The MERRA-2 Aerosol Reanalysis, 1980 Onward. Part I: System Description and Data Assimilation Evaluation
Cynthia A. Randles,A. da Silva,V. Buchard,V. Buchard,Peter R. Colarco,Anton Darmenov,R. Govindaraju,Alexander Smirnov,Brent N. Holben,R. A. Ferrare,J. W. Hair,Yohei Shinozuka,Connor Flynn +12 more
TLDR
This first of a pair of studies documents the MERRA-2 aerosol assimilation, including a description of the prognostic model, aerosol emissions, and the quality control of ingested observations, and provides initial validation and evaluation of the analyzed AOD fields.Abstract:
The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) updates NASA's previous satellite era (1980 - onward) reanalysis system to include additional observations and improvements to the Goddard Earth Observing System, Version 5 (GEOS-5) Earth system model. As a major step towards a full Integrated Earth Systems Analysis (IESA), in addition to meteorological observations, MERRA-2 now includes assimilation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from various ground- and space-based remote sensing platforms. Here, in the first of a pair of studies, we document the MERRA-2 aerosol assimilation, including a description of the prognostic model (GEOS-5 coupled to the GOCART aerosol module), aerosol emissions, and the quality control of ingested observations. We provide initial validation and evaluation of the analyzed AOD fields using independent observations from ground, aircraft, and shipborne instruments. We demonstrate the positive impact of the AOD assimilation on simulated aerosols by comparing MERRA-2 aerosol fields to an identical control simulation that does not include AOD assimilation. Having shown the AOD evaluation, we take a first look at aerosol-climate interactions by examining the shortwave, clear-sky aerosol direct radiative effect. In our companion paper, we evaluate and validate available MERRA-2 aerosol properties not directly impacted by the AOD assimilation (e.g. aerosol vertical distribution and absorption). Importantly, while highlighting the skill of the MERRA-2 aerosol assimilation products, both studies point out caveats that must be considered when using this new reanalysis product for future studies of aerosols and their interactions with weather and climate.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2)
Ronald Gelaro,Will McCarty,Max J. Suarez,Max J. Suarez,Ricardo Todling,Andrea Molod,Lawrence L. Takacs,Cynthia A. Randles,Cynthia A. Randles,Anton Darmenov,Michael G. Bosilovich,Rolf H. Reichle,Krzysztof Wargan,Lawrence Coy,Richard I. Cullather,Richard I. Cullather,Clara S. Draper,Clara S. Draper,Santha Akella,V. Buchard,V. Buchard,Austin Conaty,Arlindo da Silva,Wei Gu,Gi-Kong Kim,Randal D. Koster,Robert A. Lucchesi,Dagmar Merkova,J. E. Nielsen,Gary Partyka,Steven Pawson,William M. Putman,Michele M. Rienecker,Siegfried D. Schubert,Meta Sienkiewicz,Bin Zhao,Bin Zhao +36 more
TL;DR: An overview of the MERRA-2 system and various performance metrics is provided, including the assimilation of aerosol observations, several improvements to the representation of the stratosphere including ozone, and improved representations of cryospheric processes.
Journal ArticleDOI
The CAMS reanalysis of atmospheric composition
Antje Inness,Melanie Ades,Anna Agusti-Panareda,Jerome Barre,Anna Benedictow,Anne-Marlene Blechschmidt,Juan Jose Dominguez,Richard Engelen,Henk Eskes,Johannes Flemming,Vincent Huijnen,L. Jones,Zak Kipling,Sebastien Massart,Mark Parrington,Vincent-Henri Peuch,M. Razinger,Samuel Remy,Michael Schulz,Martin Suttie +19 more
TL;DR: The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) dataset is the latest global reanalysis dataset of atmospheric composition produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), consisting of three-dimensional time-consistent atmospheric composition fields, including aerosols and chemical species as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
The MERRA-2 Aerosol Reanalysis, 1980 Onward. Part II: Evaluation and Case Studies
V. Buchard,V. Buchard,Cynthia A. Randles,A. da Silva,Anton Darmenov,Peter R. Colarco,R. Govindaraju,R. A. Ferrare,J. Hair,Andreas J. Beyersdorf,Luke D. Ziemba,Hongbin Yu,Hongbin Yu +12 more
TL;DR: A focus is placed on several major aerosol events to illustrate successes and weaknesses of the AOD assimilation: the Mount Pinatubo eruption, a Saharan dust transport episode, the California Rim Fire, and an extreme pollution event over China.
Journal ArticleDOI
An ensemble-based model of PM2.5 concentration across the contiguous United States with high spatiotemporal resolution
Qian Di,Qian Di,Heresh Amini,Liuhua Shi,Itai Kloog,Rachel F. Silvern,James T. Kelly,M. Benjamin Sabath,Christine Choirat,Petros Koutrakis,Alexei Lyapustin,Yujie Wang,Loretta J. Mickley,Joel Schwartz +13 more
TL;DR: An ensemble model that integrated multiple machine learning algorithms and predictor variables to estimate daily PM2.5 at a resolution of 1’km × 1 km across the contiguous United States allows epidemiologists to accurately estimate the adverse health effect of PM 2.5.
Journal ArticleDOI
Diurnal and temporal changes in air pollution during COVID-19 strict lockdown over different regions of India.
TL;DR: Delhi's air quality has improved with a significant reduction in primary pollutants, however, an increase in O3 was observed, and the changes reported during the lockdown are combined effect of changes in the emissions, meteorology, and atmospheric chemistry that requires detailed investigations.
References
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MERRA: NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications
Michele M. Rienecker,Max J. Suarez,Ronald Gelaro,Ricardo Todling,Julio T. Bacmeister,Julio T. Bacmeister,Emily Liu,Emily Liu,Michael G. Bosilovich,Siegfried D. Schubert,Lawrence L. Takacs,Lawrence L. Takacs,Gi-Kong Kim,S. C. Bloom,S. C. Bloom,Junye Chen,Junye Chen,Douglas Collins,Douglas Collins,Austin Conaty,Austin Conaty,Arlindo da Silva,Wei Gu,Wei Gu,Joanna Joiner,Randal D. Koster,Robert A. Lucchesi,Robert A. Lucchesi,Andrea Molod,Andrea Molod,Tommy Owens,Tommy Owens,Steven Pawson,Philip Pegion,Philip Pegion,Christopher R. Redder,Christopher R. Redder,Rolf H. Reichle,Franklin R. Robertson,Albert G. Ruddick,Albert G. Ruddick,Meta Sienkiewicz,Meta Sienkiewicz,John S. Woollen +43 more
TL;DR: The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) was undertaken by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office with two primary objectives: to place observations from NASA's Earth Observing System satellites into a climate context and to improve upon the hydrologic cycle represented in earlier generations of reanalyses as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2)
Ronald Gelaro,Will McCarty,Max J. Suarez,Max J. Suarez,Ricardo Todling,Andrea Molod,Lawrence L. Takacs,Cynthia A. Randles,Cynthia A. Randles,Anton Darmenov,Michael G. Bosilovich,Rolf H. Reichle,Krzysztof Wargan,Lawrence Coy,Richard I. Cullather,Richard I. Cullather,Clara S. Draper,Clara S. Draper,Santha Akella,V. Buchard,V. Buchard,Austin Conaty,Arlindo da Silva,Wei Gu,Gi-Kong Kim,Randal D. Koster,Robert A. Lucchesi,Dagmar Merkova,J. E. Nielsen,Gary Partyka,Steven Pawson,William M. Putman,Michele M. Rienecker,Siegfried D. Schubert,Meta Sienkiewicz,Bin Zhao,Bin Zhao +36 more
TL;DR: An overview of the MERRA-2 system and various performance metrics is provided, including the assimilation of aerosol observations, several improvements to the representation of the stratosphere including ozone, and improved representations of cryospheric processes.
Journal ArticleDOI
A global model of natural volatile organic compound emissions
Alex Guenther,C. Nicholas Hewitt,David J. Erickson,Ray Fall,Chris Geron,Thomas E. Graedel,Peter Harley,Lee Klinger,Manuel T. Lerdau,W. A. Mckay,Tom Pierce,Bob Scholes,Rainer Steinbrecher,Raja Tallamraju,John Taylor,Patrick R. Zimmerman +15 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a global model to estimate emissions of volatile organic compounds from natural sources (NVOC), which has a highly resolved spatial grid and generates hourly average emission estimates.
Journal ArticleDOI
Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds: The Software Package OPAC
M. Hess,P. Koepke,I. Schult +2 more
TL;DR: In this article, the optical properties of aerosols and clouds are described, including extinction, scattering, and absorption coefficients, single scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter, and phase function.
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