Abstract

A regional climate model (RegCM4.3.4) coupled with an aerosol–snow/ice feedback module was used to simulate the deposition of anthropogenic light-absorbing impurities in snow/ice and the potential radiative feedback of black carbon (BC) on temperature and snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in 1990–2009. Two experiments driven by ERA-interim reanalysis were performed, i.e., with and without aerosol–snow/ice feedback. Results indicated that the total deposition BC and organic matter (OM) in snow/ice in the monsoon season (May–September) were much more than non-monsoon season (the remainder of the year). The great BC and OM deposition were simulated along the margin of the TP in the non-monsoon season, and the higher deposition values also occurred in the western TP than the other regions during the monsoon period. BC-in-snow/ice decreased surface albedo and caused positive surface radiative forcing (SRF) (3.0–4.5 W m-2 ) over the western TP in the monsoon season. The maximum SRF (5–6 W m-2 ) simulated in the Himalayas and southeastern TP in the non-monsoon season. The surface temperature increased by 0.1–1.5 °C and snow water equivalent decreased by 5–25 mm over the TP, which showed similar spatial distributions with the variations of SRF in each season. This study provided a useful tool to investigate the mechanisms involved in the effect of aerosols on climate change and the water cycle in the cryospheric environment of the TP.

Abstract

We quantified the impacts of variations in meteorological parameters and emissions on decadal, interannual, and seasonal variations of atmospheric black carbon (BC) in the Tibetan Plateau for 1980–2010 using a global 3-dimensional chemical transport model driven by the Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) meteorological fields. From 1980 to 2010, simulated surface BC concentrations and all-sky direct radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere due to atmospheric BC increased by 0.15 μg m−3 (63%) and by 0.23 W m−2 (62%), respectively, averaged over the Tibetan Plateau (75–105°E, 25–40°N). Simulated annual mean surface BC concentrations were in the range of 0.24–0.40 μg m−3 averaged over the plateau for 1980–2010, with the decadal trends of 0.13 μg m−3 per decade in the 1980s and 0.08 in the 2000s. The interannual variations were −5.4% to 7.0% for deviation from the mean, 0.0062 μg m−3 for mean absolute deviation, and 2.5% for absolute percent departure from the mean. Model sensitivity simulations indicated that the decadal trends of surface BC concentrations were mainly driven by changes in emissions, while the interannual variations were dependent on variations of both meteorological parameters and emissions. Meteorological parameters played a crucial role in driving the interannual variations of BC especially in the monsoon season.

Abstract

Black carbon (BC) deposited on snow and glacier surfaces can reduce albedo and lead to accelerated melt. An ice core recovered from Guoqu glacier on Mt. Geladaindong and analyzed using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) provides the first long-term (1843–1982) record of BC from the central Tibetan Plateau. Post 1940 the record is characterized by an increased occurrence of years with above average BC, and the highest BC values of the record. The BC increase in recent decades is likely caused by a combination of increased emissions from regional BC sources, and a reduction in snow accumulation. Guoqu glacier has received no net ice accumulation since the 1980s, and is a potential example of a glacier where an increase in the equilibrium line altitude is exposing buried high impurity layers. That BC concentrations in the uppermost layers of the Geladaindong ice core are not substantially higher relative to deeper in the ice core suggests that some of the BC that must have been deposited on Guoqu glacier via wet or dry deposition between 1983 and 2005 has been removed from the surface of the glacier, potentially via supraglacial or englacial meltwater.

Abstract

The exchanges of NOx between snow and air have significant impact on the atmospheric components and photochemical processes in the overlying boundary layer. Such exchanges increase the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and may have a crucial impact on the air signals that are retrieved from ice cores. In the recent years, sunlit snow and ice have been demonstrated to be important NOx sources in the polar atmospheric boundary layer. This paper makes a thorough review on the release of NOx from snow and ice, including field observations and experimental evidences, release mechanisms and influential parameters that affect such a release process, polar NOx concentrations and fluxes, and environmental impacts of the chemical processes of NOx in the polar atmospheric boundary layer. In the Tibetan Plateau, the released NOx observed recently in the sunlit snow/ice-cover is 1-order magnitude more than that in polar regions, but further scientific research is still needed to reveal its impact on the atmospheric oxidizing capacity. Wang, F., W. Lin, J. Wang, et al., 2011: NOx release from snow and ice covered surface in polar regions and the Tibetan Plateau. Adv. Clim. Change Res., 2(3), doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1248.2011.00141.