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Despite a large number of studies, out of all drivers of radiative forcing, the effect of aerosols has the largest uncertainty in global climate model radiative forcing estimates. There have been studies of aerosol optical properties in climate models, but the effects of particle number size distribution need a more thorough inspection. We investigated the trends and seasonality of particle number concentrations in nucleation, Aitken, and accumulation modes at 21 measurement sites in Europe and the Arctic. For 13 of those sites, with longer measurement time series, we compared the field observations with the results from five climate models, namely EC-Earth3, ECHAM-M7, ECHAM-SALSA, NorESM1.2, and UKESM1. This is the first extensive comparison of detailed aerosol size distribution trends between in situ observations from Europe and five earth system models (ESMs). We found that the trends of particle number concentrations were mostly consistent and decreasing in both measurements and models. However, for many sites, climate models showed weaker decreasing trends than the measurements. Seasonal variability in measured number concentrations, quantified by the ratio between maximum and minimum monthly number concentration, was typically stronger at northern measurement sites compared to other locations. Models had large differences in their seasonal representation, and they can be roughly divided into two categories: for EC-Earth and NorESM, the seasonal cycle was relatively similar for all sites, and for other models the pattern of seasonality varied between northern and southern sites. In addition, the variability in concentrations across sites varied between models, some having relatively similar concentrations for all sites, whereas others showed clear differences in concentrations between remote and urban sites. To conclude, although all of the model simulations had identical input data to describe anthropogenic mass emissions, trends in differently sized particles vary among the models due to assumptions in emission sizes and differences in how models treat size-dependent aerosol processes. The inter-model variability was largest in the accumulation mode, i.e. sizes which have implications for aerosol–cloud interactions. Our analysis also indicates that between models there is a large variation in efficiency of long-range transportation of aerosols to remote locations. The differences in model results are most likely due to the more complex effect of different processes instead of one specific feature (e.g. the representation of aerosol or emission size distributions). Hence, a more detailed characterization of microphysical processes and deposition processes affecting the long-range transport is needed to understand the model variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have implemented and evaluated a secondary organic aerosol scheme within the chemistry transport model TM5-MP in this work. In earlier versions of TM5-MP the secondary organic aerosol was emitted as Aitken sized particle mass emulating the condensation. In the current scheme we simulate the formation of SOA from oxidation of isoprene and monoterpenes by ozone and hydroxyl radicals which produce semi-volatile organic compounds and extremely low-volatility compounds. Subsequently, SVOC and ELVOC can condense on particles. Furthermore, we have introduced a new particle formation mechanism depending on the concentration of ELVOCs. For evaluation purposes, we have simulated the year 2010 with the old and new scheme, where we see an increase in simulated production of SOA from 39.9 Tg y-1 with the old scheme to 52.5 Tg y-1 with the new scheme. For more detailed analysis, the particle mass and number concentrations and their influence on the simulated aerosol optical depth are compared to observations. Phenomenologically, the new particle formation scheme implemented here is able to reproduce the occurrence of observed particle formation events. However, the concentrations of formed particles are clearly lower as is the subsequent growth to larger sizes. Compared to the old scheme, the new scheme is increasing the number concentrations across the observation stations while still underestimating the observations. The total aerosol mass concentrations in the US show a much better seasonal cycle and removal of a clear overestimation of concentrations. In Europe the mass concentrations are lowered leading to a larger underestimation of observations. Aerosol optical depth is generally slightly increased except in the northern high latitudes. This brings the simulated annual global mean AOD closer to observational estimate. However, as the increase is rather uniform, biases tend to be reduced only in regions where the model underestimates the AOD. Furthermore, the correlation against satellite retrievals and ground-based sun-photometer observations are improved. Although the process based approach to SOA formation causes reduction in model performance in some areas, overall the new scheme improves the simulated aerosol fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty in the representation of biomass burning (BB) aerosol composition and optical properties in climate models contributes to a range in modeled aerosol effects on incoming solar radiation. Depending on the model, the top-of-the-atmosphere BB aerosol effect can range from cooling to warming. By relating aerosol absorption relative to extinction and carbonaceous aerosol composition from 12 observational datasets to nine state-of-the-art Earth system models/chemical transport models, we identify varying degrees of overestimation in BB aerosol absorptivity by these models. Modifications to BB aerosol refractive index, size, and mixing state improve the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5) agreement with observations, leading to a global change in BB direct radiative effect of −0.07 W m−2, and regional changes of −2 W m−2 (Africa) and −0.5 W m−2 (South America/Temperate). Our findings suggest that current modeled BB contributes less to warming than previously thought, largely due to treatments of aerosol mixing state. Wildfires produce aerosols known to impact the climate, but the wider-reaching effects of this biomass burning are poorly constrained in models. Here the authors use a suite of observations from 12 campaigns around the globe to determine that the values used by most climate models overestimate the contribution of biomass burning aerosols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an evaluation of the representation of marine aerosol in 5 different Earth System Models (CNRM-CM, EC-Earth, IPSL-CM, NorESM, and UKESM). Natural aerosols play a role in the energy budget of the atmosphere, and knowledge about them is important to estimate the anthropogenic aerosol forcing. We use land-based observations (at coastal and marine locations), together with observations from ships, aircraft and satellite to assess the representation of marine aerosol in these models. Within the framework of the European CRESCENDO project, the models have simulated the period 2000-2014, both in a free-running mode and in a nudged mode using reanalysed meteorological fields. Additional simulations with reduced natural emissions allow us to identify pristine regions, and to estimate the sensitivity of anthropogenic aerosol forcing to natural aerosol emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]