Global‐scale seasonally resolved black carbon vertical profiles over the Pacific. Issue 20 (23rd October 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schwarz, J. P.; Samset, B. H.; Perring, A. E.; Spackman, J. R.; Gao, R. S.; Stier, P.; Schulz, M.; Moore, F. L.; Ray, Eric A.; Fahey, D. W.
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 40:Issue 20(2013:Oct.)
• Page Start: 5542
• Page End: 5547
• Publication Date: 2013-10-23
• Subjects: Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/2013GL057775
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>[1] Black carbon (BC) aerosol loadings were measured during the High‐performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research Pole‐to‐Pole Observations (HIPPO) campaign above the remote Pacific from 85°N to 67°S. Over 700 vertical profiles extending from near the surface to max ~14 km altitude were obtained with a single‐particle soot photometer between early 2009 and mid‐2011. The data provides a climatology of BC in the remote regions that reveals gradients of BC concentration reflecting global‐scale transport and removal of pollution. BC is identified as a sensitive tracer of extratropical mixing into the lower tropical tropopause layer and trends toward surprisingly uniform loadings in the lower stratosphere of ~1 ng/kg. The climatology is compared to predictions from the AeroCom global model intercomparison initiative. The AeroCom model suite overestimates loads in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (~10×) more severely than at lower altitudes (~3×), with bias roughly independent of season or geographic location; these results indicate that it overestimates BC lifetime.</p> </abstract>