Application of the CAM/CARMA Aerosol Model to Simulate Smoke, Dust and Sea Salt Aerosol

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This project is creating a carefully validated global model that addresses how sea salt from the oceans, soil dust from major deserts, and smoke particles from natural fires enter the atmosphere, are transported and then impact the climate. The work makes use of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) global climate models, together with a sectional microphysical model, to perform simulations of real events. It compares the simulations with satellite and ground-based data to determine how well the model can simulate the properties of these particles. Marine aerosols, including sulfates and organics are being investigated, as is smoke primarily from tropical African and boreal forest fires, as well as dust mainly from Asian sources. This work complements the principal investigator's previous work on smoke from South America and South Africa, and dust from the Sahara Desert. Toward the end of the project these three aerosol types will be merged along with sulfates, nitrates and organics of terrestrial and anthropogenic origin into a comprehensive sectional model for aerosols that will become available to the wider community. The work has a number of broader impacts. Much of the work is being done by graduate students from underrepresented groups. Each student has advisors from NCAR on her thesis committee so that she has the unusual chance to work with scientists beyond the university. The project will also enhance the infrastructure for research and/or education by developing the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA) aerosol model within the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) and Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) frameworks. CARMA is already a community model, previous versions of which have been distributed for decades. It has a large user base at NASA, in the U.S. Air Force, and at numerous universities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. It is used for cloud and aerosol physics, and also for planetary studies. The project also provides benefits to society at large by helping reduce the uncertainty in climate forcing due to aerosols and by helping create national tools to address such issues. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).