A Modeling Study of the Climate Effects of Sulfate and Carbonaceous Aerosols over China

In this paper, the RIEMS 2.0 model is used to simulate the distribution of sulfate, black carbon, and organic carbon aerosols over China （16.2°-44.1°N, 93.4°-132.4°E） in 1998. The climate effects of these three anthropogenic aerosols are also simulated. The results are summarized as follows： （1） The regional average column burdens of sulfate, BC, OC, and SOC were 5.9, 0.24, 2.4, and 0.49 mg m-2, with maxima of 33.9, 1.48, 7.3, and 1.1 mg m-2, respectively. The column burden and surface concentration of secondary organic carbon accounted for about 20% and 7%, respectively, of the total organic carbon in eastern China. （2） The radiative forcings of sulfate, organic carbon, and black carbon at the top of the atmosphere were -1.24, -0.6, and 0.16 W m 2 respectively, with extremes of -5.25, -2.6, and 0.91 W m-2. （3） The surface air temperature changes caused by sulfate, organic carbon, and black carbon were -0.07, -0.04, and 0.01 K, respectively. The air temperature increase caused by black carbon at 850 hPa was higher than that at the surface. The net effect of the three kinds of anthropogenic aerosols together decreased the annual average temperature by -0.075 K; the maximum value was -0.3 K. （4） Black carbon can reduce the precipitation in arid and semi-arid areas of northern China and increase the precipitation in wet and semi-wet areas of southern China. The average precipitation increase caused by black carbon in China was 0.003 mm d^-1. The net effect of the three kinds of anthropogenic aerosols was to decrease the precipitation over China by 0.008 mmd ^-1.

Aerosol Indirect Effects on Warm Clouds in the Grid-Point Atmospheric Model of IAP LASG(GAMIL)

Aerosol indirect effects on warm clouds are estimated in the Grid-point Atmospheric Model of the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics,Institute of Atmospheric Physics(IAP LASG)(GAMIL) with a new two-moment cloud microphysics scheme using two different physically-based aerosol activation parameterizations:Abdul-Razzak and Ghan,and Nenes and Seinfeld.The annual global mean changes in shortwave cloud forcing from preindustrial times to present day(a measure of the aerosol indirect effects) estimated from these two parameterizations are remarkably similar:0.76 W m?2 with the Abdul-Razzak and Ghan parameterization,and 0.78 W m?2 with the Nenes and Seinfeld parameterization.Physically-based parameterizations can provide robust representations of aerosol effects on droplet nucleation,meaning that aerosol activation is no longer the most uncertain factor in modeling aerosol indirect effects.

THE RADIATIVE EFFECTS OF ANTHROPOGENIC AEROSOLS OVER CHINA AND THEIR SENSITIVITY TO SOURCE EMISSION

In this paper,the RIEMS 2.0 model,source emission in 2006 and 2010 are used to simulate the distributions and radiative effects of different anthropogenic aerosols over China.The comparison between the results forced by source emissions in 2006 and 2010 also reveals the sensitivity of the radiative effects to source emission.The results are shown as follows:(1) Compared with those in 2006,the annual average surface concentration of sulfate in 2010 decreased over central and eastern China with a range of-5 to 0 μg/m^3;the decrease of annual average aerosol optical depth of sulfate over East China varied from 0.04 to 0.08;the annual average surface concentrations of BC,OC and nitrate increased over central and eastern China with maximums of 10.90,11.52 and 12.50μg/m^3,respectively;the annual aerosol optical depths of BC,OC and nitrate increased over some areas of East China with extremes of 0.006,0.007 and 0.008,respectively.(2)For the regional average results in 2010,the radiative forcings of sulfate,BC,OC,nitrate and their total net radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere over central and eastern China were-0.64,0.29,-0.41,-0.33 and-1.1 W/m^2,respectively.Compared with those in 2006,the radiative forcings of BC and OC in 2010 were both enhanced,while that of sulfate and the net radiative forcing were both weakened over East China mostly.(3)The reduction of the cooling effect of sulfate in 2010 produced a warmer surface air temperature over central and eastern China;the maximum value was 0.25 K.The cooling effect of nitrate was also slightly weakened.The warming effect of BC was enhanced over most of the areas in China,while the cooling effect of OC was enhanced over the similar area,particularly the area between Yangtze and Huanghe Rivers.The net radiative effect of the four anthropogenic aerosols generated the annual average reduction and the maximum reduction were-0.096 and-0.285 K,respectively,for the surface temperature in 2006,while in 2010 they were-0.063 and-0.256 K,respectively.In summary,the change in source emission lowered the cooling effect of anthropogenic aerosols,mainly because of the enhanced warming effect of BC and weakened cooling effect of scattering aerosols.

Effects of Aerosols on Fogs Observed in the North China Plain

Fog simulation and prediction are becoming increasingly important in China because of the great impact of fog on traffic and other human activities. More studies are needed to have a better understanding of the formation mechanisms and life cycles of fogs. This work uses data from two fog cases observed in Wuqing, Tianjin, in 2009. The data include aerosol size distribution, fog droplet size distribution, fog liquid water content, and meteorological properties. The results show that increasing aerosols can increase the number concentration of fog droplets and decrease fog droplet size, which is consistent with the first aerosol indirect effect found in clouds. It is also shown that increased aerosols can lead to lower visibility in fogs. This work demonstrates that the first aerosol indirect effect plays an important role in fogs.

Simulating Aerosol Optical Depth and Direct Radiative Effects over the Tibetan Plateau with a High-Resolution CAS FGOALS-f3 Model

Current global climate models cannot resolve the complex topography over the Tibetan Plateau(TP)due to their coarse resolution.This study investigates the impacts of horizontal resolution on simulating aerosol and its direct radiative effect(DRE)over the TP by applying two horizontal resolutions of about 100 km and 25 km to the Chinese Academy of Sciences Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere Land System(CAS FGOALS-f3)over a 10-year period.Compared to the AErosol RObotic NETwork observations,a high-resolution model(HRM)can better reproduce the spatial distribution and seasonal cycles of aerosol optical depth(AOD)compared to a low-resolution model(LRM).The HRM bias and RMSE of AOD decreased by 0.08 and 0.12,and the correlation coefficient increased by 0.22 compared to the LRM.An LRM is not sufficient to reproduce the aerosol variations associated with fine-scale topographic forcing,such as in the eastern marginal region of the TP.The difference between hydrophilic aerosols in an HRM and LRM is caused by the divergence of the simulated relative humidity(RH).More reasonable distributions and variations of RH are conducive to simulating hydrophilic aerosols.An increase of the 10-m wind speed in winter by an HRM leads to increased dust emissions.The simulated aerosol DREs at the top of the atmosphere(TOA)and at the surface by the HRM are–0.76 W m^(–2)and–8.72 W m^(–2)over the TP,respectively.Both resolution models can capture the key feature that dust TOA DRE transitions from positive in spring to negative in the other seasons.

Climate Responses to Direct Radiative Forcing of Anthropogenic Aerosols,Tropospheric Ozone,and Long-Lived Greenhouse Gases in Eastern China over 1951–2000

A unified chemistry-aerosol-climate model is applied in this work to compare climate responses to changing concentrations of long-lived greenhouse gases （GHGs, CO2, CH4, N2O）, tropospheric O3, and aerosols during the years 1951-2000. Concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, primary organic carbon （POA）, secondary organic carbon （SOA）, black carbon （BC） aerosols, and tropospheric 03 for the years 1950 and 2000 are obtained a priori by coupled chemistry-aerosol-GCM simulations, and then monthly concentrations are interpolated linearly between 1951 and 2000. The annual concentrations of GHGs are taken from the IPCC Third Assessment Report. BC aerosol is internally mixed with other aerosols. Model results indicate that the sinmlated climate change over 1951-2000 is sensitive to anthropogenic changes in atmospheric components. The predicted year 2000 global mean surface air temperature can differ by 0.8℃ with different forcings. Relative to the climate simulation without changes in GHGs, O3, and aerosols, anthropogenic forcings of SO4^2-, BC, BC＋SO4^2-, BC＋SO4^2- ＋POA, BC＋SO4^2- ＋POA＋SOA＋NO3^-, O3, and GHGs are predicted to change the surface air temperature averaged over 1971-2000 in eastern China, respectively, by -0.40℃, ＋0.62℃, ＋0.18℃, ＋0.15℃, -0.78℃, ＋0.43℃, and ＋0.85℃, and to change the precipitation, respectively, by -0.21, ＋0.07, -0.03, ＋0.02, -0.24, -0.08, and ＋0.10 mm d^-1. The authors conclude that all major aerosols are as important as GHGs in influencing climate change in eastern China, and tropospheric O3 also needs to be included in studies of regional climate change in China.

Analytical Studies of the Cloud Droplet Spectral Dispersion Influence on the First Indirect Aerosol Effect

Atmospheric aerosols （acting as cloud condensation nuclei） can enhance the cloud droplet number concentration and reduce the cloud droplet size, and in turn affect the cloud optical depth, as well as the cloud albedo, and thereby exert a radiative influence on climate （the first indirect aerosol effect）. In this paper, based on various relationships between cloud droplet spectral dispersion （c） and cloud droplet number concentration （Nc）, we analytically derive the corresponding expressions of the cloud radiative forcing induced by changes in the cloud droplet number concentration. Further quantitative evaluation indicates that the cloud radiative forcing induced by aerosols for the different ^-Nc relationships varies from -29.1% to 25.2%, compared to the case without considering spectral dispersion （e = 0）. Our results suggest that an accurate description of e - Nc relationships helps to reduce the uncertainty of the first indirect aerosol effect and advances our scientific understanding of aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions.

First Surface-based Estimation of the Aerosol Indirect Effect over a Site in Southeastern China

The deployment of the U.S. Atmospheric Radiation Measurement mobile facility in Shouxian from May to December 2008 amassed the most comprehensive set of measurements of atmospheric, surface, aerosol, and cloud variables in China. This deployment provided a unique opportunity to investigate the aerosol-cloud interactions, which are most challenging and, to date, have not been examined to any great degree in China. The relationship between cloud droplet effective radius （CER） and aerosol index （AI） is very weak in summer because the cloud droplet growth is least affected by the competition for water vapor. Mean cloud liquid water path （LWP） and cloud optical depth （COD） significantly increase with increasing AI in fall. The sensitivities of CER and LWP to aerosol loading increases are not significantly different under different air mass conditions. There is a significant correlation between the changes in hourly mean AI and the changes in hourly mean CER, LWP, and COD. The aerosol first indirect effect （FIE） is estimated in terms of relative changes in both CER （FIEcER） and COD （FIEcoD） with changes in AI for different seasons and air masses. FIEcoD and FIEcER are similar in magnitude and close to the typical FIE value of - 0.23, and do not change much between summer and fall or between the two different air mass conditions. Similar analyses were done using spaceborne Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data. The satellite-derived FIE is contrary to the FIE estimated from surface retrievals and may have large uncertainties due to some inherent limitations.

Assessment of aerosol effective radiative forcing and surface air temperature response over eastern China in CMIP5 models

The effective radiative forcing （ERF） and associated surface air temperature change over eastern China are estimated using multi-model results from CMIP5 （Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5）. The model results show that, relative to 1850, the multi-model and annual mean aerosol ERF for the year 2005 is -4.14 W m^-2 at the top of the atmosphere over eastern China （20°-45°N, 105°-122.5°E）. As a result of this ERF, the multi-model and annual mean surface air temperature change in eastern China during 1850-2005 is -1.05℃, leading to a climate sensitivity of 0.24℃/ （Wm^-2） in this region.

Aerosol Properties and Their Impacts on Surface CCN at the ARM Southern Great Plains Site during the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment

Aerosol particles are of particular importance because of their impacts on cloud development and precipitation processes over land and ocean. Aerosol properties as well as meteorological observations from the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement （ARM） platform situated in the Southern Great Plains （SGP） are utilized in this study to illustrate the dependence of continental cloud condensation nuclei （CCN） number concentration （NccN） on aerosol type and transport pathways. ARM-SGP observations from the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment field campaign are presented in this study and compared with our previous work during the 2009-10 Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer field campaign over the current ARM Eastern North Atlantic site. Northerly winds over the SGP reflect clean, continental conditions with aerosol scattering coefficient （~rsp） values less than 20 Mm-1 and Ncct~ values less than 100 cm .3. However, southerly winds over the SGP are responsible for the observed moderate to high correlation （R） among aerosol loading （Crsp 〉 60 Mm 1） and NCCN, carbonaceous chemical species （biomass burning smoke）, and precip- itable water vapor. This suggests a common transport mechanism for smoke aerosols and moisture via the Gull＇ of Mexico, indicating a strong dependence on air mass type. NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis aerosol and chemical data are moderately to highly correlated with surface ARM-SGP data, suggesting that this facility can represent surface aerosol conditions in the SGE especially during strong aerosol loading events that transport via the Gulf of Mexico. Future long-term investigations will help to understand the seasonal influences of air masses on aerosol, CCN, and cloud properties over land in comparison to over ocean.

Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation Interactions in a Closed-cell and Non-homogenous MBL Stratocumulus Cloud

A closed-cell marine stratocumulus case during the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic(ACE-ENA)aircraft field campaign is selected to examine the heterogeneities of cloud and drizzle microphysical properties and the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions.The spatial and vertical variabilities of cloud and drizzle microphysics are found in two different sets of flight legs:Leg-1 and Leg-2,which are parallel and perpendicular to the cloud propagation,respectively.The cloud along Leg-2 was close to adiabatic,where cloud-droplet effective radius and liquid water content linearly increase from cloud base to cloud top with less drizzle.The cloud along Leg-1 was sub-adiabatic with lower clouddroplet number concentration and larger cloud-droplet effective,but higher drizzle droplet number concentration,larger drizzle droplet median diameter and drizzle liquid water content.The heavier drizzle frequency and intensity on Leg-1 were enhanced by the collision-coalescence processes within cloud due to strong turbulence.The sub-cloud precipitation rate on Leg-1 was significantly higher than that along Leg-2.As a result,the sub-cloud accumulation mode aerosols and CCN on Leg-1 were depleted,but the coarse model aerosols increased.This further leads to a counter-intuitive phenomenon that the CCN is less than cloud-droplet number concentration for Leg-1.The average CCN loss rates are −3.89 cm^(-3)h^(-1)and −0.77 cm^(-3)h^(-1) on Leg-1 and Leg-2,respectively.The cloud and drizzle heterogeneities inside the same stratocumulus can significantly alter the sub-cloud aerosols and CCN budget.Hence it should be treated with caution in the aircraft assessment of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions.

Variation of sulfate aerosol concentrations over the western Pacific and their effect on clouds, radiation and precipitation

Under bilateral cooperation between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, a series of research cruises were conducted over the western Pacific Ocean. It was found that a) the non-sea-salt sulfate aerosol particles are the major source of cloud condensation nuclei, b) the population of clouds and the total albedo are proportional to the concentration of condensation nuclei and consequently to the concentration of the non-sea-salt aerosol particles, and c) the amount of rainfall is inversely proportional to the concentration of non-sea-salt sulfate aerosol particles. It seems that anthropogenic sulfate aerosol particles affect the regional planetary albedo and climate and that the contribution from biogenically derived sulfate aerosol particles is of lesser importance.

Model Analysis of the Anthropogenic Aerosol Effect on Clouds over East Asia

A coupled meteorology and aerosol/chemistry model WRF-Chem （Weather Research and Forecast model coupled with Chemistry） was used to conduct a pair of simulations with present-day （PD） and preindustrial （P1） emissions over East Asia to examine the aerosol indirect effect on clouds. As a result of an increase in aerosols in January, the cloud droplet number increased by 650 cm-3 over the ocean and East China, 400 cm-3 over Central and Southwest China, and less than 200 cm-3 over North China. The cloud liquid water path （LWP） increased by 40-60 g m-2 over the ocean and Southeast China and 30 g m-2 over Central China; the LWP in- creased less than 5 g m-2 or decreased by 5 g m2 over North China. The effective radius （Re） decreased by more than 4 pm over Southwest, Central, and Southeast China and 2 pm over North China. In July, variations in cloud properties were more uniform; the cloud droplet number increased by approximately 250400 cm-3, the LWP increased by approximately 30-50 g m 2, and Re decreased by approximately 3 μm over most regions of China. In response to cloud property changes from PI to PD, shortwave （SW） cloud radiative m-2 over the ocean and 10 forcing strengthened by 30 W W m-2 over Southeast China, and it weakened slightly by approximately 2-10 W m-2 over Central and Southwest China in January. In July, SW cloud radiative forcing strengthened by 15 W m-2 over Southeast and North China and weakened by l0 W m-2 over Central China. The different responses of SW cloud radiative forcing in different regions was related to cloud feedbacks and natural variability.

Impact of Direct Radiative Forcing of Anthropogenic Aerosols on Diurnal Temperature Range in January in Eastern China

This study investigates the changes in January diurnal temperature range(DTR) in China during 1961-2000.The observed DTR changes during 1981-2000 relative to 1961-80 are first analyzed based on the daily temperature data at 546 weather stations.These observed DTR changes are classified into six cases depending on the changes in daily maximum and minimum temperatures,and then the occurrence frequency and magnitude of DTR change in each case are presented.Three transient simulations are then performed to understand the impact of greenhouse gases(GHGs) and aerosol direct forcing on DTR change:one without anthropogenic radiative forcing,one with anthropogenic GHGs,and another one with the combined forcing of GHGs and five species of anthropogenic aerosols.The predicted daily DTR changes during the years 1981-2000 are also classified into six cases and are compared with the observations.Results show that the previously proposed reason for DTR reduction,a stronger nocturnal warming than a daytime warming,explains only 19.8%of the observed DTR reduction days.DTR reductions are found to generally occur in northeastern China,coinciding with significant regional warming.The simulation with GHG forcing alone reproduces this type of DTR reduction with an occurrence frequency of 32.9%,which is larger than the observed value.Aerosol direct forcing reduces DTR mainly by daytime cooling.Consideration of aerosol cooling improves the simulation of occurrence frequencies of different types of DTR changes as compared to the simulation with GHGs alone,but it cannot improve the prediction of the magnitude of DTR changes.

THE ANALYSIS OF MECHANISM OF IMPACT OF AEROSOLS ON EAST ASIAN SUMMER MONSOON INDEX AND ONSET

RegCM4.3, a high-resolution regional climate model, which includes five kinds of aerosols(dust, sea salt,sulfate, black carbon and organic carbon), is employed to simulate the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM) from 1995 to 2010 and the simulation data are used to study the possible impact of natural and anthropogenic aerosols on EASM.The results show that the regional climate model can well simulate the EASM and the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols. The EASM index is reduced by about 5% by the natural and anthropogenic aerosols and the monsoon onset time is also delayed by about a pentad except for Southeast China. The aerosols heat the middle atmosphere through absorbing solar radiation and the air column expands in Southeast China and its offshore areas. As a result, the geopotential height decreases and a cyclonic circulation anomaly is generated in the lower atmosphere. Northerly wind located in the west of cyclonic circulation weakens the low-level southerly wind in the EASM region. Negative surface radiative forcing due to aerosols causes downward motion and an indirect meridional circulation is formed with the low-level northerly wind and high-level southerly wind anomaly in the north of 25° N in the monsoon area, which weakens the vertical circulation of EASM. The summer precipitation of the monsoon region is significantly reduced,especially in North and Southwest China where the value of moisture flux divergence increases.

A Study of the Radiation-Climate Effect of Aerosol over Beijing Area

In this paper, the monthly-averaged planetary albedo and equivalent blackbody temperature are calculated by using Gauss-Seidle numerical model to solve the equation of radiative transfer, based on measured aerosol data over Beijing aera. With the increase of atmospheric turbidity, the planetary albedo has different characteristics in different seasons, and there is an evident decrease in the winter season. It means that the local aerosol has an heating effect to the atmosphere in winter. The correlation feature between the surface temperature and the horizontal visibility from 1963 to 1986 is analyzed, and anticorrelation is discovered in winter. It is found that surface temperature increases with the increase of aeresol.

Air Pollution or Global Warming:Attribution of Extreme Precipitation Changes in Eastern China—Comments on “Trends of Extreme Precipitation in Eastern China and Their Possible Causes”

The recent study ＂Trends of Extreme Precipitation in Eastern China and Their Possible Causes＂ attributed the observed decrease/increase of light/heavy precipitation in eastern China to global warming rather than the regional aerosol effects. However, there exist compelling evidence from previous long-term observations and numerical modeling studies, suggesting that anthropogenic pollution is closely linked to the recent changes in precipitation intensity because of considerably modulated cloud physical properties by aerosols in eastern China. Clearly, a quantitative assessment of the aerosol and greenhouse effects on the regional scale is required to identify the primary cause for the extreme precipitation changes.

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Global Deep Cloud Systems Based on CloudSat and CALIPSO Satellite Observations

ABSTRACT The spatial and temporal global distribution of deep clouds was analyzed using a four-year dataset （2007-10） based on observations from CloudSat and CALIPSO. Results showed that in the Northern Hemisphere, the number of deep cloud systems （DCS） reached a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter. Seasonal variations in the number of DCS varied zonally in the Southern Hemisphere. DCS occurred most frequently over central Africa, the northern parts of South America and Australia, and Tibet. The mean cloud-top height of deep cloud cores （TDCC） decreased toward high latitudes in all seasons. DCS with the highest TDCC and deepest cores occurred over east and south Asian monsoon regions, west-central Africa and northern South America. The width of DCS （WDCS） increased toward high latitudes in all seasons. In general, DCS were more developed in the horizontal than in the vertical direction over high latitudes and vice versa over lower lat- itudes. Findings from this study show that different mechanisms are behind the development of DCS at different latitudes. Most DCS at low latitudes are deep convective clouds which are highly developed in the vertical direction but cover a rela tively small area in the horizontal direction; these DCS have the highest TDCC and smallest WDCS. The DCS at midlatitudes are more likely to be caused by cyclones, so they have less vertical development than DCS at low latitudes. DCS at high latitudes are mainly generated by large frontal systems, so they have the largest WDCS and the smallest TDCC.

Characteristics of the Heat Island Effect in Shanghai and Its Possible Mechanism

The characteristics of the urban heat island effect and the climate change in Shanghai and its possible mechanism are analyzed based on monthly meteorological data from 1961 to 1997 at 16 stations in Shanghai and its adjacent areas. The results indicate that Shanghai City has the characteristics of a heat island of air temperature and maximum and minimum air temperature, a cold island of surface soil temperature, a weak rainy island of precipitation, and a turbid island of minimum visibility and aerosols, with centers at or near Longhua station (the urban station of Shanghai). Besides theses, the characteristics of a cloudy island and sunshine duration island are also obvious, but their centers are located in the southern part of the urban area and in the southern suburbs. A linear trend analysis suggests that all of the above urban effects intensified from 1961 to 1997. So far as the heat island effect is concerned, the heat island index (difference of annual temperature between Longhua and Songjiang stations) strengthens (weakens) as the economic development increases (decreases). The authors suggest that the heating increase caused by increasing energy consumption due to economic development is a main factor in controlling the climate change of Shanghai besides natural factors. On the other hand, increasing pollution aerosols contribute to the enhancement of the turbid island and cooling. On the whole, the heating effect caused by increasing energy consumption is stronger than the cooling effect caused by the turbid island and pollution aerosols.

A Review of Aerosol Optical Properties and Radiative Effects

Atmospheric aerosols influence the earth＇s radiative balance directly through scattering and absorbing solar radiation,and indirectly through affecting cloud properties.An understanding of aerosol optical properties is fundamental to studies of aerosol effects on climate.Although many such studies have been undertaken,large uncertainties in describing aerosol optical characteristics remain,especially regarding the absorption properties of different aerosols.Aerosol radiative effects are considered as either positive or negative perturbations to the radiation balance,and they include direct,indirect（albedo effect and cloud lifetime effect）,and semi-direct effects.The total direct effect of anthropogenic aerosols is negative（cooling）,although some components may contribute a positive effect（warming）.Both the albedo effect and cloud lifetime effect cool the atmosphere by increasing cloud optical depth and cloud cover,respectively.Absorbing aerosols,such as carbonaceous aerosols and dust,exert a positive forcing at the top of atmosphere and a negative forcing at the surface,and they can directly warm the atmosphere.Internally mixed black carbon aerosols produce a stronger warming effect than externally mixed black carbon particles do.The semidirect effect of absorbing aerosols could amplify this warming effect.Based on observational（ground- and satellite-based） and simulation studies,this paper reviews current progress in research regarding the optical properties and radiative effects of aerosols and also discusses several important issues to be addressed in future studies.