Microphysical and compositional influences on shortwave radiative forcing of climate by sulfate aerosols

摘要

Anthropogenic sulfate aerosols scatter shortwave (solar) radiation iincident upon the atmosphere, thereby exerting a cooling influence on climate relative to pre-industrial times. Previous estimates of this forcing place its global and annual average value at about (minus)1 W M(sup (minus)2), uncertain to a factor of somewhat more than 2, comparable in magnitude to greenhouse gas forcing over the same period but opposite in sign and much more uncertain. Key sources of uncertainty are atmospheric chemistry factors (yield, residence time), and microphysical factors (scattering efficiency, upscatter fraction, and the dependence of these quantities on particle size and relative humidity, RH). This paper examines these microphysical influences to indentify properties required to obtain more a accurate description of this forcing. The mass scattering efficiency exhibits a maximum at a particle diameter ((approximately)0.5 (mu)m) roughly equal to the wavelength of maximum power in the solar spectrum and roughly equal to diameter typical of anthropogenic sulfate aerosols. Particle size, and hence mass scattering efficiency, increase with increasing on RH because of accretion of water by deliquescent salt aerosols.