Direct Radiative Effect by Multicomponent Aerosol over China*

Abstract

Abstract The direct radiative effect (DRE) of multiple aerosol species [sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), and mineral aerosol] and their spatiotemporal variations over China were investigated using a fully coupled meteorology–chemistry model [Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem)] for the entire year of 2006. This study made modifications to improve the model performance, including updating land surface parameters, improving the calculation of transition-metal-catalyzed oxidation of SO2, and adding heterogeneous reactions between mineral dust aerosol and acid gases. The modified model generally reproduced the magnitude, seasonal pattern, and spatial distribution of the measured meteorological conditions, concentrations of PM10 and its components, and aerosol optical depth (AOD), although some low biases existed in modeled aerosol concentrations. A diagnostic iteration method was used to estimate the overall DRE of aerosols and contributions from different components. At the land surface, the incident net radiation flux was reduced by 10.2 W m−2 over China. Aerosols significantly warmed the atmosphere with the national mean DRE of +10.8 W m−2. BC was the leading radiative heating component (+8.7 W m−2), followed by mineral aerosol (+1.1 W m−2). At the top of the atmosphere (TOA), BC introduced the largest radiative perturbation (+4.5 W m−2), followed by sulfate (−1.4 W m−2). The overall perturbation of aerosols on radiation transfer is quite small over China, demonstrating the counterbalancing effect between scattering and adsorbing aerosols. Aerosol DRE at the TOA had distinct seasonality, generally with a summer maximum and winter minimum, mainly determined by mass loadings, hygroscopic growth, and incident radiation flux.