Open AccessInitial results of a global circuit model with variable stratospheric and tropospheric aerosols
Author(s) -
Tinsley Brian A.,
Zhou Limin
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2005jd006988
Subject(s) - stratosphere , aerosol , atmospheric sciences , troposphere , environmental science , precipitation , flux (metallurgy) , volcano , climatology , latitude , meteorology , physics , geology , materials science , astronomy , seismology , metallurgy
A new model of the global circuit has been constructed that treats more realistically than previous models the external influences due to varying charged particle fluxes from space, the internal variability due to the transport of radon by atmospheric dynamics, and the varying aerosol populations. An approximate treatment of the effects of explosive volcanic eruptions, that introduce SO 2 and H 2 O into the stratosphere, involves the creation of ultrafine aerosol particles in the downward branch of the Brewer‐Dobson circulation from sulfuric acid aerosol particles vaporized in the upward branch. A large increase in stratospheric column resistance occurs at high latitudes, but for much of the time this column resistance is reduced by stratospheric ionizing radiation due to relativistic electron precipitation. Here we present results for the variability of the global circuit due to the variations of the aerosol populations in the stratosphere and troposphere, the variability of the cosmic ray flux, and the geographical and seasonal variability of the near‐surface radioactivity. We discuss inferred changes in the circuit parameters associated with climate change, on interannual to Milankovich timescales.