Characterization of the radiative impact of aerosols on CO₂ and energy fluxes in the Amazon deforestation arch using artificial neural networks

In vegetation canopies with complex architectures, diffuse solar radiation can enhance carbon assimilation through photosynthesis because isotropic light is able to reach deeper layers of the canopy. Although this effect has been studied in the past decade, the mechanisms and impacts of this enhancement over South America remain poorly understood. Over the Amazon deforestation arch large amounts of aerosols are released into the atmosphere due to biomass burning, which provides an ideal scenario for further investigation of this phenomenon in the presence of canopies with complex architecture. In this paper, the relation of aerosol optical depth and surface fluxes of mass and energy are evaluated over three study sites with artificial neural networks and radiative transfer modeling. Results indicate a significant effect of the aerosol on the flux of carbon dioxide between the vegetation and the atmosphere, as well as on energy exchange, including that surface fluxes are sensitive to second-order radiative impacts of aerosols on temperature, humidity, and friction velocity. CO₂ exchanges increased in the presence of aerosol in up to 55 % in sites with complex canopy architecture. A decrease of approximately 12 % was observed for a site with shorter vegetation. Energy fluxes were negatively impacted by aerosols over all study sites

Modelling the Radiative Effects of Biomass Burning Aerosols on Carbon Fluxes in the Amazon Region

Every year, a dense smoke haze covers a large portion of South America originating from fires in the Amazon Basin and central parts of Brazil during the dry/biomass-burning season between August and October. Over a large portion of South America, the average aerosol optical depth at 550 nm exceeds 1.0 during the fire season while the background value during the rainy season is below 0.2. Biomass burning aerosol particles increase scattering and absorption of the incident solar radiation. The regional-scale aerosol layer reduces the amount of solar energy reaching the surface, cools the near surface air, and increases the diffuse radiation fraction over a large disturbed area of the Amazon rainforest. These factors affect the energy and CO2 fluxes at the surface. In this work, we applied a fully integrated atmospheric model to assess the impact of biomass burning aerosols in CO2 fluxes in the Amazon region during 2010. We address the effects of the attenuation of the global solar radiation and the enhancement of the diffuse solar radiation flux inside the vegetation canopy. Our results indicate that the biomass burning aerosols led to increases of about 27% of gross primary productivity of Amazonia, 10% of plant respiration and a decline in soil respiration of 3%. Consequently, in our model Amazonia, became a net carbon sink; net ecosystem exchange during September 2010 dropped from +101 to -104 TgC when the aerosol effects are considered, mainly due to the aerosol diffuse radiation effect. For the forest biome, our results point to a dominance of the diffuse radiation effect on CO2 fluxes, reaching a balance of 50% - 50% between the diffuse and direct aerosol effects for high aerosol loads. For C3 grasses and Savanna (cerrado), as expected, the contribution of the diffuse radiation effect is much lower, tending to zero with the increase of aerosol load. Taking all biomes together, our model shows the Amazon during the dry season, in the presence of high biomass burning aerosol loads, changing from being a source to being a sink of CO2 to the atmosphere

Improved calibration procedures for the EM27/SUN spectrometers of the COllaborative Carbon Column Observing Network (COCCON)

In this study, an extension on the previously reported status of the COllaborative Carbon Column Observing Network\u27s (COCCON) calibration procedures incorporating refined methods is presented. COCCON is a global network of portable Bruker EM27/SUN FTIR spectrometers for deriving column-averaged atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases. The original laboratory open-path lamp measurements for deriving the instrumental line shape (ILS) of the spectrometer from water vapour lines have been refined and extended to the secondary detector channel incorporated in the EM27/SUN spectrometer for detection of carbon monoxide (CO). The refinements encompass improved spectroscopic line lists for the relevant water lines and a revision of the laboratory pressure measurements used for the analysis of the spectra. The new results are found to be in good agreement with those reported by Frey et al. (2019) and discussed in detail. In addition, a new calibration cell for ILS measurements was designed, constructed and put into service. Spectrometers calibrated since January 2020 were tested using both methods for ILS characterization, open-path (OP) and cell measurements. We demonstrate that both methods can detect the small variations in ILS characteristics between different spectrometers, but the results of the cell method indicate a systematic bias of the OP method. Finally, a revision and extension of the COCCON network instrument-to-instrument calibration factors for XCO2, XCO and XCH4 is presented, incorporating 47 new spectrometers (of 83 in total by now). This calibration is based on the reference EM27/SUN spectrometer operated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and spectra collected by the collocated TCCON station Karlsruhe. Variations in the instrumental characteristics of the reference EM27/SUN from 2014 to 2017 were detected, probably arising from realignment and the dual-channel upgrade performed in early 2018. These variations are considered in the evaluation of the instrument-specific calibration factors in order to keep all tabulated calibration results consistent

Estudo da variabilidade espacial e temporal da profundidade óptica do aerossol obtida com o MODIS sobre a região amazônica

Realizou-se um estudo da variabilidade temporal da profundidade óptica do aerossol (AOD) e sua homogeneidade espacial com o objetivo de descrever e quantificá-la em cinco pontos da região amazônica, dos quais quatro sofrem com emissões de queimadas, utilizando uma longa série de dados. Os dados foram obtidos a partir do sensor MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), a bordo dos satélites Terra e Aqua, entre 2000 e 2011. Foi realizada análise da homogeneidade espacial dos valores de AOD e de sua variabilidade diurna, assim como foram calculados os valores médios anuais e mensais de AOD e definidos períodos de altos valores para os sítios do arco do desmatamento. Observou-se que a AOD variou pouco com o aumento da área, indicando que as camadas de aerossol são bastante misturadas. As flutuações nas médias anuais de AOD apresentaram comportamento semelhante nos sítios do arco do desmatamento, sendo que Manaus apresentou influências desse padrão em anos mais secos e São Gabriel da Cachoeira apresentou apenas valores baixos (AOD entre 0,1-0,2). O número de dias com AOD maior no período da tarde é consideravelmente maior, provavelmente pelas queimadas ocorrerem principalmente à tarde. Os períodos de altos valores (AOD entre 1-3) começaram no fim da estação seca e terminaram no início da estação chuvosa, sendo a duração estimada entre 69 e 79 dias

Desempenho de modelos radiativos na avaliacao de irradiancias em presença de aerossol de queimadas

A inclusão de processos de interação entre a radiação solar e partículas de aerossol tem sido considerada como relevante no aperfeiçoamento dos modelos meteorológicos mais comumente utilizados para previsão de tempo e clima no mundo. Modelos meteorológicos empregados na previsão de condições ambientais na América do Sul são particularmente sensíveis a uma descrição realista da interação entre a radiação solar e o aerossol de queimadas. Este estudo compara observações de irradiância solar à superfície em presença de aerossol de queimadas e seus respectivos valores teóricos obtidos mediante diferentes modelos radiativos. As observações em questão foram efetuadas em setembro e outubro de 2002 nas proximidades de Ouro Preto dOeste (Rondônia), durante a realização do experimento RACCI/SMOCC. Alguns dos modelos radiativos em questão foram concebidos para emprego em modelos meteorológicos e portanto envolvem aproximações mais severas quanto à avaliação dos efeitos de espalhamento e de absorção de radiação solar por uma população de partículas em suspensão na atmosfera. Um segundo grupo de modelos radiativos considera representações mais sofisticadas com vistas à avaliação destes mesmos efeitos, além de permitir cálculos com maior resolução em comprimento de onda. Os resultados incluem testes de sensibilidade sobre a refletância da superfície, sobre a repartição vertical das partículas de aerossol, e sobre as propriedades ópticas do aerossol de queimadas

Multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer calibration for spectral aerosol optical depth retrievals over Sao Paulo City, Brazil

Multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR) calibration values for aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals were determined by means of the general method formulated by Forgan [Appl. Opt. 33, 4841 (1994)] at a polluted urban site. The obtained precision is comparable with the classical method, the Langley plot, applied on clean mountaintops distant of pollution sources. The AOD retrieved over Sao Paulo City with both calibration procedures is compared with the Aerosol Robotic Network data. The observed results are similar, and, except for the shortest wavelength (415 nm), the MFRSR`s AOD is systematically overestimated by similar to 0.03. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America

Fifty-six years of surface solar radiation and sunshine duration over São Paulo, Brazil: 1961–2016

A total of 56 years (1961–2016) of daily surface downward solar irradiation, sunshine duration, diurnal temperature range and the fraction of the sky covered by clouds in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, were analysed. The main purpose was to contribute to the characterization and understanding of the dimming and brightening effects on solar global radiation in this part of South America. As observed in most of the previous studies worldwide, in this study, during the period between 1961 and the early 1980s, a negative trend in surface solar irradiation was detected in São Paulo, characterizing the occurrence of a dimming effect. Sunshine duration and the diurnal temperature range also presented negative trends, in opposition to the positive trend observed in the cloud cover fraction. However, a brightening effect, as observed in western industrialized countries in more recent years, was not observed. Instead, for surface downward irradiation, the negative trend persisted, with a trend of −0.13 MJ m−2 per decade, with a p value of 0.006, for the 56 years of data and in consonance with the cloud cover fraction increasing trend, but not statistically significant, of 0.3 % per decade (p value = 0.198). The trends for sunshine duration and the diurnal temperature range, by contrast, changed signal, as confirmed by a piecewise linear regression model. Some possible causes for the discrepancy are discussed, such as the frequency of fog occurrence, urban heat island effects, horizontal visibility (as a proxy for aerosol loading variability) and greenhouse gas concentration increase. Future studies on the aerosol effect are planned, particularly with higher temporal resolution, as well as modelling studies, to better analyse the contribution of each possible cause.ISSN:1680-7375ISSN:1680-736