Chemistry Climate Initiative
Until recently, modeled chemistry has been either overly simplified (for example by considering fixed oxidants distribution in aerosols simulation) or decoupled from the climate system. Now for the first time the scientific knowledge and the computational capabilities are available to consider chemistry as an integral part of the climate system. Through its interactions with surface emissions and deposition, radiation, cloud processes, aerosols, and dynamics, we view chemistry as an integrator of several Strategic Initiatives (Biogeosciences, WACCM, Assessment) and other existing efforts (aerosol modeling, CCSM) within NCAR.
The overall goal of this Chemistry-Climate Initiative is to identify, understand, and quantify the mechanisms of interaction between the climate system and the chemistry of the atmosphere and the ocean by addressing the following research questions:
- What are the key climatic, industrial, and natural controls of the interannual variability and trends of tropospheric ozone over the last 40 years (for which we have chemical species, aerosol, and meteorological data)?
- How are the biogenic emissions perturbed by climate variability and change, including land-use change? What are the impacts?
- How important are secondary organic aerosols in the atmospheric energy budget? How do aerosols impact the hydrological cycle?
- How will the future climate and emissions affect atmospheric chemistry, including air quality, and what are the policy-making implications?