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Zhao C, Sun Y, Yang J, Li J, Zhou Y, Yang Y, Fan H, Zhao X. Observational evidence and mechanisms of aerosol effects on precipitation. Sci Bull (Beijing) 2024:S2095-9273(24)00158-0. [PMID: 38503650 DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
Aerosols greatly influence precipitation characteristics, thereby impacting the regional climate and human life. As an indispensable factor for cloud formation and a critical radiation budget regulator, aerosols can affect precipitation intensity, frequency, geographical distribution, area, and time. However, discrepancies exist among current studies due to aerosol properties, precipitation types, the vertical location of aerosols and meteorological conditions. The development of technology has driven advances in current research, but understanding the aerosol effects on precipitation remain complex and challenging. This paper revolves around the following topics from the two perspectives of Aerosol-Radiation Interaction (ARI) and Aerosol-Cloud Interaction (ACI): (1) the influence of different vertical locations of absorbing/scattering aerosols on the atmospheric thermal structure; (2) the fundamental theories of ARI reducing surface wind speed, redistributing water vapour and energy, and then modulating precipitation intensity; (3) different aerosol types (absorbing versus scattering) and aerosol concentrations causing different precipitation diurnal and weekly variations; (4) microphysical processes (cloud water competition, invigoration effect, and evaporation cooling) and observational evidence of different effects of aerosols on precipitation intensity, including enhancing, inhibiting, and transitional effects from enhancement to suppression; and (5) how meteorology, water vapor and dynamics influencing the effect of ACI and ARI on precipitation. In addition, this review lists the existing issues and future research directions for attaining a more comprehensive understanding of aerosol effects on precipitation. Overall, this review advances our understanding of aerosol effects on precipitation and could guide the improvement of weather and climate models to predict complex aerosol-precipitation interactions more accurately.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuanfeng Zhao
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, and China Meteorological Administration Tornado Key Laboratory, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
| | - Yue Sun
- Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Jie Yang
- Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Jiefeng Li
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, and China Meteorological Administration Tornado Key Laboratory, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yue Zhou
- Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yikun Yang
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, and China Meteorological Administration Tornado Key Laboratory, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Hao Fan
- School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xin Zhao
- Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
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