Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE)
EMSL Project ID
48804
Abstract
The proposed HI-SCALE field campaign to be conducted in the vicinity of the Southern Great Plains (SGP) "megasite" in Oklahoma during 2016 will utilize unique observational tools available through the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program and EMSL. The primary scientific objective of the campaign is to obtain a more holistic understanding of the lifecycle of shallow clouds by coupling cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties to aerosols, land surface properties, and ecosystems. This includes quantifying the influence of inhomogeneities in aerosol microphysical properties (size distribution, composition, mixing state), land use, vegetation, soil moisture, convective eddies on the evolution of shallow clouds as well as the feedbacks of cloud radiative effects on heat, moisture, and momentum fluxes and on aerosol photochemical processes. To achieve this objective, we are proposing to obtain coincident measurements of meteorological, cloud, and aerosol properties on the Gulfstream 1 (G-1) aircraft platform over the SGP megasite. Analysis and modeling studies that use the in situ measurements collected by the G-1 aircraft will be closely coupled with surface-based measurements, including both routine measurements obtained from the extensive ground-based instrumentation and measurements obtained from additional Intensive Observation Period (IOP) instrumentation co-located at the Central and Extended Facilities over the SGP megasite. Post-field campaign analysis of the data obtained from EMSL instrumentation will address questions related to the lifecycle of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and the aerosol mixing state. This includes determining the chemical composition of SOA within convective eddies, the role semi-volatile organic compounds on SOA formation, the relative contribution of anthropogenic, biogenic, and biomass burning sources to SOA, the mixing state of SOA with other compounds, the time scale associated with fresh biogenic SOA mixing and aging with background aerosol, and the impact of SOA and mixing state on optical properties, hygroscopicity, and CCN activity. This unprecedented dataset is needed to develop, test, evaluate, and improve new aerosol and aerosol-cloud interaction process modules for regional and global models.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2015-10-01
End Date
2016-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Co-Investigator(s)
Team Members