Radiative effects of interannually varying vs. interannually invariant aerosol emissions from fires
Author(s)
Grandey, Benjamin S.; Lee, Hsiang-He; Wang, Chien
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Open-burning fires play an important role in the earth's climate system. In addition to contributing a substantial fraction of global emissions of carbon dioxide, they are a major source of atmospheric aerosols containing organic carbon, black carbon, and sulfate. These “fire aerosols” can influence the climate via direct and indirect radiative effects. In this study, we investigate these radiative effects and the hydrological fast response using the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). Emissions of fire aerosols exert a global mean net radiative effect of −1.0 W m[superscript −2], dominated by the cloud shortwave response to organic carbon aerosol. The net radiative effect is particularly strong over boreal regions. Conventionally, many climate modelling studies have used an interannually invariant monthly climatology of emissions of fire aerosols. However, by comparing simulations using interannually varying emissions vs. interannually invariant emissions, we find that ignoring the interannual variability of the emissions can lead to systematic overestimation of the strength of the net radiative effect of the fire aerosols. Globally, the overestimation is +23 % (−0.2 W m[superscript −2]). Regionally, the overestimation can be substantially larger. For example, over Australia and New Zealand the overestimation is +58 % (−1.2 W m[superscript −2]), while over Boreal Asia the overestimation is +43 % (−1.9 W m[superscript −2]). The systematic overestimation of the net radiative effect of the fire aerosols is likely due to the non-linear influence of aerosols on clouds. However, ignoring interannual variability in the emissions does not appear to significantly impact the hydrological fast response. In order to improve understanding of the climate system, we need to take into account the interannual variability of aerosol emissions.
Date issued
2016-11Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary SciencesJournal
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Citation
Grandey, Benjamin S., Hsiang-He Lee, and Chien Wang. “Radiative Effects of Interannually Varying Vs. Interannually Invariant Aerosol Emissions from Fires.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16, no. 22 (November 23, 2016): 14495–14513.
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1680-7324
1680-7316