Category Archives: Aerosols

Desert Dust in the Atmosphere: Giant Particles, Giant Consequences?

Posted on 3 February, 2020 by danaallen

By: Claire Ryder As I write, storm Gloria decays over the Mediterranean Sea, while large amounts of desert dust whipped up by strong winds over the Sahara desert have been whirled in to action by Gloria and remain in the … Continue reading →

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The latest on aerosol radiative forcing

Posted on 18 November, 2019 by danaallen

By: Nicolas Bellouin Aerosols are tiny liquid or solid particles suspended in the Earth’s atmosphere. Some aerosols form naturally, like the sea spray emitted by breaking waves, the mineral dust that form sandstorms, or smoke from wildfires. But human activities, … Continue reading →

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Why was there decadal increase in summer heat waves over China across the mid-1990s?

Posted on 5 August, 2019 by danaallen

By: Buwen Dong Heat waves (HWs), commonly defined as prolonged periods of excessive hot weather, are a distinctive type of high-temperature extreme (Perkins 2015). These high-temperature extremes can lead to severe damage to human society and ecosystems. In our studies, … Continue reading →

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How climate modelling can help us better understand the historical temperature evolution

Posted on 24 June, 2019 by danaallen

By: Andrea Dittus Figure 1: Annual global mean surface temperatures from NASA GISTemp, NOAA GlobalTemp, Hadley/UEA HadCRUT4, Berkeley Earth, Cowtan and Way, Copernicus/ECMWF and Carbon Brief’s raw temperature record. Anomalies plotted with respect to a 1981-2010 baseline. Figure and caption from Carbon Brief (https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-how-world-warmed-2018). Earth’s climate has warmed … Continue reading →

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Why was the sky Orange?

Posted on 10 September, 2018 by hjia

By William Davies I was sitting in my house one morning in October 2017, engrossed in what I was doing. Gradually I noticed that an eerie darkness was smothering the natural light in the room. I stopped and looked outside. … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Atmospheric chemistry, Atmospheric optics, Climate, Climate modelling, earth observation, Environmental hazards, Numerical modelling, Remote sensing, University of Reading | Leave a comment

Characteristics of cumulus population and microphysical properties observed over Southeast Atlantic

Posted on 28 August, 2018 by hjia

By Yann Blanchard Figure 1. Cumulus in the vicinity of Ascension Island, in a 100 x 100km image (which is close to global climate model spatial resolution) from MODIS onboard AQUA (22 July 2016) Shallow cumulus cover large areas in … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Atlantic, Atmospheric chemistry, Climate modelling, earth observation, Numerical modelling, Oceans, Remote sensing, Solar radiation, University of Reading | Leave a comment

What’s the secret of coarse dust?

Posted on 18 June, 2018 by hjia

By Claire Ryder Mineral dust aerosol particles are regularly lifted into the atmosphere in arid regions, such as deserts, and transported over thousands of kilometres by the wind, such as from the Sahara desert to the Caribbean Sea, as shown … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Africa, Atmospheric chemistry, Climate modelling, earth observation, Remote sensing | Leave a comment

Hidden in the clouds

Posted on 30 April, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Nicolas Bellouin Our atmosphere contains varying amounts of tiny liquid or solid particles called aerosols. Some aerosols have a natural origin, like the mineral dust particles that form sandstorms, or the sea spray emitted by breaking waves. Other aerosols … Continue reading →

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Skirting the Issue

Posted on 16 April, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Geoff Wadge During a major explosive volcanic eruption a set of three main processes transfers mass and heat from the solid earth to the atmosphere. These three processes are: a gas thrust (jet) extending up from the volcanic vent, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Environmental hazards, Environmental physics, Volcanoes | Tagged | Leave a comment

Simulating the effect of electrical charge on cloud drops using Direct Numerical Simulation

Posted on 30 October, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Torsten Auerswald In the atmosphere, clouds develop when water vapour condenses leading to the formation of cloud drops. This process is usually supported by the presence of condensation nuclei which allow drop formation at low supersaturations. Aerosol particles in the … Continue reading →

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