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Simultaneous Optical & Chemical Measurements of Aerosols as a Function of Relative Humidity: Bridging Laboratory and Field Measurements to Models


EMSL Project ID
30464

Abstract

Interactions of anthropogenic aerosols with solar radiation and clouds and are the largest source of uncertainty in climate change science. The key science gap is a lack of process-level knowledge of (1) spectrally resolved optical properties of mixed non-absorbing and absorbing aerosols as a function of relative humidity and (2) microphysical properties of mixed hydrophobic and hydrophilic aerosols. Our laboratory experiments will fill this void by measuring (1) optical properties at 3 wavelengths (405, 532 and 781 nm) and as a function of relative humidity and (2) microphysical of aerosols of controlled and known complexity. By reproducing in the laboratory atmospherically-relevant particle compositions and spanning a wide dynamic range of environmental conditions, our results will enable a robust parameterizations aerosol properties as a function of composition and relative humidity in climate models.

Project Details

Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2008-09-11
End Date
2011-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Manvendra Dubey
Institution
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Team Members

Timothy Vaden
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory