Description:

Aerosol interacts with radiation in both solar and thermal infrared spectrum through scattering, absorption, and emission, which in turn influences the radiative energy distribution and thermodynamical structure of the Earth-atmosphere system. This session seeks recent research advancing process-level understanding of the aerosol-radiation interactions (ARI), including but not limited to, the following topics: 1) how ARI influences the energy balance and thermodynamical structure of the Earth-atmosphere system 2) how the direct and semidirect radiative effects of aerosols influence mesoscale and synoptic-scale weather systems and climate, including, but are not limited to, wave systems, monsoons, tropical cyclones, and mesoscale convective complexes; 3) understanding of how environmental factors, such as underlying and surrounding clouds (e.g., “twilight zone”), surface brightness and meteorological conditions influence the radiative effects of aerosols. 4) novel measurement (e.g., laboratory, in situ, and remote sensing) and modeling (e.g., radiative transfer modeling, LES to global scale) techniques to quantify aerosol–radiation interactions and their impacts. 5) ARI in past climate change and future climate prediction; vi) ARI influences on the atmospheric boundary layer and feedback on air quality; and 6) how aging and chemical interactions impacts ARI.