Global aerosol distribution, FIM-Chem data. In this sequence, the FIM-Chem model is used to trace the presence of three aerosols from August 27, 2009 through September 7, 2009. Green shading is dust, red shading is black carbon aerosols and blue is organic carbon aerosols. Aerosols are one of the biggest uncertainties in climate models due to their varied effects on radiation and cloud physics. The FIM-Chem model was created following the success of the original FIM Model (Finite Volume Icosahedral Model). The FIM-Chem is the FIM model with chemistry and aerosol modules added. The FIM-Chem allows researchers to forecast and study the behaviour of aerosols in the atmosphere, leading to the potential for better Earth system modelling for climate prediction. Areas of anthropogenic emissions tend to have a redder colour, while areas of burning, such as wildfires, tend to have a more purplish-pink colour. Wildfires have a high ratio of organic carbon to black carbon. During the time period of this dataset there were wildfires in California, Alaska and British Columbia, and biomass burning in Sub-Equatorial Africa and the Amazon region. The white shading is from the presence of all three aerosols. This can be seen in southern Europe where the anthropogenic emissions from Europe are mixing with the dry, dusty air from the Sahara. |