Characteristics of Daytime‐And‐Nighttime AOD Differences Over China: A Perspective From CALIOP Satellite Observations and GEOS‐Chem Model Simulations

Abstract

We use the GEOS‐Chem chemistry transport model to quantify the factors in the diel discrepancy of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) retrieved from Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) satellite observations over eastern China. The GEOS‐Chem simulation reveals that the AOD below 1 km is 58.5% larger at night than during the daytime, which is comparable to the counterpart of 41.3% from CALIOP (v4.2). Model sensitivity simulations show that the diurnal variation in wind barely impacts the AOD difference between daytime and nighttime, and the increase in AOD at nighttime is primarily caused by the lower temperature at nighttime compared to daytime. Further simulations demonstrate that the low temperature at night increases AOD primarily by increasing relative humidity, and hence particle hygroscopic growth, while the effect of temperature on chemical rate barely influences AOD. CALIOP also observes that the absolute difference in AOD above 1 km between nighttime and daytime is 0.105, while the counterpart in GEOS‐Chem simulations is −0.031. This contrast can be partly explained by the factor that the percentage of valid CALIOP retrievals below 5 km is 15%–20% greater at nighttime than in the daytime due to the CALIOP detection limit. Removing the detection limit impact decreases the difference in the CALIOP AOD above 1 km between nighttime and daytime to 0.073.