Global impacts of organic aerosol acidity on sulfate and cloud formation

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Sengupta, Gargi, Ghosh, Kunal, Jallu, Prithvi R., Prisle, Nønne L.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Sengupta, Gargi
Ghosh, Kunal
Jallu, Prithvi R.
Prisle, Nønne L.
author_facet Sengupta, Gargi
Ghosh, Kunal
Jallu, Prithvi R.
Prisle, Nønne L.
contents Organic aerosols (OA) comprise a major fraction of atmospheric particulate matter and frequently contain acidic species, yet their contribution to overall aerosol acidity has not been explicitly considered in global climate models. We implement concentration-dependent OA acid dissociation, including recently demonstrated surface-specific effects, into the ECHAM-HAMMOZ global climate model and assess the impacts on aqueous aerosol sulfate chemistry and aerosol--cloud--climate interactions. We show that enhanced aerosol acidity from OA acid dissociation drives increased sulfate formation from aqueous-phase oxidation of $\mathrm{SO_2}$. The microphysics of additional secondary sulfate aerosol changes global cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNC), with enhancements up to $13.9\%$. Increased cloud formation leads to a significant global mean cooling effect with a shortwave cloud radiative forcing (SWCRF) up to $-0.97~\mathrm{W\,m^{-2}}$. We also find that surface-specific acid dissociation effects can further modify both aerosol chemistry and resulting aerosol--cloud--climate responses, in some cases with even stronger impact than bulk acidity conditions. Our results demonstrate significant effects of considering OA acidity, as well as surface-specific phenomena, in global climate models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_03030
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Global impacts of organic aerosol acidity on sulfate and cloud formation
Sengupta, Gargi
Ghosh, Kunal
Jallu, Prithvi R.
Prisle, Nønne L.
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Organic aerosols (OA) comprise a major fraction of atmospheric particulate matter and frequently contain acidic species, yet their contribution to overall aerosol acidity has not been explicitly considered in global climate models. We implement concentration-dependent OA acid dissociation, including recently demonstrated surface-specific effects, into the ECHAM-HAMMOZ global climate model and assess the impacts on aqueous aerosol sulfate chemistry and aerosol--cloud--climate interactions. We show that enhanced aerosol acidity from OA acid dissociation drives increased sulfate formation from aqueous-phase oxidation of $\mathrm{SO_2}$. The microphysics of additional secondary sulfate aerosol changes global cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNC), with enhancements up to $13.9\%$. Increased cloud formation leads to a significant global mean cooling effect with a shortwave cloud radiative forcing (SWCRF) up to $-0.97~\mathrm{W\,m^{-2}}$. We also find that surface-specific acid dissociation effects can further modify both aerosol chemistry and resulting aerosol--cloud--climate responses, in some cases with even stronger impact than bulk acidity conditions. Our results demonstrate significant effects of considering OA acidity, as well as surface-specific phenomena, in global climate models.
title Global impacts of organic aerosol acidity on sulfate and cloud formation
topic Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.03030