Biogenic Aerosol Particles in the Earth System Model EC-Earth

Abstract

Treatments of emissions of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) were implemented in the global Earth System model EC-Earth. These emission schemes were improved to account for the strong peaks of PBAP concentrations in connection to precipitation events, which has been measured recently. The model is now able to treat the emission of bacteria, spores and pollen in dependency of precipitation, 10 m wind speed, relative humidity, season, vegetation type, vegetation cover, and leaf area index. Sensitivity studies on the degree of detail of the PBAP emission parameterization were conducted. The resulting concentration fields of the three PBAP were compared between the different sensitivity setups and, more generally, to the rare available measurements.

Question and Answer

Questioner: Christian Hogrefe

Question: As you go into the next phase of your work, do you have sufficient measurements available to assess how your scheme is performing?

Answer: Yes, there is an increasing number of fluorescent particle measurements, which have been analyzed recently. These newer studies are expected to have a higher accuracy than earlier ones. We will use these datasets to validate the variability of the modeled concentrations and connection to meteorological parameters. In addition, there exist many long-term filter measurements providing monthly, seasonal, and annual means.