GMAO AEROSOL MODELING
The GEOS-5 system is currently used with the GOCART module of AeroChem to make real-time estimates and forecasts of aerosols, CO and CO2 tracers in support of NASA field campaigns. GOCART is implemented as a modular, tightly coupled component of GEOS-5 that interacts with the atmospheric dynamics and other physical parameterizations at every time step. GOCART uses an efficient but simplified bulk treatment of aerosols that predicts the aerosol mass, but not the number concentration. Since the advanced cloud microphysics schemes now being developed for GEOS-5 require information on the aerosol size distribution, the GMAO is in the process of integrating the Modal Aerosol Module (MAM) into the GEOS modeling system. Another more comprehensive and computationally demanding aerosol module — the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA) — is another option already available within GEOS-5.
» Simulating the Transport of Aerosols with GEOS-5 (article with animations)
