Modeling Studies of Black Carbon Particles: From the Micro Scale to the Global Scale

Abstract

The role of black carbon particles in the climate system has been recognized to be particularly important because of the heating effects associated with their efficient absorption of solar radiation. An important point in evaluating the effects of black carbon particles on climate is that regional-to-global-scale radiative forcing and the spatial distribution of black carbon particles depend strongly on their mixing state, namely, the degree to which black carbon particles are coated with other aerosol components. This article reviews modeling studies of black carbon particles using from aerosol box models that explicitly represent aerosol microphysical properties to regional- and global-scale aerosol models. In particular, this article focuses on the mixing state and removal processes of black carbon particles, because their treatment causes large uncertainties in current aerosol models.