Enhanced PM pollution in China due to aerosol-cloud interactions.
Bin Zhao, Kuo-Nan Liou, Yu Gu, Qinbin Li, Jonathan H Jiang, Hui Su, Cenlin He, Hsien-Liang R Tseng, Shuxiao Wang, Run Liu, Ling Qi, Wei-Liang Lee, Jiming Hao
Author Information
Bin Zhao: Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. zhaob1206@ucla.edu.
Kuo-Nan Liou: Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Yu Gu: Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Qinbin Li: Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Jonathan H Jiang: Jet propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, 91109, USA.
Hui Su: Jet propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, 91109, USA. ORCID
Cenlin He: Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. ORCID
Hsien-Liang R Tseng: Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Shuxiao Wang: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Run Liu: Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Ling Qi: Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Wei-Liang Lee: Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Jiming Hao: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Aerosol-cloud interactions (aerosol indirect effects) play an important role in regional meteorological variations, which could further induce feedback on regional air quality. While the impact of aerosol-cloud interactions on meteorology and climate has been extensively studied, their feedback on air quality remains unclear. Using a fully coupled meteorology-chemistry model, we find that increased aerosol loading due to anthropogenic activities in China substantially increases column cloud droplet number concentration and liquid water path (LWP), which further leads to a reduction in the downward shortwave radiation at surface, surface air temperature and planetary boundary layer (PBL) height. The shallower PBL and accelerated cloud chemistry due to larger LWP in turn enhance the concentrations of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM) by up to 33.2 μg m (25.1%) and 11.0 μg m (12.5%) in January and July, respectively. Such a positive feedback amplifies the changes in PM concentrations, indicating an additional air quality benefit under effective pollution control policies but a penalty for a region with a deterioration in PM pollution. Additionally, we show that the cloud processing of aerosols, including wet scavenging and cloud chemistry, could also have substantial effects on PM concentrations.
