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- Title
The first estimates of global nucleation mode aerosol concentrations based on satellite measurements.
- Authors
Kulmala, M.; Arola, A.; Nieminen, T.; Riuttanen, L.; Sogacheva, L.; de Leeuw, G.; Kerminen, V.-M.; Lehtinen, K. E. J.
- Abstract
Atmospheric aerosols play a key role in the Earth's climate system by scattering and absorbing solar radiation and by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. Satellites are increasingly used to obtain information on properties of aerosol particles with a diameter larger than about 100 nm. However, new aerosol particles formed by nucleation are initially much smaller and grow into the optically active size range on time scales of many hours. In this paper we derive proxies, based on process understanding and ground-based observations, to determine the concentrations of these new particles and their spatial distribution using satellite data. The results are applied to provide seasonal variation of nucleation mode concentration. The proxies describe the concentration of nucleation mode particles over continents. The source rates are related to both regional nucleation and nucleation associated with primary emissions. The global pattern of nucleation mode particle number concentration predicted by satellite data using our proxies compares fairly well with both observations and global model simulations.
- Subjects
ATMOSPHERIC nucleation; ATMOSPHERIC aerosols; ARTIFICIAL satellites; CLIMATOLOGY; SOLAR radiation; LIGHT scattering; EMISSIONS (Air pollution)
- Publication
Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics Discussions, 2011, Vol 11, Issue 7, p18823
- ISSN
1680-7367
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5194/acpd-11-18823-2011