Dust size parameterization in RegCM4: Impact on aerosol burden and radiative forcing

Abstract:

We investigate the sensitivity of two dust parameterizations of the regional climate model RegCM4, for the period 2008-2012, over a large domain focused on the Sahara and the Mediterranean. We implement two size bin distributions: 1) a 4-bin approach, where each bin is delimited using an isolog approach and every size group has equal ranges in logarithmic scale according to the diameter of the dust particles, and 2) a 12-bin approach with each bin defined according to an isogradient method, where the size ranges are dependent on the dry deposition velocity of dust particles. Increasing the number of the transported dust size bin improves the representation of the physical properties of dust particles that belong on the same group. Thus, more size bins minimize the error and improve the simulation of atmospheric processes. The emission, deposition and transport of dust are evaluated combined for each experiment to determine the impact of dust size bin partition. The radiative effects of dust over the area are also discussed and evaluated with the CALIPSO Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) pure dust product. Techniques for the discrimination of the dust component from other aerosol types have been recently developed in the framework of the LIVAS (LIdar climatology of Vertical Aerosol Structure for space-based lidar simulation studies- http://lidar.space.noa.gr:8080/livas/).