From Air Quality to Climate Forcing: Study of Tropospheric Aerosols using Global Model, Satellite Data, and Atmospheric Measurements
 
Mian Chin
Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

Aerosol exerts direct climate effects by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and indirect effects by altering cloud properties and its lifetimes. Yet, these effects represent the largest source of uncertainty in the current IPCC estimates of global climate forcing (IPCC 2001). Aerosol is also one of the major pollutants that affect air quality. I will present some recent studies of tropospheric aerosols using the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model, satellite observations from the MODIS instrument on the EOS-Terra satellite, and atmospheric measurements from the Sunphotometer network AERONET and from field program ACE-Asia. In addition to estimating the aerosol radiative forcing, I will discuss the potential use of satellite data in prediction of the local air quality.

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