Seminar: How aerosol-cloud physics buffers clouds against aerosol perturbations ?

Seminar 25 (August 26, 2026) of the CleanCloud series. 

Speaker: 

Dr. Po-Lun Ma, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA

Title: 

How aerosol-cloud physics buffers clouds against aerosol perturbations

Abstract: Earth system models continue to struggle to accurately simulate aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions, owing largely to deficiencies in process understanding and model representation. In this talk, I will present a major model development effort that addresses several longstanding structural deficiencies and quantifies their impacts on aerosol radiative effects. Using a satellite-derived radiation kernel, we trace changes in the cloud albedo and cloud lifetime effects back to the underlying physics governing background and ultrafine aerosol particles, aerosol mixing state, droplet collection efficiency, and atmospheric turbulence. Our results reveal a strong connection between microscale aerosol-cloud physics and the cloud albedo effect, while the cloud lifetime effect is comparatively insensitive to these processes. These findings suggest that aerosol-cloud physics can buffer cloud responses to aerosol perturbations, with important implications for reducing uncertainties in aerosol radiative effects.