Black carbon radiative forcing over the Tibetan Plateau. Issue 22 (25th November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: He, Cenlin; Li, Qinbin; Liou, Kuo‐Nan; Takano, Yoshi; Gu, Yu; Qi, Ling; Mao, Yuhao; Leung, L. Ruby
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 41:Issue 22(2014:Nov.)
• Page Start: 7806
• Page End: 7813
• Publication Date: 2014-11-25
• Subjects: Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/2014GL062191
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>We estimate the snow albedo forcing and direct radiative forcing (DRF) of black carbon (BC) in the Tibetan Plateau using a global chemical transport model in conjunction with a stochastic snow model and a radiative transfer model. The annual mean BC snow albedo forcing is 2.9 W m⁻² averaged over snow‐covered plateau regions, which is a factor of 3 larger than the value over global land snowpack. BC‐snow internal mixing increases the albedo forcing by 40–60% compared with external mixing, and coated BC increases the forcing by 30–50% compared with uncoated BC aggregates, whereas Koch snowflakes reduce the forcing by 20–40% relative to spherical snow grains. The annual BC DRF at the top of the atmosphere is 2.3 W m⁻² with uncertainties of −70–85% in the plateau after scaling the modeled BC absorption optical depth to Aerosol Robotic Network observations. The BC forcings are attributed to emissions from different regions.</p> </abstract>