On the evaluation of global sea-salt aerosol models at coastal/orographic sites

• Published in: Atmospheric Environment
• Main Authors: Spada, Michele, Jorba Casellas, Oriol, Pérez García-Pando, Carlos, Janjic, Z., Baldasano Recio, José María
• Other Authors: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Projectes d'Enginyeria, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. MTA - Modelització i Tecnologia Ambiental
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible::Degradació ambiental::Contaminació atmosfèrica; Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria agroalimentària::Ciències de la terra i de la vida::Climatologia i meteorologia; Air quality > Measurement > Mathematical models; Coasts > Environmental aspects; Atmospheric aerosols > Measurement; Climatology; Mineral dust; Sea-salt aerosol; Global model evaluation; University of Miami Network; Surface concentration measurements; Coastal sites; Orographic effects; ZEALAND PRECIPITATION EVENTS; SOUTHERN ALPS; MESOSCALE RAINFALL; CLIMATE; SENSITIVITY; RESOLUTION; PARAMETERIZATION; SIMULATION; DUST; MASS; Aire > Qualitat > Mesurament > Models matemàtics; Costes > Aspectes ambientals; Aerosols atmosfèrics > Mesurament; Climatologia; Pols mineral; Antarctic; Indian; New Zealand; Antarc*; Marion Island
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2117/26547; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.11.019

Sea-salt aerosol global models are typically evaluated against concentration observations at coastal stations that are unaffected by local surf conditions and thus considered representative of open ocean conditions. Despite recent improvements in sea-salt source functions, studies still show significant model errors in specific regions. Using a multiscale model, we investigated the effect of high model resolution (0.1 degrees x 0.1 degrees vs. 1 degrees x 1.4 degrees) upon sea-salt patterns in four stations from the University of Miami Network: Baring Head, Chatam Island, and Invercargill in New Zealand, and Marion Island in the sub-antarctic Indian Ocean. Normalized biases improved from +63.7% to +3.3% and correlation increased from 0.52 to 0.84. The representation of sea/land interfaces, mesoscale circulations, and precipitation with the higher resolution model played a major role in the simulation of annual concentration trends. Our results recommend caution when comparing or constraining global models using surface concentration observations from coastal stations. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Postprint (published version)