The global impact of the transport sectors on atmospheric aerosol: simulations for year 2000 emissions

Abstract

Abstract. We use the EMAC-MADE global aerosol model to quantify the impact of transport emissions (land transport, shipping and aviation) on global aerosol. We consider a present-day (2000) scenario and the CMIP5 emission dataset developed in support of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. The model takes also into account particle number emissions, which are derived from mass emissions under different assumptions on the size distribution of particles emitted by the three transport sectors. Additional sensitivity experiments are performed to quantify the effects of the uncertainties behind such assumptions. The model simulations show that the impact of the transport sectors closely matches the emission patterns. Land transport is the most important source of black carbon pollution in USA, Europe and Arabian Peninsula. Shipping strongly contributes to aerosol sulfate concentrations along the most-traveled routes of the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific oceans, with a significant impact along the coastlines. The effect of aviation is mostly confined to the upper-troposphere (7–12 km), in the northern mid-latitudes, although significant effects are also simulated at the ground, due to the emissions from landing and take-off cycles. The transport-induced perturbations to particle number concentrations are very sensitive to the assumptions on the size distribution of emitted particles, with the largest uncertainties obtained for the land transport sector. The simulated climate impacts, due to aerosol direct and indirect effects, are strongest for the shipping sector, as a consequence of the large impact of sulfate aerosol on low marine clouds and their optical properties.