Challenges in constraining anthropogenic aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing using present-day spatiotemporal variability.

ABSTRACT: A large number of processes are involved in the chain from emissions of aerosol precursor gases and primary particles to impacts on cloud radiative forcing. Those processes are manifest in a number of relationships that can be expressed as factors dlnX/dlnY driving aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing. These factors include the relationships between cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration and emissions, droplet number and CCN concentration, cloud fraction and droplet number, cloud optical depth and droplet number, and cloud radiative forcing and cloud optical depth. The relationship between cloud optical depth and droplet number can be further decomposed into the sum of two terms involving the relationship of droplet effective radius and cloud liquid water path with droplet num

SUBMITTER: Ghan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4889346 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature