University of Saskatchewan
Observational and Theoretical Constraints on Stratospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing — Stratospheric aerosols—tiny particles suspended 10-30 km aloft—play an important role in atmospheric radiative transfer. Perturbations to the stratospheric aerosol layer, from volcanic eruptions or forest fires, can have a significant climate impact. While satellite observations provide invaluable information on stratospheric aerosols, their radiative forcing remains uncertain. We will use OSIRIS and MAESTRO measurements of aerosol extinction and size distribution to inform improvements to the Easy Volcanic Aerosol (EVA) simple aerosol model. EVA output will be used in the SASKTRAN radiative transfer model and the Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM) to improve understanding of stratospheric aerosol radiative forcing.