TY - JOUR
T1 - Sulfuric acid deposition from stratospheric geoengineering with sulfate aerosols
AU - Kravitz, Ben
AU - Robock, Alan
AU - Oman, Luke
AU - Stenchikov, Georgiy L.
AU - Marquardt, Allison B.
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
PY - 2009/7/28
Y1 - 2009/7/28
N2 - We used a general circulation model of Earth's climate to conduct geoengineering experiments involving stratospheric injection of sulfur dioxide and analyzed the resulting deposition of sulfate. When sulfur dioxide is injected into the tropical or Arctic stratosphere, the main additional surface deposition of sulfate occurs in midlatitude bands, because of strong cross-tropopause flux in the jet stream regions. We used critical load studies to determine the effects of this increase in sulfate deposition on terrestrial ecosystems by assuming the upper limit of hydration of all sulfate aerosols into sulfuric acid. For annual injection of 5 Tg of SO2 into the tropical stratosphere or 3 Tg of SO2 into the Arctic stratosphere, neither the maximum point value of sulfate deposition of approximately 1.5 mEq m−2 a−1 nor the largest additional deposition that would result from geoengineering of approximately 0.05 mEq m−2 a−1 is enough to negatively impact most ecosystems.
AB - We used a general circulation model of Earth's climate to conduct geoengineering experiments involving stratospheric injection of sulfur dioxide and analyzed the resulting deposition of sulfate. When sulfur dioxide is injected into the tropical or Arctic stratosphere, the main additional surface deposition of sulfate occurs in midlatitude bands, because of strong cross-tropopause flux in the jet stream regions. We used critical load studies to determine the effects of this increase in sulfate deposition on terrestrial ecosystems by assuming the upper limit of hydration of all sulfate aerosols into sulfuric acid. For annual injection of 5 Tg of SO2 into the tropical stratosphere or 3 Tg of SO2 into the Arctic stratosphere, neither the maximum point value of sulfate deposition of approximately 1.5 mEq m−2 a−1 nor the largest additional deposition that would result from geoengineering of approximately 0.05 mEq m−2 a−1 is enough to negatively impact most ecosystems.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/552141
UR - http://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2009JD011918
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70350052772&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2009JD011918
DO - 10.1029/2009JD011918
M3 - Article
SN - 0148-0227
VL - 114
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research
IS - D14
ER -