ICON-HAM-lite 1.0: simulating the Earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scales

<p>Aerosols strongly influence Earth's climate as they scatter and absorb radiation and serve as nuclei for cloud droplets and ice crystals. New Earth system models that run at kilometer resolutions allow us to examine long-standing questions related to these interactions. To perform kilo...

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Main Authors: P. Weiss, R. Herbert, P. Stier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2025-06-01
Series:Geoscientific Model Development
Online Access:https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/3877/2025/gmd-18-3877-2025.pdf
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author P. Weiss
R. Herbert
P. Stier
author_facet P. Weiss
R. Herbert
P. Stier
author_sort P. Weiss
collection DOAJ
description <p>Aerosols strongly influence Earth's climate as they scatter and absorb radiation and serve as nuclei for cloud droplets and ice crystals. New Earth system models that run at kilometer resolutions allow us to examine long-standing questions related to these interactions. To perform kilometer-scale simulations with the Earth system model ICON-MPIM, we developed the one-moment aerosol module HAM-lite. HAM-lite was derived from the two-moment module HAM. Like in HAM, aerosols are represented as an ensemble of lognormal modes. Unlike in HAM, aerosol sizes and compositions are prescribed, which reduces the computational costs significantly. Here, we present a first global simulation with four aerosol modes at a resolution of 5 km over a period of 1 year. The simulation captured key aerosol processes including, for example, the emission of dust aerosols by cold pool outflows in the Sahara and the interaction of sea salt aerosols and shallow convective storms around the doldrums.</p>
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spelling doaj-art-d0ae4c82be434f0c9bb27643c4fd33ff2025-08-20T02:38:01ZengCopernicus PublicationsGeoscientific Model Development1991-959X1991-96032025-06-01183877389410.5194/gmd-18-3877-2025ICON-HAM-lite 1.0: simulating the Earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scalesP. Weiss0R. Herbert1P. Stier2Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomSchool of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, United KingdomDepartment of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom<p>Aerosols strongly influence Earth's climate as they scatter and absorb radiation and serve as nuclei for cloud droplets and ice crystals. New Earth system models that run at kilometer resolutions allow us to examine long-standing questions related to these interactions. To perform kilometer-scale simulations with the Earth system model ICON-MPIM, we developed the one-moment aerosol module HAM-lite. HAM-lite was derived from the two-moment module HAM. Like in HAM, aerosols are represented as an ensemble of lognormal modes. Unlike in HAM, aerosol sizes and compositions are prescribed, which reduces the computational costs significantly. Here, we present a first global simulation with four aerosol modes at a resolution of 5 km over a period of 1 year. The simulation captured key aerosol processes including, for example, the emission of dust aerosols by cold pool outflows in the Sahara and the interaction of sea salt aerosols and shallow convective storms around the doldrums.</p>https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/3877/2025/gmd-18-3877-2025.pdf
spellingShingle P. Weiss
R. Herbert
P. Stier
ICON-HAM-lite 1.0: simulating the Earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scales
Geoscientific Model Development
title ICON-HAM-lite 1.0: simulating the Earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scales
title_full ICON-HAM-lite 1.0: simulating the Earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scales
title_fullStr ICON-HAM-lite 1.0: simulating the Earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scales
title_full_unstemmed ICON-HAM-lite 1.0: simulating the Earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scales
title_short ICON-HAM-lite 1.0: simulating the Earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scales
title_sort icon ham lite 1 0 simulating the earth system with interactive aerosols at kilometer scales
url https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/3877/2025/gmd-18-3877-2025.pdf
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