American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 1402132 bytes)    Cited by

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. D23, 8636, doi:10.1029/2002JD003252, 2003

Analysis of surface black carbon distributions during ACE-Asia using a regional-scale aerosol model

Itsushi Uno

Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Japan


Gregory R. Carmichael

Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA


David Streets

Decision and Information Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA


Shinsuke Satake

Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Japan


Toshihiko Takemura

Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Japan


Jung-Hun Woo

Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA


Mitsuo Uematsu

Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan


Sachio Ohta

Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan


Abstract

The regional-scale aerosol transport model (CFORS) is used in the analysis of black carbon (BC) observed at five remote Japanese islands during the ACE-Asia experiment. BC is modeled online in the regional-scale meteorological model, using emissions estimates for 2000. Two model experiments are conducted (1) a control run that includes all the BC emission, and (2) a sensitivity run without open biomass burning emissions to clarify the impact of biomass burning on the BC levels in the western Pacific. The regional aerosol model (CFORS) is shown to accurately reproduce many of the important features observed. Model analysis shows that the spatial and temporal distributions of black carbon between the northern sites (Rishiri and Sado; located in the Japan Sea) and the southern stations (Hachijo, Chichijima, and Amami-Oshima; in the western Pacific Ocean) are under different flow regimes. It is shown that the major synoptic features controlling BC levels are associated with outflow in the warm conveyor belt of traveling cold fronts and the subsequent postfrontal transport. At the northern stations (Rishiri and Sado), elevated BC concentrations are calculated to be mainly below the heights of 2000 m, and the biomass burning fraction is estimated to be below 20%. At the southern sites (e.g., Chichijima) the contribution due to biomass burning reaches 32% at the surface and 52% in the free atmosphere. CFORS results indicate that the major black carbon source and transport height are different between the northern and southern sites.

Received 30 November 2002; accepted 24 March 2003; published 23 August 2003.

Index Terms: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801); 0322 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Constituent sources and sinks; 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollution—urban and regional (0305); 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—composition and chemistry; 3337 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Numerical modeling and data assimilation.

Read Full Article (file size: 1402132 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Uno, I., G. R. Carmichael, D. Streets, S. Satake, T. Takemura, J. Woo, M. Uematsu, and S. Ohta (2003), Analysis of surface black carbon distributions during ACE-Asia using a regional-scale aerosol model, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D23), 8636, doi:10.1029/2002JD003252.