Possible climatic implications of high-altitude black carbon emissions
On account of its strong absorption of solar and terrestrial radiation, black carbon (BC) aerosol is known to impact large-scale systems, such as the Asian monsoon and the Himalayan glaciers, in addition to affecting the thermal structure of the lower atmosphere. While most studies focus on the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2017-08-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/9623/2017/acp-17-9623-2017.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818348917924823040 |
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| author | G. Govardhan S. K. Satheesh S. K. Satheesh R. Nanjundiah R. Nanjundiah K. K. Moorthy S. S. Babu |
| author_facet | G. Govardhan S. K. Satheesh S. K. Satheesh R. Nanjundiah R. Nanjundiah K. K. Moorthy S. S. Babu |
| author_sort | G. Govardhan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | On account of its strong absorption of solar and terrestrial radiation, black
carbon (BC) aerosol is known to impact large-scale systems, such as the Asian
monsoon and the Himalayan glaciers, in addition to affecting the thermal
structure of the lower atmosphere. While most studies focus on the
near-surface abundance and impacts of BC, our study examines the implications
of sharp and confined layers of high BC concentration (called elevated BC
layers) at altitudes more than 4 km over the Indian region using the online
regional chemistry transport model (WRF-Chem) simulations. These elevated BC
layers were revealed in the recent in situ measurements using high-altitude
balloons carried out on 17 March 2010, 8 January 2011 and 25 April 2011. Our
study demonstrates that high-flying aircraft (with emissions from the
regionally fine-tuned MACCity inventory) are the most likely cause of these
elevated BC layers. Furthermore, we show that such aircraft-emitted BC can be
transported to upper tropospheric or lower stratospheric heights
( ∼ 17 km) aided by the strong monsoonal convection occurring over the
region, which is known to overshoot the tropical tropopause, leading to the
injection of tropospheric air mass (along with its constituent aerosols) into
the stratosphere. We show observational evidence for such an intrusion of
tropospheric BC into the stratosphere over the Indian region using extinction
coefficient and particle depolarisation ratio data from CALIOP Lidar on-board
the CALIPSO satellite. We hypothesise that such intrusions of BC into the
lower stratosphere and its consequent longer residence time in the
stratosphere have significant implications for stratospheric ozone,
especially considering the already reported ozone-depleting potential of BC. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T17:57:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9fcfd626657e41cd849940ac5d82ff50 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T17:57:41Z |
| publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-9fcfd626657e41cd849940ac5d82ff502022-12-21T23:36:19ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242017-08-01179623964410.5194/acp-17-9623-2017Possible climatic implications of high-altitude black carbon emissionsG. Govardhan0S. K. Satheesh1S. K. Satheesh2R. Nanjundiah3R. Nanjundiah4K. K. Moorthy5S. S. Babu6Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IndiaCentre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IndiaDivecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IndiaCentre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IndiaDivecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IndiaCentre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IndiaSpace Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Kerala, IndiaOn account of its strong absorption of solar and terrestrial radiation, black carbon (BC) aerosol is known to impact large-scale systems, such as the Asian monsoon and the Himalayan glaciers, in addition to affecting the thermal structure of the lower atmosphere. While most studies focus on the near-surface abundance and impacts of BC, our study examines the implications of sharp and confined layers of high BC concentration (called elevated BC layers) at altitudes more than 4 km over the Indian region using the online regional chemistry transport model (WRF-Chem) simulations. These elevated BC layers were revealed in the recent in situ measurements using high-altitude balloons carried out on 17 March 2010, 8 January 2011 and 25 April 2011. Our study demonstrates that high-flying aircraft (with emissions from the regionally fine-tuned MACCity inventory) are the most likely cause of these elevated BC layers. Furthermore, we show that such aircraft-emitted BC can be transported to upper tropospheric or lower stratospheric heights ( ∼ 17 km) aided by the strong monsoonal convection occurring over the region, which is known to overshoot the tropical tropopause, leading to the injection of tropospheric air mass (along with its constituent aerosols) into the stratosphere. We show observational evidence for such an intrusion of tropospheric BC into the stratosphere over the Indian region using extinction coefficient and particle depolarisation ratio data from CALIOP Lidar on-board the CALIPSO satellite. We hypothesise that such intrusions of BC into the lower stratosphere and its consequent longer residence time in the stratosphere have significant implications for stratospheric ozone, especially considering the already reported ozone-depleting potential of BC.https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/9623/2017/acp-17-9623-2017.pdf |
| spellingShingle | G. Govardhan S. K. Satheesh S. K. Satheesh R. Nanjundiah R. Nanjundiah K. K. Moorthy S. S. Babu Possible climatic implications of high-altitude black carbon emissions Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | Possible climatic implications of high-altitude black carbon emissions |
| title_full | Possible climatic implications of high-altitude black carbon emissions |
| title_fullStr | Possible climatic implications of high-altitude black carbon emissions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Possible climatic implications of high-altitude black carbon emissions |
| title_short | Possible climatic implications of high-altitude black carbon emissions |
| title_sort | possible climatic implications of high altitude black carbon emissions |
| url | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/9623/2017/acp-17-9623-2017.pdf |
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