The Uncertainty of Estimating Aerosol Climate Effects Using Atmospheric Models

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Climatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (13 April 2024) | Viewed by 1065

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Interests: aerosol–cloud interaction; geoengineering; statistic forecast

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Compared to observation-based analysis, it is relatively easy for atmospheric models to quickly provide comparative experiment results and corresponding mechanisms for their differences. Consequently, atmospheric models have become an important tool for studying how Earth responds to anthropogenic activities. The downside is that model-based estimations have more considerable uncertainty. These uncertainties might result from the systematic model bias, which includes the physical mechanisms described by the model code and the external forcers used as model input data. Furthermore, the model year-to-year internal variability, which is the natural year-to-year fluctuations during model simulation without year-to-year changes in external forces, is also a considerable uncertainty source.

Estimating aerosol effects with atmospheric models definitely involves the issues of uncertainty mentioned above. Meanwhile, relevant researchers usually have a lot of experience with these uncertainties. For instance, one aerosol–cloud interaction parameterization might overestimate/underestimate the aerosol Twomey effect. Another example is that a 10-year simulation cannot provide a stable annual mean map of aerosol effective radiative forcing due to the model internal variability. Sharing experiences about these uncertainties is helpful for setting up model experiments and better understanding modeled aerosol climate effects. We welcome researchers to contribute to this Special Issue by sharing their experiences.

Prof. Dr. Xiangjun Shi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • uncertainty
  • aerosol climate effects
  • model bias
  • internal variability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 7499 KiB  
Article
Quantifying the Role of Model Internal Year-to-Year Variability in Estimating Anthropogenic Aerosol Radiative Effects
by Xiangjun Shi and Yuxi Zeng
Atmosphere 2024, 15(1), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15010079 - 8 Jan 2024
Viewed by 883
Abstract
The model internal year-to-year variability (hereafter, internal variability) is a significant source of uncertainty when estimating anthropogenic aerosol effective radiative forcing (ERF). In this study, we investigate the impact of internal variability using large ensemble simulations (600 years in total) with the same [...] Read more.
The model internal year-to-year variability (hereafter, internal variability) is a significant source of uncertainty when estimating anthropogenic aerosol effective radiative forcing (ERF). In this study, we investigate the impact of internal variability using large ensemble simulations (600 years in total) with the same climate model under prescribed anthropogenic aerosol forcings. A comparison of the magnitudes (i.e., standard deviation, Std) of these influences confirms that internal variability has negligible impacts on the instantaneous radiative forcing (RF) diagnosed by double radiation calls but has considerable impacts on estimating ERF through rapid adjustments (ADJ). Approximately half of the model grids exhibit a strong internal variability influence on ERF (Std > 5 W m−2). These strong internal variabilities lead to a 50% probability that the 30-year linear change can reach 2 W m−2 and the 10-year linear change can reach 4 W m−2. A 50-year simulation can provide a relatively stable annual mean map of ERF (ERF = ADJ + RF), but it fails for ADJ. The statistically significant areas in the annual mean maps of both ERF and ADJ from a 10-year simulation exhibit instability with evident chaotic features. The insights derived from our analysis aid in assessing the stability of modeled ERF and contribute to the design of comparative experiments. Full article
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