1. Aviation fuel tracer simulation: Model intercomparison and implications
- Author
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Danilin, M. Y, Fahey, D. W, Schumann, U., Prather, M. J, Penner, J. E, Ko, M. K. W, Weisenstein, D. K, Jackman, C. H, Pitari, G., Kahler, I., Sausen, R., Weaver, C. J, Douglass, A. R, Connell, P. S, Kinnison, D. E, Dentener, F. J, Fleming, E. L, Berntsen, T. K, Isaksen, I. S. A, Haywood, J. M, and Karcher, B.
- Subjects
aircraft ,atmospheric aerosols ,earth atmosphere ,exhaust gases ,gas emissions ,mathematical models ,soot ,troposphere - Abstract
An upper limit for aircraft-produced perturbations to aerosols and gaseous exhaust products in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/LS) is derived using the 1992 aviation fuel tracer simulation performed by eleven global atmospheric models. Key findings are that subsonic aircraft emissions: 1) have not be responsible for the observed water vapor trends at 40°N; 2) could be a significant source of soot mass near 12 km, but not at 20 km, 3) might cause a noticeable increase in the background sulfate aerosol surface area and number densities (but not mass density) near the northern mid-latitude tropopause, and 4) could provide a global, annual mean top of the atmosphere radiative forcing up to +0.006 W/m² and −0.013 W/m² due to emitted soot and sulfur, respectively.
- Published
- 1998