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| AEROCOM | |
|---|---|
| Name | AEROCOM |
| Caption | AEROCOM network schematic |
| Formation | 2006 |
| Type | Research collaboration |
| Headquarters | Distributed |
| Region served | Global |
| Membership | Atmospheric scientists, modelers, observationalists |
| Leader title | Coordinators |
AEROCOM
AEROCOM is an international research initiative focused on airborne aerosol processes, model intercomparison, and the relationship between aerosols and climate. Founded in the mid-2000s, it brings together modeling groups, observational programs, and laboratory teams to compare aerosol representations across models and to evaluate aerosol radiative forcing, microphysical processes, and atmospheric chemistry interactions. The project interfaces with major programs and institutions to inform assessments by multinational bodies and to advance understanding through coordinated experiments, model intercomparisons, and synthesis of observational datasets.
AEROCOM emerged against a backdrop shaped by assessments such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and programs like the Global Atmosphere Watch, with early coordination among groups active in initiatives including the Aerosol Characterization Experiment, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, World Climate Research Programme, and Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing studies. Founding participants included scientists from national centers such as European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, and university groups affiliated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Oxford. Initial phases emphasized standardized model experiments, building on prior intercomparisons like the Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models and drew on observational networks such as AERONET and field campaigns like ACE-2 and INTEX. Over successive phases, AEROCOM expanded to include regional focus studies, links to satellite missions such as MODIS and CALIPSO, and inputs to syntheses informing reports from the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Membership comprises research groups from national laboratories, academic institutions, and specialized centers including NOAA, CSIRO, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, European Space Agency, and independent institutes such as Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Paul Scherrer Institute. Coordination is overseen by an international steering committee with working groups organized by topic: aerosol microphysics, aerosol–radiation interactions, aerosol–cloud interactions, emissions inventories, and evaluation against observations. Working group leads have come from institutions like Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, Columbia University, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, and University of California, Berkeley. Funding and logistical support have been provided through grants and collaborations involving agencies such as European Commission, National Science Foundation, and national research councils in Germany, France, and the United States. The structure emphasizes open model output exchange, shared experiment protocols, and community workshops convened at venues including AGU Fall Meeting, EGU General Assembly, and specialist symposia hosted by Royal Society.
AEROCOM links model evaluation to observational platforms spanning ground-based networks, shipborne campaigns, airborne measurements, and satellite retrievals. Key observational partners include AERONET, CLOUDNET, Global Aerosol Sampling Network, and campaign datasets from ACE-Asia, PEM-Tropics, SAMUM, and SAFARI 2000. Satellite products used for evaluation include datasets from MODIS, CALIPSO, VIIRS, and GOME-2. Methods emphasize standardized metrics such as aerosol optical depth, single-scattering albedo, aerosol size distributions, and composition proxies derived from mass spectrometers onboard platforms like NOAA WP-3D and NASA DC-8. Emission inventories interfaced with model experiments have included EDGAR, REAS, CEDS, and regional compilations from ECLIPSE. Statistical techniques adopted across AEROCOM publications draw on multimodel ensemble approaches pioneered in intercomparison projects like CMIP and apply model evaluation frameworks similar to those used in AeroCom Phase I studies, with sensitivity experiments addressing uncertainties in hygroscopic growth, secondary organic aerosol formation, and black carbon mixing state.
AEROCOM outputs have documented substantial intermodel spread in aerosol burden, radiative forcing, and aerosol–cloud interaction estimates, echoing concerns raised by assessments such as the IPCC AR4 and IPCC AR5. Publications from the collaboration have quantified ranges of aerosol optical depth, direct radiative forcing, and effective radiative forcing attributable to aerosols and have evaluated representation of processes described in studies by groups at MPI-C and NCAR. Comparative papers have examined black carbon forcing, sulfate distribution, organic aerosol formation pathways, and dust lifecycle against observational constraints from AERONET and CALIPSO. Key syntheses have appeared in journals and special issues coordinated with societies such as American Geophysical Union and European Geosciences Union meetings, influencing inventories used in policy-relevant assessments by WMO and contributing to model development at operational centers including ECMWF and Met Office. AEROCOM has also produced community datasets, experimental protocols, and methodological reviews that inform subsequent intercomparison efforts like CMIP6 aerosol components and specialized model evaluation frameworks.
Critiques of AEROCOM have focused on the limitations inherent in multimodel intercomparisons: dependence on heterogeneous model structures, varying emission inventories (for example, discrepancies between EDGAR and regional datasets), and challenges in attributing model–measurement mismatches to specific processes. Some researchers affiliated with centers like NOAA and CSIRO have highlighted sensitivity to parameterizations of aerosol–cloud interactions and secondary organic aerosol, echoing debates evident in literature from Harvard University and University of Manchester groups. Concerns have also been raised about representativeness of observational constraints—satellite retrieval uncertainties from MODIS and vertical profiling limitations from CALIPSO—and about the potential for ensemble averaging to obscure model-specific failures discussed in commentaries in venues such as Nature Geoscience and Journal of Geophysical Research. AEROCOM responses have included targeted sensitivity experiments, enhanced coordination with field campaigns, and methodological papers clarifying uncertainty attribution, while engagement with stakeholders at forums like IPCC technical workshops has sought to place multimodel results in context.
Category:Atmospheric science organizations