the CER estimated from surface measurements (figure not shown), which possibly masks the influence of aerosols on cloud properties. In addition, since most aerosol particles are found within the boundary layer over this region (Liu et al., 2012), the CER derived from surface measurements may be influenced more by aerosols than the CER derived from satellite measurements because there is more contact between cloud particles near the cloud base and aerosols (Liu et al., 2016). A third possible reason involves the uncertainties in AOD retrievals due to cloud contamination. A study by (Várnai and Marshak, 2014) revealed that satellite-retrieved AOD for roughly half of the pixels within 5 km of clouds can be up to 50% greater than the AOD for pixels further away from clouds. Thus, satellite retrievals made near clouds can lead to spurious correlations between aerosol and cloud parameters (Costantino and Bréon, 2013). Also, the AOD retrieved from MODIS measurements does not represent real aerosol loading in the atmosphere because the retrieval is enhanced by aerosol swelling effects (Jeong and Li, 2010). The relationship between AOD and CCN is significantly influenced by RH (Liu and Li, 2014).

4. Summary
  • The ARM mobile facility was stationed at SX in southeastern China from May to December 2008 with the purpose of collecting measurements aimed at studying the influence of aerosols on radiative fluxes, clouds, and precipitation. To the authors' knowledge, this was the first time that simultaneous measurements of cloud, aerosol, and radiative properties, as well as meteorological quantities, were made in this key region. This study presents the statistics of aerosol and cloud properties in different seasons and under different air mass conditions, then examines the influences of aerosols on cloud properties based on surface measurements made at this heavily polluted site.

    In both summer and fall, CER decreases as AI increases, but the relationship is weaker in summer. There is little dependence of LWP on AI in summer, but in fall LWP increases significantly with increasing AI. There is a significant increase in COD as AI increases in fall, but not in summer. When air mass II (originating from northeastern China) and III (originating from over the ocean to the east of the site) influence the site, CER (COD) significantly decreases (increases) with increasing AI.

    There is a shift in percentage changes in hourly mean CER (CER) toward positive and negative values for the lowest (AI L) and highest (AI H) quartile of percentage changes in AI cases, respectively. For the AI L case, the mean CER is 0.18 (an increase of 18%), and for the AI H case the mean CER is -0.06 (a decrease of 6%). This suggests that, when the AI increases after an hour, the CER tends to decrease, and LWP and COD tend to increase simultaneously. The magnitude of the aerosol FIE with respect to both CER and COD in summer and fall and for air mass II and III was estimated based on ground-based measurements divided into different LWP bins. The mean FIE CER in summer (fall) is equal to 0.16 0.06 (0.17 0.06) and equal to 0.23 0.09 (0.20 0.06) when air mass II (III) influences the site. The magnitudes of mean FIE COD in summer and fall and for each air mass type are similar to those of FIE CER. This suggests that the FIE has no systematically strong seasonal variation and no significant difference under different air mass conditions at the SX site.

    Ten years (2003-2012) of MODIS/Terra and MODIS/ Aqua AOD and cloud microphysical properties retrieved at the SX site were also used to estimate the FIE from a space-based perspective. The effect of aerosols on cloud microphysical properties retrieved from satellite measurements is weak, and even contrary to the Twomey effect, and is affected by much more noise. Possible reasons are discussed. Results from studies about the aerosol indirect effect based on satellite measurements are contrary to results from surface-based retrievals, and may have large uncertainties due to some inherent limitations.

    The FIE estimated in our study may be influenced by interactions and feedbacks with aerosol properties (e.g., aerosol vertical distribution, aerosol size distribution, etc.) and meteorological dynamics (e.g., vertical velocity and vertical wind shear). These quantities are difficult to measure simultaneously and are not discussed here. More studies focused on aerosol-cloud interactions are still needed in China, which is an ideal test bed for studying aerosol indirect effects due to the abundance of anthropogenic and natural aerosol particles in the atmosphere over that region.

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