Project C06:
The importance of upper troposphere aerosol transport and processing for low and mid troposphere aerosol concentrations

Brief Summary

Several field campaigns within the tropics (Andreae et al., 2018 and references within Williamson et al., 2019) have demonstrated on a regional scale that UT NPF may contribute, or even dominate, LT CCN concentrations. Williamson et al. (2019) showed using staircase flight observations obtained during ATOM 1 and 2 that this could be the case generally throughout the tropics and sub-tropics. However a clear source-apportionment and in-depth analysis of the relevant transport time-scales and mechanisms could not be obtained in the observations or the associated numerical model experiments utilizing coupled aerosol-chemistry models of full complexity. Using the atmosphere-only version of ICON we will assess the horizontal and vertical transport of newly-formed UT particles using idealized tracer experiments. This will allow us to clearly identify regions of increased exposure to secondary UT particles.

Williamson, C. J., A. Kupc, D. Axisa, K. R. Bilsback, T. Bui, P. Campuzano-Jost, M. Dollner, K. D. Froyd, A. L. Hodshire, J. L. Jimenez, J. K. Kodros, G. Luo, et al. (2019): A large source of cloud condensation nuclei from new particle formation in the tropics. Nature 574 (7778), 399–403. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1638-9.
Andreae, M. O., A. Afchine, R. Albrecht, B. Amorim Holanda, P. Artaxo, H. M. J. Barbosa, S. Borrmann, M. A. Cecchini, A. Costa, M. Dollner, D. Fütterer, E. Järvinen, et al. (2018): Aerosol characteristics and particle production in the upper troposphere over the Amazon Basin. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 18 (2), 921– doi: 10.5194/acp-18-921-2018.

Members