Perspectives on aerosol deposition to natural surfaces: interactions between aerosol residence times, removal processes, the biosphere and global environmental change

Abstract This paper summarizes the state-of-the-art and the research needs in the areas of aerosol residence-time assessments, deposition modelling, and understanding of aerosols in biogeochemistry. Research needs are emphasized from a systems perspective of global environmental change. Although fundamental quantitative knowledge is lacking, some qualitative linkages between source strengths, residence times, removal processes and the biosphere can be identified. It turns out that not only are the respective areas as such challenged by new problems, superimposed on the fairly well established conventional ones, but these areas also face mutually operating sets of feedbacks between residence…