Opposite Effects of Mineral Dust Nonsphericity and Size on Dust‐Induced Snow Albedo Reduction

Abstract We quantified the combined effects of mineral dust nonsphericity and size on snow albedo reduction using the MOPSMAP (Modeled optical properties of ensembles of aerosol particles) package and SAMDS (Spectral Albedo Model for Dirty Snow) with the consideration of dust from Sahara, Greenland,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Tenglong Shi, Cenlin He, Daizhou Zhang, Xuelei Zhang, Xiaoying Niu, Yuxuan Xing, Yang Chen, Jiecan Cui, Wei Pu, Xin Wang
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022
Subjects:
dust radius
dust shape
dust type
snow albedo
parameterization
Geophysics. Cosmic physics
QC801-809
Greenland
San Juan
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099031
https://doaj.org/article/a93216b2c756417b8317d884df8bdf00
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Summary:Abstract We quantified the combined effects of mineral dust nonsphericity and size on snow albedo reduction using the MOPSMAP (Modeled optical properties of ensembles of aerosol particles) package and SAMDS (Spectral Albedo Model for Dirty Snow) with the consideration of dust from Sahara, Greenland, San Juan Mountains, and Tibetan Plateau. Results indicate that the dust‐induced albedo reduction decreases by up to 30% as the effective radii of dust particles increase in 1–5 μm. Nonspherical dust enhances snow albedo reduction relative to spherical dust by up to 20%. Stronger enhancements are obtained for higher dust concentration and larger dust size. Furthermore, the dust nonsphericity‐induced enhancement of snow albedo reduction is more pronounced for more‐absorptive dust. Finally, we develop a new parameterization for quantifying the dependence of snow albedo reduction on dust nonsphericity and size, and provide a convenient way for assessing the climate impacts of dust in snow.

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