The Asian Tropopause Aerosol layer through satellite and balloon-borne measurements combined with modelling approaches.

Abstract:

The Asian tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL) is a seasonal aerosol feature occurring in the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) above Asia during the Summer Asian Monsoon. Vertically resolved aerosol backscatter profiles from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder satellite Observation (CALIPSO) mission and extinction profiles from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) have been used to infer the spatial and temporal distributions of the ATAL since the late 90’s. We found that aerosol optical thickness between 13-18km have increased by a factor of 2-3 over the past 16 years likely related to raising pollution levels in South East Asia occuring during the same period. Modelling studies of the ATAL using WACCAM 3 and GEOS-Chem have provided conflicting information on its origin and a better representation of in-cloud SO2 and aerosol lifetime in GOES-Chem seems to be key to obtain consistent results with the few SO2 measurements available in the UTLS during the Asian Monsoon. In situ measurements of aerosol and trace gases in the UTLS from several balloon campaigns which took place in summer 2014 and 2015 in Asia will be presented and discussed with combined satellite and modelling analysis.