Introduction

The Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia), which studied the characteristics of aerosols from Asia and their radiative effects, took place in spring 2001 in the western Pacific region near the east coast of Asia. In the spring, dust emission in northern Asia is strong, biomass burning in Southeast Asia is at its peak, photochemical production of pollution aerosols is active, and the continental outflow from Asia to the western Pacific is at its strongest. In other words, the timing of ACE-Asia was optimal for studying the impact of maximum Asian aerosol concentrations on downwind regions. The ACE-Asia field experiment involved three aircraft and two ships in coordination with surface and lidar networks and satellite overpasses [Huebert et al., 2003]. Coincident to the ACE-Asia observations, which covered only a limited geographical location, measurements from satellites and a world wide, ground-based, Sun photometer network provided globalscale aerosol information. These larger scale measurements placed the ACE-Asia observations into a broader perspective. A global model can synthesize such a wide array of observations in order to assess the global impact of Asian aerosols and to quantify the processes that control the aerosol composition and distributions.

Aerosol distribution in the Northern Hemisphere during ACE-Asia: Results from global model, satellite observations, and Sun photometer measurements

Aerosol distribution in the Northern Hemisphere during ACE-Asia: Results from global model, satellite observations, and Sun photometer measurements [.pdf, 682.6Kb]