ACP - recent papers

1. Evaluating the representativeness of aircraft sampling strategies for cloud water content in LASSO simulations over the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) Site
   Evaluating the representativeness of aircraft sampling strategies for cloud water content in LASSO simulations over the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) Site Jiakun Liang, William I. Gustafson Jr., Dana R. Caulton, and Jennifer D. Small Griswold Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 16029–16045, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-16029-2026, 2026 Aircraft measurements are essential for studying clouds, but capture only limited parts of a cloud field. This study uses high-resolution atmospheric simulations to assess how flight paths, altitude patterns, and speed affect the representativeness of aircraft measurements. The results show that faster flights generally improve agreement and staircase sampling performs consistently well. Cloud tops are harder to capture than cloud bases. These findings help interpret aircraft observations.
2. Methane in the Asian Monsoon anticyclone and global UTLS behavior observed in ACE-FTS satellite data
   Methane in the Asian Monsoon anticyclone and global UTLS behavior observed in ACE-FTS satellite data You Yi, William J. Randel, Laura L. Pan, Yi Liu, Shuangxi Fang, Zhaonan Cai, Teresa Campos, and Benjamin Gaubert Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 16013–16028, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-16013-2026, 2026 Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, but how it reaches the upper atmosphere is not well known. Using satellite data, we show that the Asian summer monsoon plays a key role in transporting methane from the lower atmosphere to the upper atmosphere, where it affects both Earth's radiation and the amount of water vapor. Our findings reveal that a regional weather system can influence the global distribution of methane, helping scientists better predict future climate change. 
3. New particle formation contribution to aerosol mass: regimes and implications for future urban environments
   New particle formation contribution to aerosol mass: regimes and implications for future urban environments Runlong Cai, Shimeng Xu, Veli-Matti Kerminen, and Markku Kulmala Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 16003–16012, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-16003-2026, 2026 New particle formation (NPF) is a dominant global source of atmospheric particle number concentration and cloud condensation nuclei, yet its contribution to aerosol mass remains an open question. A prevailing hypothesis argues that vapors would partition into the particle phase regardless of the existence of new particles. Here we challenge this hypothesis by showing that NPF can significantly affect the aerosol surface area distribution and may further contribute significantly to aerosol mass.
4. Evaluation and improvement of the cold pool parameterization in the LMDZ climate model against Large Eddy Simulations
   Evaluation and improvement of the cold pool parameterization in the LMDZ climate model against Large Eddy Simulations Mamadou Lamine Thiam, Frédéric Hourdin, Jean-Yves Grandpeix, Catherine Rio, and Maëlle Coulon-Decorzens Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 15975–16002, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-15975-2026, 2026 Explicit simulations (LES) of cold pools formed by the re-evaporation of convective rainfall are compared with a parameterization developed for a climate model. The study demonstrates the relevance of the parameterization principles. Improvements to the scheme and automatic tuning of free parameters also lead to very good quantitative agreement between the LES and the parameterization.
5. Sensitivity of marine cloud brightening over the Great Barrier Reef to spatial variability in aerosol forcing: a case study using a convection-permitting model
   Sensitivity of marine cloud brightening over the Great Barrier Reef to spatial variability in aerosol forcing: a case study using a convection-permitting model Wenhui Zhao, Yi Huang, Steven Siems, and Daniel Harrison Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 15895–15913, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-15895-2026, 2026 Using convection-permitting Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulations, this study examines how marine cloud brightening over the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) depends on aerosol emission strength and spatial distribution. Densely spaced sources generate more uniform aerosol enhancements and stronger cloud microphysical responses than sparsely distributed sources, despite identical emissions. Cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) and optical depth increase strongly, indicating a dominant Twomey effect, while cloud water and coverage respond weakly.