Sulfuric acid deposition from stratospheric geoengineering with sulfate aerosols
Type
ArticleKAUST Department
Earth Science and Engineering ProgramOffice of the VP
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Date
2009-07-28Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/552141
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
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.Citation
Sulfuric acid deposition from stratospheric geoengineering with sulfate aerosols 2009, 114 (D14) Journal of Geophysical ResearchPublisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Journal
Journal of Geophysical ResearchAdditional Links
http://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2009JD011918ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1029/2009JD011918