Search results for "Atmospheric models"

Description of atmospheric conditions at the Pierre Auger Observatory using the Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS)

2012

Atmospheric conditions at the site of a cosmic ray observatory must be known for reconstructing observed extensive air showers. The Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) is a global atmospheric model predicated on meteorological measurements and numerical weather predictions. GDAS provides altitude-dependent profiles of the main state variables of the atmosphere like temperature, pressure, and humidity. The original data and their application to the air shower reconstruction of the Pierre Auger Observatory are described. By comparisons with radiosonde and weather station measurements obtained on-site in Malargüe and averaged monthly models, the utility of the GDAS data is shown.

A convolution of observational and model data to estimate age of air spectra in the northern hemispheric lower stratosphere

2020

Abstract. Derivation of mean age of air (AoA) and age spectra from atmospheric measurements remains a challenge and often requires data from atmospheric models. This study tries to minimize the direct influence of model data and presents an extension and application of a previously established inversion method to derive age spectra from mixing ratios of long- and short-lived trace gases. For a precise description of cross-tropopause transport processes, the inverse method is extended to incorporate air entrainment into the stratosphere across the tropical and extratropical tropopause. We first use simulations with the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) to provide a genera…

Vertical redistribution of moisture and aerosol in orographic mixed-phase clouds

2020

Orographic wave clouds offer a natural laboratory to investigate cloud microphysical processes and their representation in atmospheric models. Wave clouds impact the larger-scale flow by the vertical redistribution of moisture and aerosol. Here we use detailed cloud microphysical observations from the Ice in Clouds Experiment – Layer Clouds (ICE-L) campaign to evaluate the recently developed Cloud Aerosol Interacting Microphysics (CASIM) module in the Met Office Unified Model (UM) with a particular focus on different parameterizations for heterogeneous freezing. Modelled and observed thermodynamic and microphysical properties agree very well (deviation of air temperature <1 K; spe…

Improvements of organic aerosol representations and their effects in large-scale atmospheric models

2012

Organics dominate the composition of the atmospheric aerosol, especially in the fine mode, influencing some of its characteristics such as the hygroscopicity, which is of climatic relevance for the Earth system. This study targets an improvement in the description of organic aerosols suitable for large-scale modelling, making use of recent developments based on laboratory and field measurements. In addition to the organic mass and particle number distribution, the proposed method keeps track of the oxidation state of the aerosol based on the OH exposure time, describing some of its chemical characteristics. This study presents the application of the method in a global chemistry climate mode…

2021

Abstract. Lightning is the major cause of the natural ignition of wildfires worldwide and produces the largest wildfires in some regions. Lightning strokes produce about 5 % of forest fires in the Mediterranean Basin and are one of the most important precursors of the largest forest fires during the summer. Lightning-ignited wildfires produce significant emissions of aerosols, black carbon, and trace gases, such as CO, SO2, CH4, and O3, affecting air quality. Characterization of the meteorological and cloud conditions of lightning-ignited wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin can serve to improve fire forecasting models and to upgrade the implementation of fire emissions in atmospheric model…

Modeling Volcanic Eruption Parameters by Near-Source Internal Gravity Waves

2016

AbstractVolcanic explosions release large amounts of hot gas and ash into the atmosphere to form plumes rising several kilometers above eruptive vents, which can pose serious risk on human health and aviation also at several thousands of kilometers from the volcanic source. However the most sophisticate atmospheric models and eruptive plume dynamics require input parameters such as duration of the ejection phase and total mass erupted to constrain the quantity of ash dispersed in the atmosphere and to efficiently evaluate the related hazard. The sudden ejection of this large quantity of ash can perturb the equilibrium of the whole atmosphere triggering oscillations well below the frequencie…

First analysis of the ν3+ν5 combination band of SF6 observed at Doppler-limited resolution and effective model for the ν3+ν5-ν5 hot band

2018

Abstract Sulfur hexafluoride is a greenhouse gas with a long lifetime in the atmosphere and an important tracer for air mass circulation atmospheric models. The IR spectrum of this heavy species, however, features many hot bands at room temperature (at which only 30% of the molecules lie in the ground vibrational state), especially those originating from the lowest, v 6 and v 5 = 1 vibrational states. Using a cryogenic long path cell with variable optical path length and temperatures regulated between 168 and 163 K, coupled to Synchrotron Radiation and a high resolution interferometer, Doppler-limited spectra of the very weak ν 3 + ν 5 band near 1450 cm−1 have been recorded. Low temperature…

An abundance analysis of the symbiotic star CH Cyg

2005

The photospheric abundances for the cool component of the symbiotic star CH Cyg were calculated for the first time using high-resolution near-infrared spectra and the method of of standard LTE analysis and atmospheric models. The iron abundance for CH Cyg was found to be solar, [Fe/H] = 0.0+/-0.19. The atmospheric parameters and metallicity for CH Cyg are found to be approximately equal to those for nearby field M7 giants. The calculated [C/H] = -0.15, [N/H] = +0.16, [O/H] = -0.07, and the isotopic ratios of 12C/13C and 16O/17O are close to the mean values for single M giants that have experienced the first dredge-up. A reasonable explanation for the absence of barium star-like chemical pec…

Quadrature effects on the accuracy of flux calculations in realistic atmospheres

1993

Abstract We have investigated the accuracy of five different quadrature methods—equal steps in θ, equal steps in cos θ, Gaussian, double Gaussian and Gauss-Lobatto—on the accuracy of fluxes in realistic aerosol atmospheres, using the Gauss-Seidel method. In addition, a range of Gaussian quadrature stream numbers from two to 32 were compared. The atmospheric models considered are those recently presented by Lenoble, with the exception that we have used Henyey-Greenstein phase functions in place of Mie. Our results should be easily reproduceable by any other workers interested in similar realistic atmospheres. A table of Gauss-Lobatto weights and points is provided as an appendix.

Influence of vessel characteristics and atmospheric processes on the gas and particle phase of ship emission plumes: in situ measurements in the Medi…

2020

A total of 252 emission plumes of ships operating in the Mediterranean Sea and around the Arabian Peninsula were investigated using a comprehensive dataset of gas- and submicron-particle-phase properties measured during the 2-month shipborne AQABA (Air Quality and Climate Change in the Arabian Basin) field campaign in summer 2017. The post-measurement identification of the corresponding ship emission events in the measured data included the determination of the plume sources (up to 38 km away) as well as the plume ages (up to 115 min) and was based on commercially available historical records of the Automatic Identification System. The dispersion lifetime of chemically inert C…