HR: 16:00h
AN: A34A-01 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: Advances in Quantifying the Radiative Effects of Aerosol Particles on Climate from Airborne Field Studies
AU: * Pilewskie, P
EM: Peter.Pilewskie@lasp.colorado.edu
AU: Schmidt, K S
EM: sebastian.schmidt@lasp.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303-7814, United States
AU: Coddington, O
EM: Odele.Coddington@lasp.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303-7814, United States
AU: Bergstrom, R
EM: bergstrom@baeri.org
AF: Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, 560 Third St West, Sanoma, CA 95476, United States
AU: Redemann, J
EM: jredemann@mail.arc.nasa.gov
AF: Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, 560 Third St West, Sanoma, CA 95476, United States
AB: In the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, large uncertainties persist in estimates of climate forcing by aerosol particles. One contributor to this uncertainty is the poorly quantified vertical distribution of solar radiation absorbed by aerosol particles, from the regional to global scale. Another is the spectral and spatial variability of surface albedo, an effect that can dominate the top-of-atmosphere perturbations due to aerosol scattering and absorption, particularly over land. Over the past three years a number of intensive airborne field experiments (ICARTT, MILAGRO, GoMACCS) have contributed significantly to our understanding of the impact of pollution outflow from urban-industrial centers on radiative forcing, using spectrally resolved radiometric measurements and novel observationally-based methods to derive forcing efficiency and flux divergence. We present an overview of some of the most significant advances in direct radiative forcing realized by these studies, and recommendations on where the greatest challenges remain. In addition we present findings from these experiments on the influence of aerosol particles on cloud radiative properties, a potentially greater effect but even more uncertain than direct radiative forcing.
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
DE: 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry
DE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251)
DE: 3311 Clouds and aerosols
DE: 3359 Radiative processes
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting