Publication Abstracts

Koffi et al. 2012

Koffi, B., M. Schulz, F.-M. Bréon, J. Griesfeller, D.M.M. Winker, Y. Balkanski, S. Bauer, T. Berntsen, M. Chin, W.D. Collins, F. Dentener, T. Diehl, R.C. Easter, S.J. Ghan, P.A. Ginoux, S. Gong, L.W. Horowitz, T. Iversen, A. Kirkevag, D.M. Koch, M. Krol, G. Myhre, P. Stier, and T. Takemura, 2012: Application of the CALIOP Layer Product to evaluate the vertical distribution of aerosols estimated by global models: Part 1. AeroCom phase I results. J. Geophys. Res., 117, no. D10, D10201, doi:10.1029/2011JD016858.

The CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) Layer product is used for a multi-model evaluation of the vertical distribution of aerosols. Annual and seasonal aerosol extinction profiles are analysed over 13 sub-continental regions representative of industrial, dust, and biomass burning pollution, from CALIOP 2007-2009 observations and from AeroCom (Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models) 2000 simulations. An extinction mean height diagnostic (Zα) is defined to quantitatively assess the models' performance. It is calculated over the 0-6 km and 0-10 km altitude ranges by weighting the altitude of each 100 m altitude layer by its aerosol extinction coefficient. The mean extinction profiles derived from CALIOP layer products provide consistent regional and seasonal specificities and a low inter-annual variability. While the outputs from most models are significantly correlated with the observed Zα climatologies, some do better than others, and 2 of the 12 models perform particularly well in all seasons. Over industrial and maritime regions, most models show higher Zα than observed by CALIOP, whereas over the African and Chinese dust source regions, Zα is underestimated during Northern Hemisphere Spring and Summer. The positive model bias in Zα is mainly due to an overestimate of the extinction above 6 km. Potential CALIOP and model limitations, and methodological factors that might contribute to the differences are discussed.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{ko05400j,
  author={Koffi, B. and Schulz, M. and Bréon, F.-M. and Griesfeller, J. and Winker, D. M. M. and Balkanski, Y. and Bauer, S. and Berntsen, T. and Chin, M. and Collins, W. D. and Dentener, F. and Diehl, T. and Easter, R. C. and Ghan, S. J. and Ginoux, P. A. and Gong, S. and Horowitz, L. W. and Iversen, T. and Kirkevag, A. and Koch, D. M. and Krol, M. and Myhre, G. and Stier, P. and Takemura, T.},
  title={Application of the CALIOP Layer Product to evaluate the vertical distribution of aerosols estimated by global models: Part 1. AeroCom phase I results},
  year={2012},
  journal={Journal of Geophysical Research},
  volume={117},
  number={D10},
  pages={D10201},
  doi={10.1029/2011JD016858},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - ko05400j
AU  - Koffi, B.
AU  - Schulz, M.
AU  - Bréon, F.-M.
AU  - Griesfeller, J.
AU  - Winker, D. M. M.
AU  - Balkanski, Y.
AU  - Bauer, S.
AU  - Berntsen, T.
AU  - Chin, M.
AU  - Collins, W. D.
AU  - Dentener, F.
AU  - Diehl, T.
AU  - Easter, R. C.
AU  - Ghan, S. J.
AU  - Ginoux, P. A.
AU  - Gong, S.
AU  - Horowitz, L. W.
AU  - Iversen, T.
AU  - Kirkevag, A.
AU  - Koch, D. M.
AU  - Krol, M.
AU  - Myhre, G.
AU  - Stier, P.
AU  - Takemura, T.
PY  - 2012
TI  - Application of the CALIOP Layer Product to evaluate the vertical distribution of aerosols estimated by global models: Part 1. AeroCom phase I results
JA  - J. Geophys. Res.
JO  - Journal of Geophysical Research
VL  - 117
IS  - D10
SP  - D10201
DO  - 10.1029/2011JD016858
ER  -

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