Subgrid-scale variability in clear-sky relative humidity and forcing by aerosol-radiation interactions in an atmosphere model

Abstract

Atmosphere models with resolutions of several tens of kilometres take subgrid-scale variability in the total specific humidity qt into account by using a uniform probability density function (PDF) to predict fractional cloud cover. However, usually only mean relative humidity, RH, or mean clear-sky relative humidity, RHcls, is used to compute hygroscopic growth of soluble aerosol particles. While previous studies based on limited-area models and also a global model suggest that subgrid-scale variability in RH should be taken into account for estimating radiative forcing due to aerosol-radiation interactions (RFari), here we present the first estimate of RFari using a global atmospheric model with a parameterization for subgrid-scale variability in RH that is consistent with the assumptions in the model. For this, we sample the subsaturated part of the uniform RH-PDF from the cloud cover scheme for its application in the hygroscopic growth parameterization in the ECHAM6-HAM2 atmosphere model. Due to the non-linear dependence of the hygroscopic growth on RH, this causes an increase in aerosol hygroscopic growth. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) increases by a global mean of 0.009 (∼7.8% in comparison to the control run). Especially over the tropics AOD is enhanced with a mean of about 0.013. Due to the increase in AOD, net top of the atmosphere clear-sky solar radiation, SWnet,cls, decreases by -0:22 Wm-2 (∼ -0:08%). Finally, the RFari changes from -0:15 to -0:19Wm-2 by about 31%. The reason for this very disproportionate effect is that anthropogenic aerosols are disproportionally hygroscopic.