LASG/IAP Aerosol Module (LIAM) in the Grid-Point Atmospheric Model of IAP LASG (GAMIL)

Abstract

The LASG/IAP Aerosol Module (LIAM) was designed to investigate aerosol–climate interactions and to be coupled with the Grid-point Atmospheric Model of IAP/LASG (GAMIL). Major aerosol types including sulfate, black carbon, organic matter, sea salt, and mineral dust are considered. The aerosol mass and number concentrations are affected by the macro- and micro-scale processes considered in LIAM, including primary emissions, atmospheric chemistry, condensation, nucleation, coagulation, water uptake, and both wet and dry deposition. The modal method was employed to describe the size distribution of aerosol particles, providing a good balance between the level of mathematical detail and the computational cost. Extensive evaluation with respect to insitu measurements and satellite retrievals indicate that GAMIL-LIAM is able to capture the geographical and temporal variations of observed aerosol mass, composition, size distribution, and optical depth.