Evaluation of a global aerosol microphysics model against size-resolved particle statistics in the marine atmosphere

A statistical synthesis of marine aerosol measurements from experiments in four different oceans is used to evaluate a global aerosol microphysics model (GLOMAP). We compare the model against observed size resolved particle concentrations, probability distributions, and the temporal persistence of different size particles. We attempt to explain the observed sub-micrometre size distributions in terms of sulfate and sea spray and quantify the possible contributions of anthropogenic sulfate and carbonaceous material to the number and mass distribution. The model predicts a bimodal size distribution that agrees well with observations as a grand average over all regions, but there are large regional differences. Notably, observed Aitken mode number concentrations are more than a factor 10 higher than in the model for the N Atlantic but a factor 7 lower than the model in the NW Pacific. We also find that modelled Aitken mode and accumulation mode geometric mean diameters are generally smaller in the model by 10–30%. Comparison with observed free tropospheric Aitken mode distributions suggests that the model underpredicts growth of these particles during descent to the marine boundary layer (MBL). Recent observations of a substantial organic component of free tropospheric aerosol could explain this discrepancy. We find that anthropogenic continental material makes a substantial contribution to N Atlantic MBL aerosol, with typically 60–90% of sulfate across the particle size range coming from anthropogenic sources, even if we analyse air that has spent an average of >120 h away from land. However, anthropogenic primary black carbon and organic carbon particles (at the emission size and quantity assumed here) do not explain the large discrepancies in Aitken mode number. Several explanations for the discrepancy are suggested. The lack of lower atmospheric particle formation in the model may explain low N Atlantic particle concentrations. However, the observed and modelled particle persistence at Cape Grim in the Southern Ocean, does not reveal a diurnal cycle consistent with a photochemically driven local particle source. We also show that a physically based cloud drop activation scheme better explains the observed change in accumulation mode geometric mean diameter with particle number

Size-resolved simulations of the aerosol inorganic composition with the new hybrid dissolution solver HyDiS-1.0: description, evaluation and first global modelling results

The dissolution of semi-volatile inorganic gases such as ammonia and nitric acid into the aerosol aqueous phase has an important influence on the composition, hygroscopic properties, and size distribution of atmospheric aerosol particles. The representation of dissolution in global models is challenging due to inherent issues of numerical stability and computational expense. For this reason, simplified approaches are often taken, with many models treating dissolution as an equilibrium process. In this paper we describe the new dissolution solver HyDiS-1.0, which was developed for the global size-resolved simulation of aerosol inorganic composition. The solver applies a hybrid approach, which allows for some particle size classes to establish instantaneous gas-particle equilibrium, whereas others are treated time dependently (or dynamically). Numerical accuracy at a competitive computational expense is achieved by using several tailored numerical formalisms and decision criteria, such as for the time- and size-dependent choice between the equilibrium and dynamic approaches. The new hybrid solver is shown to have numerical stability across a wide range of numerical stiffness conditions encountered within the atmosphere. For ammonia and nitric acid, HyDiS-1.0 is found to be in excellent agreement with a fully dynamic benchmark solver. In the presence of sea salt aerosol, a somewhat larger bias is found under highly polluted conditions if hydrochloric acid is represented as a third semi-volatile species. We present first results of the solver's implementation into a global aerosol microphysics and chemistry transport model. We find that (1) the new solver predicts surface concentrations of nitrate and ammonium in reasonable agreement with observations over Europe, the USA, and East Asia, (2) models that assume gas-particle equilibrium will not capture the partitioning of nitric acid and ammonia into Aitken-mode-sized particles, and thus may be missing an important pathway through which secondary particles may grow to radiation- and cloud-interacting size, and (3) the new hybrid solver's computational expense is modest, at around 10 % of total computation time in these simulations

Theoretical Modeling of the Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarfs Undergoing Classical Novae

White dwarfs experience a thermal renaissance when they receive mass from a stellar companion in a binary. For accretion rates < 10^-8 Msun/yr, the freshly accumulated hydrogen/helium envelope ignites in a thermally unstable manner that results in a classical novae (CN) outburst and ejection of material. We have undertaken a theoretical study of the impact of the accumulating envelope on the thermal state of the underlying white dwarf (WD). This has allowed us to find the equilibrium WD core temperatures (T_c), the classical nova ignition masses (M_ign) and the thermal luminosities for WDs accreting at rates of 10^-11 - 10^-8 Msun/yr. These accretion rates are most appropriate to WDs in cataclysmic variables (CVs) of P_orb <~ 7 hr, many of which accrete sporadically as dwarf novae. We have included ^3He in the accreted material at levels appropriate for CVs and find that it significantly modifies the CN ignition mass. We compare our results with several others from the CN literature and find that the inclusion of ^3He leads to lower M_ign for >~ 10^-10 Msun/yr, and that for below this the particular author's assumption concerning T_c, which we calculate consistently, is a determining factor. Initial comparisons of our CN ignition masses with measured ejected masses find reasonable agreement and point to ejection of material comparable to that accreted.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures; uses emulateapj; accepted by the Astrophysical Journal; revised for clarity, added short discussion of diffusio

A global off-line model of size-resolved aerosol microphysics: II. Identification of key uncertainties

International audienceWe use the new GLOMAP model of global aerosol microphysics to investigate the sensitivity of modelled sulfate and sea salt aerosol properties to uncertainties in the driving microphysical processes and compare these uncertainties with those associated with aerosol and precursor gas emissions. Overall, we conclude that uncertainties in microphysical processes have a larger effect on global sulfate and sea salt derived condensation nuclei (CN) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations than uncertainties in present-day sulfur emissions. Our simulations suggest that uncertainties in predicted sulfate and sea salt CCN abundances due to poorly constrained microphysical processes are likely to be of a similar magnitude to long-term changes in sulfate and sea salt CCN due to changes in anthropogenic emissions. A microphysical treatment of the global sulfate aerosol allows the uncertainty in climate-relevant aerosol properties to be attributed to specific processes in a way that has not been possible with simpler aerosol schemes. In particular we conclude that: (1) changes in the binary H2SO4-H2O nucleation rate and condensation rate of gaseous H2SO4 cause a shift in the vertical location of the upper tropospheric CN layer by as much as 3 km, while the shape of the CN profile is essentially pre-served (2) uncertainties in the binary H2SO4-H2O nucleation rate have a relatively insignificant effect on marine boundary layer (MBL) aerosol properties; (3) emitting a fraction of anthropogenic SO2 as particulates (to represent production of sulfate particles in power plant plumes below the scale of the model grid (which is of the order of 300 km)) has the potential to change the global mean MBL sulfate-derived CN concentrations by up to 72%, and changes of up to a factor 20 can occur in polluted continental regions; (4) predicted global mean MBL sulfate and sea salt CCN concentrations change by 10 to 60% when several microphysical processes are changed within reasonable uncertainty ranges; (5) sulfate and sea salt derived CCN concentrations are particularly sensitive to primary particle emissions, with global mean MBL sulfate and sea salt CCN changing by up to 27% and local concentrations over continental regions changing by more than 100% when the percentage of anthropogenic SO2 emitted as particulates is changed from 0 to 5%; (6) large changes in sea spray flux have insignificant effects on global sulfate aerosol except when the mass accommodation coefficient of sulfuric acid on the salt particles is set unrealistically low

The relationship between aerosol and cloud drop number concentrations in a global aerosol microphysics model

Empirical relationships that link cloud droplet number (CDN) to aerosol number or mass are commonly used to calculate global fields of CDN for climate forcing assessments. In this work we use a sectional global model of sulfate and sea-salt aerosol coupled to a mechanistic aerosol activation scheme to explore the limitations of this approach. We find that a given aerosol number concentration produces a wide range of CDN concentrations due to variations in the shape of the aerosol size distribution. On a global scale, the dependence of CDN on the size distribution results in regional biases in predicted CDN (for a given aerosol number). Empirical relationships between aerosol number and CDN are often derived from regional data but applied to the entire globe. In an analogous process, we derive regional &quot;correlation-relations&quot; between aerosol number and CDN and apply these regional relations to calculations of CDN on the global scale. The global mean percentage error in CDN caused by using regionally derived CDN-aerosol relations is 20 to 26%, which is about half the global mean percentage change in CDN caused by doubling the updraft velocity. However, the error is as much as 25–75% in the Southern Ocean, the Arctic and regions of persistent stratocumulus when an aerosol-CDN correlation relation from the North Atlantic is used. These regions produce much higher CDN concentrations (for a given aerosol number) than predicted by the globally uniform empirical relations. CDN-aerosol number relations from different regions also show very different sensitivity to changing aerosol. The magnitude of the rate of change of CDN with particle number, a measure of the aerosol efficacy, varies by a factor 4. CDN in cloud processed regions of persistent stratocumulus is particularly sensitive to changing aerosol number. It is therefore likely that the indirect effect will be underestimated in these important regions

A global off-line model of size-resolved aerosol microphysics: I. Model development and prediction of aerosol properties

A GLObal Model of Aerosol Processes (GLOMAP) has been developed as an extension to the TOMCAT 3-D Eulerian off-line chemical transport model. GLOMAP simulates the evolution of the global aerosol size distribution using a sectional two-moment scheme and includes the processes of aerosol nucleation, condensation, growth, coagulation, wet and dry deposition and cloud processing. We describe the results of a global simulation of sulfuric acid and sea spray aerosol. The model captures features of the aerosol size distribution that are well established from observations in the marine boundary layer and free troposphere. Modelled condensation nuclei (CN>3nm) vary between about 250&ndash;500 cm^-3 in remote marine boundary layer regions and are generally in good agreement with observations. Modelled continental CN concentrations are lower than observed, which may be due to lack of some primary aerosol sources or the neglect of nucleation mechanisms other than binary homogeneous nucleation of sulfuric acid-water particles. Remote marine CN concentrations increase to around 2000&ndash;10 000 cm<sup-3</sup> (at standard temperature and pressure) in the upper troposphere, which agrees with typical observed vertical profiles. Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) at 0.2% supersaturation vary between about 1000 cm^-3 in polluted regions and between 10 and 500 cm^-3 in the remote marine boundary layer. New particle formation through sulfuric acid-water binary nucleation occurs predominantly in the upper troposphere, but the model results show that these particles contribute greatly to aerosol concentrations in the marine boundary layer. For this sulfur-sea salt system it is estimated that sea spray emissions account for only ~10% of CCN in the tropical marine boundary layer, but between 20 and 75% in the mid-latitude Southern Ocean. In a run with only natural sulfate and sea salt emissions the global mean surface CN concentration is more than 60% of that from a run with 1985 anthropogenic sulfur emissions, although the natural emissions comprise only 27% of total sulfur emissions. Southern hemisphere marine boundary layer CN are more than 90% natural in origin, while polluted continental CN are more than 90% anthropogenic in origin, although these numbers will change when other anthropogenic CN sources are included in the model

Associations between daily sitting time and the combinations of lifestyle risk factors in men

Background: Understanding the reciprocal role that multiple problematic behaviours play in men's health is important for intervention delivery and for reducing the healthcare burden. Data regarding the concurrence of problematic health behaviours is currently limited but offers insights into risk profiles, and should now include total time spent sitting/day. Methods: Self-reported data on lifestyle health behaviours was collected from 232 men aged ≥18 years who engaged in a men's health promotion programme delivered by 16 English Premier League Clubs. Results: Men at risk due to high sitting display multiple concurrent lifestyle risk factors, 88.6% displayed at least two ancillary risk factors and were three times more likely to report ≥2 lifestyle risk factors (OR. =3.13, 95% confidence interval (CI). =1.52-6.42) than those with low sitting risk. Significant differences in the mean number of risk factors reported between those participants in the higher risk (2.43. ±. 0.90) and lower risk (2.13. ±. 0.96) sitting categories were also found (P=0.015). Conclusions: Hard-to-reach men displayed multiple problematic concurrent behaviours, strongly linked to total sitting time. © 2012 WPMH GmbH

Can Thin Disks Produce Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars?

We investigate whether young neutron stars with fall-back disks can produce Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars (AXPs) within timescales indicated by the ages of associated supernova remnants. The system passes through a propeller stage before emerging as an AXP or a radio pulsar. The evolution of the disk is described by a diffusion equation which has self-similar solutions with either angular momentum or total mass of the disk conserved. We associate these two types of solutions with accretor and propeller regimes, respectively. Our numerical calculations of thin disk models with changing inner radius take into account the super-critical accretion at the early stages, and electron scattering and bound-free opacities with rich metal content. Our results show that, assuming a fraction of the mass inflow is accreted onto the neutron star, the fall-back disk scenario can produce AXPs for acceptable parameters.Comment: 16 pages, 4 Figures, to be published in Astrophysical Journal Vol. 599, Dec. 1

First comparison of a global microphysical aerosol model with size-resolved observational aerosol statistics

International audienceA statistical synthesis of marine aerosol measurements from experiments in four different oceans is used to evaluate a global aerosol microphysics model (GLOMAP). We compare the model against observed size resolved particle concentrations, probability distributions, and the temporal persistence of different size particles. We attempt to explain the observed size distributions in terms of sulfate and sea spray and quantify the possible contributions of anthropogenic sulfate and carbonaceous material to the number and mass distribution. The model predicts a bimodal size distribution that agrees well with observations as a grand average over all regions, but there are large regional differences. Notably, observed Aitken mode number concentrations are more than a factor 10 higher than in the model for the N Atlantic but a factor 7 lower than the model in the NW Pacific. We also find that modelled Aitken mode and accumulation mode geometric mean diameters are generally smaller in the model by 10?30%. Comparison with observed free tropospheric Aitken mode distributions suggests that the model underpredicts growth of these particles during descent to the MBL. Recent observations of a substantial organic component of free tropospheric aerosol could explain this discrepancy. We find that anthropogenic continental material makes a substantial contribution to N Atlantic marine boundary layer (MBL) aerosol, with typically 60?90% of sulfate across the particle size range coming from anthropogenic sources, even if we analyse air that has spent an average of >120 h away from land. However, anthropogenic primary black carbon and organic carbon particles do not explain the large discrepancies in Aitken mode number. Several explanations for the discrepancy are suggested. The lack of lower atmospheric particle formation in the model may explain low N Atlantic particle concentrations. However, the observed and modelled particle persistence at Cape Grim in the Southern Ocean, does not reveal a diurnal cycle consistent with a photochemically driven local particle source. We also show that a physically based cloud drop activation scheme is needed to explain the observed change in accumulation mode geometric mean diameter with particle number

Water Stress Strengthens Mutualism Among Ants, Trees, and Scale Insects

Abiotic environmental variables strongly affect the outcomes of species interactions. For example, mutualistic interactions between species are often stronger when resources are limited. The effect might be indirect: water stress on plants can lead to carbon stress, which could alter carbon-mediated plant mutualisms. In mutualistic ant–plant symbioses, plants host ant colonies that defend them against herbivores. Here we show that the partners\u27 investments in a widespread ant–plant symbiosis increase with water stress across 26 sites along a Mesoamerican precipitation gradient. At lower precipitation levels, Cordia alliodora trees invest more carbon in Azteca ants via phloem-feeding scale insects that provide the ants with sugars, and the ants provide better defense of the carbon-producing leaves. Under water stress, the trees have smaller carbon pools. A model of the carbon trade-offs for the mutualistic partners shows that the observed strategies can arise from the carbon costs of rare but extreme events of herbivory in the rainy season. Thus, water limitation, together with the risk of herbivory, increases the strength of a carbon-based mutualism