Tag: aerosols cloud physics radiation affinity group

Zamora stands in front of the corner of the Greenland ice sheet. The ice is melted as the photo is taken in August. Zamora is posing with a piece of ice in her hand.

Measuring Aerosols in the Arctic

November 1, 2024

Sea ice over the Arctic Ocean, as seen from above. A layer of haze – primary smoke from Canadian fires – obscures the view. Credit:

A schematic diagram describing the impacts of cloud-surface-coupling on the aerosol-cloud-interaction. When a cloud is coupled with the surface, a cloud is formed near the top of the planetary boundary-layer (PBL) that interacts strongly with the well-mixed aerosol, whereas they have little interaction under decoupled conditions. As aerosol alters cloud microphysics (more aerosol leads to more cloud droplets of smaller particle size that makes cloud brighter), solar radiation reflected by cloud is more under coupled conditions than under decoupled conditions, or a stronger cooling effect as indicated by the orange arrows. As a result, lack of accounting for the cloud-surface coupling tends to result in an underestimation of aerosol indirect radiative forcing, which is likely a major contributing factor to the systematic discrepancies between observation-based and model-based estimate of the aerosol cooling effect. Adapted from Su et al. (2024, Sci. Adv.).

Aerosols Affect Climate More Than We Think

May 23, 2024

A key to improve climate prediction is to improve understanding of the impact of aerosol on clouds, or commonly known as the aerosol-cloud-interaction according to a new study led by Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) researchers published today in Science Advances.

Global distribution of daily 1-km gapless PM2.5 on 8 October 2020 (unit: μg m-3) at a 1 km spatial resolution and zoomed-in maps showing ground-based measurements (colored dots) over the (a) western United States, (b) central South America, (c) eastern United States, (d) Europe, (e) northwestern Africa, (f) Australia, (g) India, and (h) eastern China.

UMD Researchers Assess the Impact of Air Quality on the Mortality around the World and COVID-19

December 15, 2023

University of Maryland researchers have developed the world’s first daily 1-kilometer seamless product of PM2.5— fine particulate matter that threatens human respiratory health — that logs the progression of the world’s air quality since 2017.

California wildfire burns near a residential area at night (Adobe Stock)

Air Quality Deterioration from Western Wildfires Outpaces Human-Driven Improvement, Threatens Human Health

December 5, 2023

UMD researchers analyzed changes in the mortality burden attributed to wildfire pollution over the last two decades.

Partial attendees taken at the end of the group meeting with some attendees left earlier

ESSIC Hosts Daniel Rosenfeld at Affinity Group Meeting

December 19, 2022

The annual meeting of the ESSIC Aerosol/Cloud Physics/Radiation Affinity Group was held on November 16. It was led by Dr. Zhanqing Li, the group chair.

Tag: aerosols cloud physics radiation affinity group

Measuring Aerosols in the Arctic

Aerosols Affect Climate More Than We Think

UMD Researchers Assess the Impact of Air Quality on the Mortality around the World and COVID-19

Air Quality Deterioration from Western Wildfires Outpaces Human-Driven Improvement, Threatens Human Health

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