A step towards better handling of fine particles in the HARMONIE atmospheric model

The HARMONIE atmospheric model is used for short-term weather forecasts and regional climate forecasts.

The impact of fine particles on short wave solar radiation is taken into account in the model, but in a simplified manner, as is the case in many other similar models. The study succeeded in calculating more precisely the impact of fine particles using daily particle data.

In the climate model tests, it was demonstrated that the solar radiation calculated by the model for the North European area only changed slightly – and mostly for maritime regions during the spring – when basic data on the optical thickness of particles was updated using the European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) database. The impact on the temperatures close to the surface remained small.

Further information:

Senior scientist Laura Rontu, Finnish Meteorological Institute, laura.rontu@fmi.fi

Rontu, L., Pietikäinen, J.-P., and Martin Perez, D.: Renewal of aerosol data for ALADIN-HIRLAM radiation parametrizations, Adv. Sci. Res., 16, 129–136, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-129-2019, 2019.