Sea spray geoengineering experiments in the geoengineering model intercomparison project (GeoMIP): Experimental design and preliminary results

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Kravitz, B., Forster, P.M., Jones, A., Robock, A., Alterskjær, K., Boucher, Olivier, Jenkins, A.K.L., Korhonen, H., Kristjánsson, J.E., Muri, H., Niemeier, U., Partanen, A.-I., Rasch, P.J., Wang, H., Watanabe, S.
• Other Authors: Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division Richland, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), School of Earth and Environment Leeds (SEE), University of Leeds, Met Office Hadley Centre (MOHC), United Kingdom Met Office Exeter, Department of Environmental Sciences New Brunswick, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences New Brunswick, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick (RU), Rutgers University System (Rutgers)-Rutgers University System (Rutgers)-Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick (RU), Rutgers University System (Rutgers)-Rutgers University System (Rutgers), Department of Geosciences Oslo, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Oslo, University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO), Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Kuopio Unit FMI, Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SDU.STU.AG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Applied geology; albedo; Climate change
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01099543; https://hal.science/hal-01099543/document; https://hal.science/hal-01099543/file/Sea%20spray%20geoengineering_JGRA_2013.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50856

International audience Marine cloud brightening through sea spray injection has been proposed as a method of temporarily alleviating some of the impacts of anthropogenic climate change, as part of a set of technologies called geoengineering. We outline here a proposal for three coordinated climate modeling experiments to test aspects of sea spray geoengineering, to be conducted under the auspices of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP). The first, highly idealized, experiment (G1ocean-albedo) involves a uniform increase in ocean albedo to offset an instantaneous quadrupling of CO2 concentrations from preindustrial levels. Results from a single climate model show an increased land-sea temperature contrast, Arctic warming, and large shifts in annual mean precipitation patterns. The second experiment (G4cdnc) involves increasing cloud droplet number concentration in all low-level marine clouds to offset some of the radiative forcing of an RCP4.5 scenario. This experiment will test the robustness of models in simulating geographically heterogeneous radiative flux changes and their effects on climate. The third experiment (G4sea-salt) involves injection of sea spray aerosols into the marine boundary layer between 30°S and 30°N to offset 2 W m-2 of the effective radiative forcing of an RCP4.5 scenario. A single model study shows that the induced effective radiative forcing is largely confined to the latitudes in which injection occurs. In this single model simulation, the forcing due to aerosol-radiation interactions is stronger than the forcing due to aerosol-cloud interactions. Key Points Outline of three marine cloud brightening experiments Land-sea contrast is an important feature of marine cloud brightening Direct effect of sea salt injection may be greater than indirect effect ©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.