Sensitivity of mesoscale modeling of smoke direct radiative effect to the emission inventory: a case study in northern sub-Saharan African region

Feng Zhang; Jun Wang; Charles Ichoku; Edward J Hyer; Zhifeng Yang; Cui Ge; Shenjian Su; Xiaoyang Zhang; Shobha Kondragunta; Johannes W Kaiser; Christine Wiedinmyer; Arlindo da Silva

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075002

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Sensitivity of mesoscale modeling of smoke direct radiative effect to the emission inventory: a case study in northern sub-Saharan African region

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Sensitivity of mesoscale modeling of smoke direct radiative effect to the emission inventory: a case study in northern sub-Saharan African region

Feng Zhang, Jun Wang, Charles Ichoku, Edward J Hyer, Zhifeng Yang, Cui Ge, Shenjian Su, Xiaoyang Zhang, Shobha Kondragunta, Johannes W Kaiser, …

Environmental research letters, Vol.9(7), pp.75002-14

07/09/2014

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075002

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Abstract

An ensemble approach is used to examine the sensitivity of smoke loading and smoke direct radiative effect in the atmosphere to uncertainties in smoke emission estimates. Seven different fire emission inventories are applied independently to WRF-Chem model (v3.5) with the same model configuration (excluding dust and other emission sources) over the northern sub-Saharan African (NSSA) biomass-burning region. Results for November and February 2010 are analyzed, respectively representing the start and end of the biomass burning season in the study region. For February 2010, estimates of total smoke emission vary by a factor of 12, but only differences by factors of 7 or less are found in the simulated regional (15°W-42°E, 13°S-17°N) and monthly averages of column PM2.5 loading, surface PM2.5 concentration, aerosol optical depth (AOD), smoke radiative forcing at the top-of-atmosphere and at the surface, and air temperature at 2 m and at 700 hPa. The smaller differences in these simulated variables may reflect the atmospheric diffusion and deposition effects to dampen the large difference in smoke emissions that are highly concentrated in areas much smaller than the regional domain of the study. Indeed, at the local scale, large differences (up to a factor of 33) persist in simulated smoke-related variables and radiative effects including semi-direct effect. Similar results are also found for November 2010, despite differences in meteorology and fire activity. Hence, biomass burning emission uncertainties have a large influence on the reliability of model simulations of atmospheric aerosol loading, transport, and radiative impacts, and this influence is largest at local and hourly-to-daily scales. Accurate quantification of smoke effects on regional climate and air quality requires further reduction of emission uncertainties, particularly for regions of high fire concentrations such as NSSA.

smoke radiative effect

fire emission inventory

Sahel and northern sub-Saharan African region

mesoscale modeling

air quality

Details

Title: Subtitle: Sensitivity of mesoscale modeling of smoke direct radiative effect to the emission inventory: a case study in northern sub-Saharan African region
Creators: Feng Zhang - International Center for Climate and Environment Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China
Jun Wang - University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Lincoln, NE, USA
Charles Ichoku - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Edward J Hyer - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Zhifeng Yang - University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Lincoln, NE, USA
Cui Ge - State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China
Shenjian Su - University of Maryland Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Xiaoyang Zhang - South Dakota State University Geospatial Science Center of Excellence (GSCE), SD, USA
Shobha Kondragunta - NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications, Research College Park, MD, USA
Johannes W Kaiser - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, D-55128 Mainz, Germany
Christine Wiedinmyer - Atmospheric Chemistry Division, NCAR Earth System Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
Arlindo da Silva - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Environmental research letters, Vol.9(7), pp.75002-14
DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075002
ISSN: 1748-9326
eISSN: 1748-9326
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Number of pages: 14
Language: English
Date published: 07/09/2014
Academic Unit: Electrical and Computer Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Iowa Technology Institute; Physics and Astronomy; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Record Identifier: 9984104808802771

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