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Seasonal differences in observed versus modelled new particle formation at two European boreal stations

Svenhag, Carl LU ; Roldin, Pontus LU ; Olenius, Tinja ; De Jonge, Robin Wollesen LU ; Blichner, Sara M. ; Yazgi, Daniel and Sporre, Moa K. LU orcid (2025) In Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 25(18). p.11483-11504
Abstract

Realistic representation of atmospheric aerosol size distribution dynamics in large-scale climate models is important for developing accurate descriptions of aerosol-cloud interactions. Despite the dynamic nature of the distributions, which have large seasonal and diurnal changes, model evaluations often focus on the annual median size distribution. Using more comprehensive monthly and diurnal model illustrations can be crucial for evaluating model performance and potential aerosol effects for short-term variations. In this study, we assess the impact of a molecular model scheme for NH3-H2SO4 nucleation integrated in the Earth System Model (ESM) EC-Earth3, across different seasons, months, and days within the boreal climate during the... (More)

Realistic representation of atmospheric aerosol size distribution dynamics in large-scale climate models is important for developing accurate descriptions of aerosol-cloud interactions. Despite the dynamic nature of the distributions, which have large seasonal and diurnal changes, model evaluations often focus on the annual median size distribution. Using more comprehensive monthly and diurnal model illustrations can be crucial for evaluating model performance and potential aerosol effects for short-term variations. In this study, we assess the impact of a molecular model scheme for NH3-H2SO4 nucleation integrated in the Earth System Model (ESM) EC-Earth3, across different seasons, months, and days within the boreal climate during the year 2018. Measured number size distributions from two in situ boreal stations are used to evaluate and study particle formation and growth representation in EC-Earth3 over 2018. Additionally, we utilize results from the ADCHEM model, a state-of-the-art 1-D Lagrangian aerosol chemistry model. This allows us to compare EC-Earth3 against results from highly detailed model descriptions of aerosol formation and growth at the boreal stations. When comparing diurnal EC-Earth3 model results with in situ observations at an hourly temporal resolution, we establish that using solely organic-H2SO4 nucleation parameterization will underestimate the aerosol number concentrations. The newly added NH3-H2SO4 nucleation parameterization in this study improves the resulting aerosol number concentrations and the reproduction of particle formation events with EC-Earth3. However, from March to October, EC-Earth3 still underestimates particle formation and growth.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
volume
25
issue
18
pages
22 pages
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • scopus:105017634357
ISSN
1680-7316
DOI
10.5194/acp-25-11483-2025
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bafa48e8-e9e7-47a2-bd52-3de4ea8d659e
date added to LUP
2025-11-26 13:40:09
date last changed
2025-11-26 13:41:02
@article{bafa48e8-e9e7-47a2-bd52-3de4ea8d659e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Realistic representation of atmospheric aerosol size distribution dynamics in large-scale climate models is important for developing accurate descriptions of aerosol-cloud interactions. Despite the dynamic nature of the distributions, which have large seasonal and diurnal changes, model evaluations often focus on the annual median size distribution. Using more comprehensive monthly and diurnal model illustrations can be crucial for evaluating model performance and potential aerosol effects for short-term variations. In this study, we assess the impact of a molecular model scheme for NH3-H2SO4 nucleation integrated in the Earth System Model (ESM) EC-Earth3, across different seasons, months, and days within the boreal climate during the year 2018. Measured number size distributions from two in situ boreal stations are used to evaluate and study particle formation and growth representation in EC-Earth3 over 2018. Additionally, we utilize results from the ADCHEM model, a state-of-the-art 1-D Lagrangian aerosol chemistry model. This allows us to compare EC-Earth3 against results from highly detailed model descriptions of aerosol formation and growth at the boreal stations. When comparing diurnal EC-Earth3 model results with in situ observations at an hourly temporal resolution, we establish that using solely organic-H2SO4 nucleation parameterization will underestimate the aerosol number concentrations. The newly added NH3-H2SO4 nucleation parameterization in this study improves the resulting aerosol number concentrations and the reproduction of particle formation events with EC-Earth3. However, from March to October, EC-Earth3 still underestimates particle formation and growth.</p>}},
  author       = {{Svenhag, Carl and Roldin, Pontus and Olenius, Tinja and De Jonge, Robin Wollesen and Blichner, Sara M. and Yazgi, Daniel and Sporre, Moa K.}},
  issn         = {{1680-7316}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{18}},
  pages        = {{11483--11504}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics}},
  title        = {{Seasonal differences in observed versus modelled new particle formation at two European boreal stations}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11483-2025}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/acp-25-11483-2025}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}