Local and remote impacts of aerosol climate forcing on tropical precipitation

Mechanisms that determine the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on the tropical climate involve moist dynamical processes and have local and remote impacts on regional tropical precipitation. These mechanisms are examined in a climate model of intermediate complexity [quasi-equilibrium tropical circulation model ( QTCM)] forced by prescribed aerosol forcing, which is obtained from a general circulation model (ECHAM4). The aerosol reflection is the dominant aerosol forcing, while the aerosol absorption has complex but much weaker influences on the regional tropical precipitation based on the ECHAM4 aerosol forcing. The local effect associated with aerosols contributes negative precipitation anomalies over convective regions by affecting the net energy flux into the atmospheric column. This net energy flux is controlled by the radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere on time scales where surface heat flux is near equilibrium, balancing anomalous solar radiation by evaporation, longwave radiation, and sensible heat. Considering the aerosol absorption effect alone, the associated precipitation anomalies are slightly negative but small when surface heat fluxes are near equilibrium. Two effects found in global warming, the uppedante mechanism and the anomalous gross moist stability mechanism, occur with opposite sign in the aerosol case. Both act as remote effects via the widespread cold tropospheric temperature anomalies induced by the aerosol forcing. In the upped-ante mechanism in global warming, a warm troposphere increases the low-level moisture "ante" required for convection, creating spatially varying moisture anomalies that disfavor precipitation on those margins of convective zones where the mean flow imports air from nonconvective regions. In the aerosol case here, a cool troposphere preferentially decreases moisture in convective regions, creating positive precipitation anomalies at inflow margins. In the anomalous gross moist stability mechanism for the aerosol case, the decrease in moisture in convective regions acts to enhance the gross moist stability, so convection and the associated precipitation are reduced. The partitioning between the aerosol local and remote effects on regional tropical precipitation differs spatially. Over convective regions that have high aerosol concentration, such as the South American region, the aerosol local effect contributes more negative precipitation anomalies than the anomalous gross moist stability mechanism in the QTCM simulations. On the other hand, the remote effect is more important over convective regions with small aerosol concentrations, such as the western Pacific Maritime Continent. Remote effects of midlatitude aerosol forcing have a substantial contribution to tropical anomalies.