Seasonality of the particle number concentration and size distribution: a global analysis retrieved from the network of Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) near-surface observatories.

Aerosol particles are a complex component of the atmospheric system that influences climate directly by interacting with solar radiation, and indirectly by contributing to cloud formation. The variety of their sources as well as the multiple transformations they may undergo during their transport result in significant spatial and temporal variability of their properties. This variability is essential to document in order to provide a proper representation of aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in climate models. Using measurements conducted in 2016 or 2017 at 62 ground based stations around the world, this study provides the most up-to-date picture of the spatial distribution of particle number concentration (Ntot) and number size distribution (PNSD). Overall, this work illustrates the importance of in-situ measurements, in particular for the study of aerosol physical properties, and thus strongly supports the development of a broad global network of near surface observatories to increase and homogenize the spatial coverage of the measurements, and guarantee as well their availability and quality. The results of this study also provide a valuable, freely available and easy to use support for model comparison and validation, with the ultimate goal of contributing to improvement of the representation of aerosol-cloud interactions in models, and, therefore, the evaluation of the impact of aerosol particles on climate.

ROSE Clémence Rose;  COLLAUD COEN Martine;  ANDREWS Elisabeth;  LIN Yong;  BOSSERT Isaline;  LUND MYHRE Catherine;  TUCH Thomas;  WIEDENSOHLER Alfred;  FIEBIG Markus;  AALTO P.;  ALASTUEY Andrés;  ALONSO-BLANCO Elisabeth;  ANDRADE Marcos;  ARTÍÑANO B.;  ARSOV Todor;  BALTENSPERGER Urs;  BASTIAN Susanne;  BATH Olaf;  PAUL BEUKES Johan;  T. BREM Benjamin;  BUKOWIECKI N.;  CASQUERO-VERA Juan Andrés;  CONIL Sebastien;  ELEFTHERIADIS Konstantinos;  FAVEZ Olivier;  FLENTJE Harald;  GINI Maria I.;  GÓMEZ-MORENO Francisco Javier;  GYSEL-BEER Martin;  A. HALLAR Gannet;  KALAPOV Ivo;  KALIVITIS Nikos;  KASPER-GIEBL Anne;  KEYWOOD Melita;  EUN KIM Jeong;  KIM Sang-Woo;  KRISTENSSON A;  KULMALA M.;  LIHAVAINEN Heikki;  LIN Neng-Huei;  LYAMANI Hassan;  MARINONI A.;  MARTINS DOS SANTOS Sebastiao;  MAYOL-BRACERO Olga;  MEINHARDT Frank;  MERKEL Maik;  METZGER Jean-Marc;  MIHALOPOULOS Nikolaos;  ONDRACEK Jakub;  PANDOLFI Marco;  PÉREZ Noemi;  PETÄJÄ Tuukka;  PETIT Jean-Eudes;  PICARD David;  PICHON Jean-Marc;  PONT Véronique;  PUTAUD Jean-Philippe;  REISEN Fabienne;  SELLEGRI Karine;  SHARMA Sangeeta;  SCHAUER Gerhard;  SHERIDAN Patrick;  PATRICK SHERMAN James;  SCHWERIN Andreas;  SOHMER Ralf;  SORRIBAS Mar;  SUN Junying;  TULET Pierre;  VAKKARI V;  VAN ZYL P.G.;  VELARDE Fernando;  VILLANI Paolo;  VRATOLIS S.;  WAGNER Z.;  WANG Sheng-Hsiang;  WEINHOLD K.;  WELLER Rolf;  YELA Margarita;  ZDIMAL Vladimir;  LAJ Paolo; 

2023-02-09

COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH

JRC123438

1680-7316 (online),   

https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/17185/2021/,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC123438,   

10.5194/acp-21-17185-2021 (online),