Determining concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) is one of the first steps in the chain in analysis of cloud droplet formation, the direct microphysical link between aerosols and cloud droplets, a process key for aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI). However, due to sparse coverage of in-situ measurements and difficulties associated with retrievals from satellites, a global exploration of their magnitude, source, temporal and spatial distribution cannot be easily obtained. Thus, a better representation of CCN is one of the goals for quantifying ACI processes and achieving uncertainty reduced estimates of their associated radiative forcing. Here, we introduce a new CCN dataset which is derived based on aerosol mass mixing ratios from the latest Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reanalysis (RA: EAC4) in a diagnostic model that uses CAMSRA aerosol properties and a simplified kappa-Köhler framework suitable for global models. The emitted aerosols in CAMS are not only based on input from emission inventories using aerosol observations, they also have a strong tie to satellite-retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) as this is assimilated as a constraining factor in the reanalysis. Furthermore, the reanalysis interpolates for cases of poor or missing retrievals and thus allows for a full spatio-temporal quantification of CCN. Therefore, the CCN retrieved from the CAMS aerosol reanalysis succeed the sole use of AOD as a proxy for global CCN. This CCN dataset features CCN concentrations of global coverage for various supersaturations and aerosol species covering the years from 2003 to 2021 with daily frequency and a spatial resolution of 0.75×0.75 degree and 60 vertical levels. Apart from the CAMSRA data, which is available every 3 hours, CCN are currently only computed once a day at 00:00 UTC. The data comprises 3-D fields of total CCN computed for six different supersaturations (s: 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1 %) and 3-D CCN fields containing aerosol species CCN from sulfate (SO4), hydrophilic black carbon (BCh) and organic matter (OMh) and three size bins of sea salt aerosol (SS) computed for two supersaturations (s: 0.02 % and 0.8 %) comprising additional aerosol information in the lower and upper supersaturation range, respectively. The current choice of data frequency, resolution and variable dependencies such as supersaturation is made regarding general interest and suitability as well as file size, data storage and computational costs. This dataset offers the opportunity to be used for evaluation of general circulation and earth system models as well as in studies of aerosol-cloud interactions.
The file name of the data sets is composed as follows.
<project>_<experiment>_<version>_<dataset>_<year><mon>.nc
project: QUAERERE (Quantifying aerosol-cloud-climate effects by regime)
experiment: CCNCAMS (Cloud condensation nuclei derived from the CAMS reanalysis)
version: v1
dataset: Total_CCN (total cloud condensation nuclei) and Aerosol_species_CCN (aerosol species cloud condensation nuclei)
year: 2003 to 2021
mon: 1 to 12
Acknowledgement: This dataset was generated using Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information [2003-2021]. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains. The source data is downloaded from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) Atmosphere Data Store (ADS)
(https://ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/cams-global-reanalysis-eac4?tab=overview)
Block, Karoline (2023). Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) numbers derived from CAMS reanalysis EAC4 (Version 1). World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) at DKRZ. https://doi.org/10.26050/WDCC/QUAERERE_CCNCAMS_v1
SQA - Scientific Quality Assurance 'approved by author'
Result Date
2023-06-14
Technical Quality Assurance (TQA)
TQA - Technical Quality Assurance 'approved by WDCC'
Description
1. Number of data sets is correct and > 0: passed; 2. Size of every data set is > 0: passed; 3. The data sets and corresponding metadata are accessible: passed; 4. The data sizes are controlled and correct: passed; 5. The spatial-temporal coverage description (metadata) is consistent to the data, time steps are correct and the time coordinate is continuous: passed; 6. The format is correct: passed; 7. Variable description and data are consistent: passed
Method
WDCC-TQA checklist
Method Description
Checks performed by WDCC. The list of TQA metrics are documented in the 'WDCC User Guide for Data Publication' Chapter 8.1.1