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Heterogeneous sulfate aerosol formation mechanisms during wintertime Chinese haze events: air quality model assessment using observations of sulfate oxygen isotopes in Beijing

Sulfate is a key species contributing to particle formation and growth during wintertime Chinese haze events. This study combines observations and modeling of oxygen isotope signatures in sulfate aerosol to investigate its formation mechanisms, with a focus on heterogeneous production on aerosol surface via H₂O₂, O₃, and NO₂ and trace metal catalyzed oxidation. Contributions from different formation pathways are presented.

Reciprocal bias compensation and ensuing uncertainties in model-based climate projections: pelagic biogeochemistry versus ocean mixing

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions trigger complex climate feedbacks. Output form Earth system models provides a basis for related political decision-making. One challenge is to arrive at reliable model parameter estimates for the ocean biogeochemistry module. We illustrate pitfalls through which flaws in the ocean module are masked by wrongly tuning the biogeochemistry and discuss ensuing uncertainties in climate projections.

Summertime precipitation extremes in a EURO-CORDEX 0.11° ensemble at an hourly resolution

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
DOI 10.5194/nhess-19-957-2019
2 May 2019

A state-of-the-art regional climate model ensemble for Europe is investigated for extreme precipitation intensities. The models poorly reproduce short duration events of less than a few hours. Further, there is poor connection to some known hotspots for extreme cases. The model performance is much improved at 12 h durations. Projected future increases scale with seasonal mean temperature change, within a range from a few percent to over 10 percent per degree Celsius.

EURO-CORDEX 0.11° ensemble at an hourly resolution">Read more

Vertical and horizontal distribution of submicron aerosol chemical composition and physical characteristics across northern India during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons

Our study, for the first time, presents measurements of aerosol chemical composition and physical characteristics across northern India in the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons of 2016 using the FAAM BAe-146 UK research aircraft. Across northern India, an elevated aerosol layer dominated by sulfate aerosol exists that diminishes with monsoon arrival. The Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) boundary layer is dominated by organics, whereas outside the IGP sulfate dominates with increased scattering aerosol.

Controls on spatial and temporal variability in streamflow and hydrochemistry in a glacierized catchment

Hydrometric and geochemical dynamics are controlled by interplay of meteorological conditions, topography and geological heterogeneity. Nivo-meteorological indicators (such as global solar radiation, temperature and decreasing snow depth) explain monthly conductivity and isotopic dynamics best. These insights are important for better understanding hydrochemical responses of glacierized catchments under a changing cryosphere.

Winter tourism under climate change in the Pyrenees and the French Alps: relevance of snowmaking as a technical adaptation

This study investigates the snow reliability of 175 ski resorts in the Pyrenees (France, Spain and Andorra) and the French Alps under past and future conditions (1950–2100) using state-of-the-art climate projections and snowpack modelling accounting for snow management, i.e. grooming and snowmaking. The snow reliability of ski resorts shows strong elevation and regional differences, and our study quantifies changes in snow reliability induced by snowmaking under various climate scenarios.

Uncertainty quantification of the multi-centennial response of the Antarctic ice sheet to climate change

Using probabilistic methods, we quantify the uncertainty in the Antarctic ice-sheet response to climate change over the next millennium under the four RCP scenarios and parametric uncertainty. We find that the ice sheet is stable in RCP 2.6 regardless of parametric uncertainty, while West Antarctica undergoes disintegration in RCP 8.5 almost regardless of parametric uncertainty. We also show a high sensitivity of the ice-sheet response to uncertainty in sub-shelf melting and sliding conditions.

ESD Ideas: Propagation of high-frequency forcing to ice age dynamics

We demonstrate here that nonlinear character of ice sheet dynamics, which was derived naturally from the conservation laws, is an effective means for propagating high-frequency forcing upscale.

ESD Ideas: Propagation of high-frequency forcing to ice age dynamics">Read more

Modelling the future evolution of glaciers in the European Alps under the EURO-CORDEX RCM ensemble

Glaciers in the European Alps play an important role in the hydrological cycle, act as a source for hydroelectricity and have a large touristic importance. We model the future evolution of all glaciers in the Alps with a novel model that combines both ice flow and melt processes. We find that under a limited warming scenario about one-third of the present-day ice volume will still be present by the end of the century, while under strong warming more than 90 % of the volume will be lost by 2100.

EURO-CORDEX RCM ensemble">Read more

A new description of probability density distributions of polar mesospheric clouds

In this paper we present a new description of statistical probability density functions (pdfs) of polar mesospheric clouds (PMC). We derive a new class of pdfs that describes successfully the probability statistic of ALOMAR lidar observations of different ice parameters. As a main advantage the new method allows us to connect different observational PMC distributions of lidar and satellite data, and also to compare with distributions from ice model studies.

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