Effects of aerosol–radiation interaction on precipitation during biomass-burning season in East China
Biomass burning is a main source for primary carbonaceous particles in the atmosphere and acts as a crucial factor that alters Earth's energy budget and balance. It is also an important factor influencing air quality, regional climate and sustainability in the domain of Pan-Eurasian Experime...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-08-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/10063/2016/acp-16-10063-2016.pdf |
| Summary: | Biomass burning is a main source for primary carbonaceous particles in the
atmosphere and acts as a crucial factor that alters Earth's energy budget and
balance. It is also an important factor influencing air quality, regional
climate and sustainability in the domain of Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX).
During the exceptionally intense agricultural fire season in mid-June 2012,
accompanied by rapidly deteriorating air quality, a series of
meteorological anomalies was observed, including a large decline in
near-surface air temperature, spatial shifts and changes in precipitation in
Jiangsu province of East China. To explore the underlying processes that link
air pollution to weather modification, we conducted a numerical study with
parallel simulations using the fully coupled meteorology–chemistry model
WRF-Chem with a high-resolution emission inventory for agricultural fires.
Evaluation of the modeling results with available ground-based measurements
and satellite retrievals showed that this model was able to reproduce the
magnitude and spatial variations of fire-induced air pollution. During the
biomass-burning event in mid-June 2012, intensive emission of absorbing
aerosols trapped a considerable part of solar radiation in the atmosphere and
reduced incident radiation reaching the surface on a regional scale, followed
by lowered surface sensible and latent heat fluxes. The perturbed energy
balance and re-allocation gave rise to substantial adjustments in vertical
temperature stratification, namely surface cooling and upper-air heating.
Furthermore, an intimate link between temperature profile and small-scale
processes like turbulent mixing and entrainment led to distinct changes in
precipitation. On the one hand, by stabilizing the atmosphere below and reducing
the surface flux, black carbon-laden plumes tended to dissipate daytime cloud
and suppress the convective precipitation over Nanjing. On the other hand,
heating aloft increased upper-level convective activity and then favored
convergence carrying in moist air, thereby enhancing the nocturnal
precipitation in the downwind areas of the biomass-burning
plumes. |
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| ISSN: | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |