Solar Radiation Passing through Aerosol Layers Experiments

Description

A series of outdoor experiments were conducted in Russia from 2008 to 2010 to measure the impacts of aerosols on sunlight reflection under relatively controlled conditions.

The experiments, which took place between the surface and 2,500 m above the surface, included the introduction of combustion particles generated from petroleum products in trucks (ground-based) and “combustion of metal-chloride pyrotechnic compounds” in helicopter-based generators (airborne). The researchers found that building up a 100 m thick layer of aerosols with a density of about 1–10 mg/m2 decreased incoming sunlight by 1 to 10%.

The experiments, led by Yuri Izrael of Roshydromet and the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, were the first known efforts to systematically test the concepts of SAI outdoors. The research expanded on the work of Soviet scientist Mikhail Budyko, who noted the possibility of using stratospheric aerosols to counteract global warming.

Key Papers