PNNL

Abstract

We present an intercomparison of two aerosol modules, one sectional, one modal, in a global 2-D model in order to differentiate their behavior for tropospheric and stratospheric applications. We model only binary sulfuric acid-water aerosols in this study. Two versions of the sec-tional model and three versions of the modal model are used to test the sensitivity of background aerosol mass and size distribution to the number of bins or modes and to the pre-scribed width of the largest mode. We ?nd modest sensitivity to the number of bins (40 vs 150) used in the sectional model. Aerosol mass is found to be reduced in a modal model if care is not taken in selecting the width of the largest lognormal mode, re?ecting differences in sedimentation in the middle stratosphere. The size distributions calculated by the sec-tional model can be better matched by a modal model with four modes rather than three modes in most but not all sit-uations. A simulation of aerosol decay following the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo shows that the representation of the size distribution can have a sign?cant impact on model-calculated aerosol decay rates in the stratosphere. Between 1991 and 1995, aerosol mass and surface area density calcu-lated by two versions of the modal model adequately match results from the sectional model. Calculated effective radius for the same time period shows more intermodel variability.