Articles | Volume 15, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1093-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1093-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
04 Mar 2022
Research article |
| 04 Mar 2022
| 04 Mar 2022
Laser imaging nephelometer for aircraft deployment
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Frank Erdesz
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Nicholas L. Wagner
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
now at: Ball Aerospace, Westminster, CO 80021, USA
Charles A. Brock
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2B4, Canada
Kyra Slovacek
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Richard H. Moore
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666, USA
Elizabeth B. Wiggins
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666, USA
NASA Postdoctoral Program, Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, MD 21046, USA
Daniel M. Murphy
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Related authors
No articles found.
Ariadne K. Papamichou, Evanthia Kallou, Richard H. Moore, Holger Pfaender, and Dimitri N. Mavris
J. Env. Com. Air Transp. Sys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/jecats-2026-11, https://doi.org/10.5194/jecats-2026-11, 2026
Preprint under review for JECATS
Short summary
Short summary
Contrails are thin ice clouds that may form behind aircraft, are responsible for about half of aviation's climate impact, and are hard to detect and predict. Using data from two flight test campaigns, we developed a tool that can be used with a camera mounted on aircraft to detect contrail formation and predict persistence in real time, with camera placement strongly affecting results. Using only this tool and onboard cameras, this lower-cost approach could help reduce aviation's climate impact.
Young Ro Lee, Linda Arterburn, Masayuki Takeuchi, David J. Tanner, James M. Roberts, Behrooz Roozitalab, Daun Jeong, Alan J. Hills, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Eric C. Apel, Simone Meinardi, Barbara Barletta, Nicola J. Blake, Donald R. Blake, Saewung Kim, Wojciech Wojnowski, Felix Piel, Armin Wisthaler, Katherine Ball, John D. Crounse, Paul O. Wennberg, Jason Miech, Yonghoon Choi, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Abby Sebol, Erin R. Delaria, Reem A. Hannun, Jason M. St. Clair, Glenn M. Wolfe, Changmin Cho, Courtney Owen, Kirk Lesko, Alessandro Franchin, Edward L. Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, Richard Moore, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Guy Symonds, Dongwook Kim, Douglas A. Day, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Kirk Ullmann, Samuel R. Hall, James H. Crawford, and L. Gregory Huey
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 8695–8715, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8695-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8695-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We flew a large variety of instruments on the NASA DC-8 research aircraft to measure pollution over South Korea in the winter of 2024. This works focuses on acyl peroxynitrates (PANs for short) which are formed by chemistry in air. We found high levels of PANs often associated with industrial emissions of pollutants such as ethanol and ethylene oxide. This work helps to understand how to reduce pollution of this sort.
Katherine Mifsud, Jason Barr, Robert Wood, Yonghoon Choi, Ewan Crosbie, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, Richard H. Moore, Claire Robinson, Michael A. Shook, Armin Sorooshian, Christiane Voigt, and Luke Ziemba
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3027, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3027, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Salt particles from the ocean can help marine clouds precipitate more quickly, but their role is not fully understood. Using aircraft observations over the northwest Atlantic Ocean and computer simulations, we studied how these particles affect warm rain formation. We found that clouds containing more large sea salt particles, even at relatively low amounts, produce more rain. These results improve understanding of how sea salt aerosols influence clouds, rainfall, and climate.
Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Nathaniel Brockway, Santo Fedele Colosimo, Robert Spurr, Matt Christi, Samuel Hall, Kirk Ullmann, Vijay Natraj, Nicolas Theys, Johnathan Hair, Taylor Shingler, Rodney Weber, Ruchen Zhu, Jack Dibb, Richard Moore, Elizabeth Wiggins, and Jochen Stutz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5541, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5541, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
This study applies a novel remote sensing algorithm to airborne radiation measurements performed in wildfire plumes, to retrieve the absorptive properties of biomass burning aerosols. The results provide new insights on the magnitude, wavelength dependence, and atmospheric aging of the imaginary refractive index, volume absorption cross-section, and single scattering albedo of the smoke particles. Furthermore, potential and limitations of the applied method are discussed.
Richard Ferrare, Johnathan Hair, Taylor Shingler, Chris Hostetler, Amin Nehrir, Marta Fenn, Amy Jo Scarino, Sharon Burton, Marian Clayton, James Collins, Laura Judd, James Crawford, Katherine Travis, Travis Toth, Pablo Saide, Jose Luis Jimenez, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Guy Symonds, Richard Moore, Luke Ziemba, Michael Shook, Glenn Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, Ryan Bennett, Chia-Hsiang Ho, Lim-Seok Chang, Adisak Aiampisanuvong, and Ittipol Pawarmart
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 7735–7766, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-7735-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-7735-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new method to retrieve atmospheric particulate matter concentrations using only airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar measurements in machine learning algorithms. Retrieved concentrations agree well with surface measurements. These concentrations and our estimates of the particle mass extinction efficiency are also consistent with those retrieved from airborne in situ measurements. This methodology can also be applied to the Atmosphere Lidar on the EarthCARE satellite.
Jason A. Miech, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Yonghoon Choi, Richard H. Moore, Luke D. Ziemba, Francesca Gallo, Carolyn E. Jordan, Michael A. Shook, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, Sayantee Roy, Young Ro Lee, Katherine Ball, John D. Crounse, Paul Wennberg, Felix Piel, Stefan Swift, Wojciech Wojnowski, and Armin Wisthaler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 15701–15714, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15701-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15701-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Biomass burning is a significant source of greenhouse gases and airborne pollutants in Asia. Airborne measurements of greenhouse gas enhancement ratios, trace gases, and particle scattering were used to identify air masses impacted by biomass burning over several Asian countries during February and March of 2024. Further analysis using atmospheric transport models and satellite hotspot products was performed to understand the transport history of biomass burning impacted airmasses over Thailand.
Emily Lenhardt, Lan Gao, Chris A. Hostetler, Richard A. Ferrare, Sharon P. Burton, Richard H. Moore, Luke D. Ziemba, Ewan Crosbie, Armin Sorooshian, Cassidy Soloff, and Jens Redemann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 13747–13768, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13747-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13747-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Small particles that form cloud droplets greatly impact Earth's climate but are very difficult to measure. If we can measure them using satellite-based instruments, we greatly increase the amount of available data on their concentrations. In this study, we find that including information about particle size is most important to measure them accurately from such satellite-based instruments. This can inform future studies on how to obtain more accurate information about small particles.
Kane Stone, Susan Solomon, Pengfei Yu, Daniel M. Murphy, Douglas Kinnison, and Jian Guan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7683–7697, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7683-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7683-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Australian 2019–2020 wildfires injected a substantial amount of smoke into the upper atmosphere, causing unusual chemical reactions that altered the chemical makeup of the upper atmosphere. This led to ozone depletion in the Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes that likely did not fully recover until 2 years after the initial event due to the persistent chemical effects of the smoke.
Hongyu Liu, Bo Zhang, Richard H. Moore, Luke D. Ziemba, Richard A. Ferrare, Hyundeok Choi, Armin Sorooshian, David Painemal, Hailong Wang, Michael A. Shook, Amy Jo Scarino, Johnathan W. Hair, Ewan C. Crosbie, Marta A. Fenn, Taylor J. Shingler, Chris A. Hostetler, Gao Chen, Mary M. Kleb, Gan Luo, Fangqun Yu, Mark A. Vaughan, Yongxiang Hu, Glenn S. Diskin, John B. Nowak, Joshua P. DiGangi, Yonghoon Choi, Christoph A. Keller, and Matthew S. Johnson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2087–2121, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2087-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2087-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We use the GEOS-Chem model to simulate aerosol distributions and properties over the western North Atlantic Ocean (WNAO) during the winter and summer deployments in 2020 of the NASA ACTIVATE mission. Model results are evaluated against aircraft, ground-based, and satellite observations. The improved understanding of life cycle, composition, transport pathways, and distribution of aerosols has important implications for characterizing aerosol–cloud–meteorology interactions over WNAO.
Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Santo Fedele Colosimo, Nathaniel Brockway, Robert Spurr, Matt Christi, Samuel Hall, Kirk Ullmann, Johnathan Hair, Taylor Shingler, Rodney Weber, Jack Dibb, Richard Moore, Elizabeth Wiggins, Vijay Natraj, Nicolas Theys, and Jochen Stutz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1989–2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1989-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1989-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We combine plume composition data from the 2019 NASA FIREX-AQ campaign with state-of-the-art radiative transfer modeling techniques to calculate distributions of actinic flux and photolysis frequencies in a wildfire plume. Excellent agreement of the model and observations demonstrates the applicability of this approach to constrain photochemistry in such plumes. We identify limiting factors for the modeling accuracy and discuss spatial and spectral features of the distributions.
Gregory P. Schill, Karl D. Froyd, Daniel M. Murphy, Christina J. Williamson, Charles A. Brock, Tomás Sherwen, Mat J. Evans, Eric A. Ray, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Alan J. Hills, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Chelsea R. Thompson, Ilann Bourgeois, Donald R. Blake, Joshua P. DiGangi, and Glenn S. Diskin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 45–71, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-45-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-45-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Using single-particle mass spectrometry, we show that trace concentrations of bromine and iodine are ubiquitous in remote tropospheric aerosol and suggest that aerosols are an important part of the global reactive iodine budget. Comparisons to a global climate model with detailed iodine chemistry are favorable in the background atmosphere; however, the model cannot replicate our measurements near the ocean surface, in biomass burning plumes, and in the stratosphere.
Xiaoli Shen, David M. Bell, Hugh Coe, Naruki Hiranuma, Fabian Mahrt, Nicholas A. Marsden, Claudia Mohr, Daniel M. Murphy, Harald Saathoff, Johannes Schneider, Jacqueline Wilson, Maria A. Zawadowicz, Alla Zelenyuk, Paul J. DeMott, Ottmar Möhler, and Daniel J. Cziczo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10869–10891, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10869-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10869-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) is commonly used to measure the chemical composition and mixing state of aerosol particles. Intercomparison of SPMS instruments was conducted. All instruments reported similar size ranges and common spectral features. The instrument-specific detection efficiency was found to be more dependent on particle size than type. All differentiated secondary organic aerosol, soot, and soil dust but had difficulties differentiating among minerals and dusts.
Cassidy Soloff, Taiwo Ajayi, Yonghoon Choi, Ewan C. Crosbie, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Marta A. Fenn, Richard A. Ferrare, Francesca Gallo, Johnathan W. Hair, Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario, Simon Kirschler, Richard H. Moore, Taylor J. Shingler, Michael A. Shook, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, Edward L. Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10385–10408, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10385-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10385-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using aircraft measurements over the northwestern Atlantic between the US East Coast and Bermuda and trajectory modeling of continental outflow, we identify trace gas and particle properties that exhibit gradients with offshore distance and quantify these changes with high-resolution measurements of concentrations and particle chemistry, size, and scattering properties. This work furthers our understanding of the complex interactions between continental and marine environments.
Taiwo Ajayi, Yonghoon Choi, Ewan C. Crosbie, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Marta A. Fenn, Richard A. Ferrare, Johnathan W. Hair, Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario, Chris A. Hostetler, Simon Kirschler, Richard H. Moore, Taylor J. Shingler, Michael A. Shook, Cassidy Soloff, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, Edward L. Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9197–9218, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9197-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses airborne data to examine vertical profiles of trace gases, aerosol particles, and meteorological variables over a remote marine area (Bermuda). Results show distinct differences based on both air mass source region (North America, Ocean, Caribbean/North Africa) and altitude for a given air mass type. This work highlights the sensitivity of remote marine areas to long-range transport and the importance of considering the vertical dependence of trace gas and aerosol properties.
Maya Abou-Ghanem, Daniel M. Murphy, Gregory P. Schill, Michael J. Lawler, and Karl D. Froyd
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8263–8275, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8263-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8263-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using particle analysis by laser mass spectrometry, we examine vanadium-containing ship exhaust particles measured on NASA's DC-8 during the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom). Our results reveal ship exhaust particles are sufficiently widespread in the marine atmosphere and experience atmospheric aging. Finally, we use laboratory calibrations to determine the vanadium, sulfate, and organic single-particle mass fractions of vanadium-containing ship exhaust particles.
Ewan Crosbie, Luke D. Ziemba, Michael A. Shook, Taylor Shingler, Johnathan W. Hair, Armin Sorooshian, Richard A. Ferrare, Brian Cairns, Yonghoon Choi, Joshua DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Chris Hostetler, Simon Kirschler, Richard H. Moore, David Painemal, Claire Robinson, Shane T. Seaman, K. Lee Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, and Edward Winstead
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6123–6152, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6123-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6123-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Marine clouds are found to clump together in regions or lines, readily discernible from satellite images of the ocean. While clustering is also a feature of deep storm clouds, we focus on smaller cloud systems associated with fair weather and brief localized showers. Two aircraft sampled the region around these shallow systems: one incorporated measurements taken within, adjacent to, and below the clouds, while the other provided a survey from above using remote sensing techniques.
Tianjia Liu, James T. Randerson, Yang Chen, Douglas C. Morton, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Padhraic Smyth, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Roy Nadler, and Omer Nevo
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1395–1424, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1395-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1395-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To improve our understanding of extreme wildfire behavior, we use geostationary satellite data to develop the GOFER algorithm and track the hourly fire progression of large wildfires. GOFER fills a key temporal gap present in other fire tracking products that rely on low-Earth-orbit imagery and reveals considerable variability in fire spread rates on diurnal timescales. We create a product of hourly fire perimeters, active-fire lines, and fire spread rates for 28 fires in California.
Simon Kirschler, Christiane Voigt, Bruce E. Anderson, Gao Chen, Ewan C. Crosbie, Richard A. Ferrare, Valerian Hahn, Johnathan W. Hair, Stefan Kaufmann, Richard H. Moore, David Painemal, Claire E. Robinson, Kevin J. Sanchez, Amy J. Scarino, Taylor J. Shingler, Michael A. Shook, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Edward L. Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10731–10750, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10731-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10731-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we present an overview of liquid and mixed-phase clouds and precipitation in the marine boundary layer over the western North Atlantic Ocean. We compare microphysical properties of pure liquid clouds to mixed-phase clouds and show that the initiation of the ice phase in mixed-phase clouds promotes precipitation. The observational data presented in this study are well suited for investigating the processes that give rise to liquid and mixed-phase clouds, ice, and precipitation.
Armin Sorooshian, Mikhail D. Alexandrov, Adam D. Bell, Ryan Bennett, Grace Betito, Sharon P. Burton, Megan E. Buzanowicz, Brian Cairns, Eduard V. Chemyakin, Gao Chen, Yonghoon Choi, Brian L. Collister, Anthony L. Cook, Andrea F. Corral, Ewan C. Crosbie, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Sanja Dmitrovic, Eva-Lou Edwards, Marta A. Fenn, Richard A. Ferrare, David van Gilst, Johnathan W. Hair, David B. Harper, Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario, Chris A. Hostetler, Nathan Jester, Michael Jones, Simon Kirschler, Mary M. Kleb, John M. Kusterer, Sean Leavor, Joseph W. Lee, Hongyu Liu, Kayla McCauley, Richard H. Moore, Joseph Nied, Anthony Notari, John B. Nowak, David Painemal, Kasey E. Phillips, Claire E. Robinson, Amy Jo Scarino, Joseph S. Schlosser, Shane T. Seaman, Chellappan Seethala, Taylor J. Shingler, Michael A. Shook, Kenneth A. Sinclair, William L. Smith Jr., Douglas A. Spangenberg, Snorre A. Stamnes, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, Holger Vömel, Andrzej P. Wasilewski, Hailong Wang, Edward L. Winstead, Kira Zeider, Xubin Zeng, Bo Zhang, Luke D. Ziemba, and Paquita Zuidema
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3419–3472, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3419-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3419-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The NASA Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) produced a unique dataset for research into aerosol–cloud–meteorology interactions. HU-25 Falcon and King Air aircraft conducted systematic and spatially coordinated flights over the northwest Atlantic Ocean. This paper describes the ACTIVATE flight strategy, instrument and complementary dataset products, data access and usage details, and data application notes.
Stefano Potter, Sol Cooperdock, Sander Veraverbeke, Xanthe Walker, Michelle C. Mack, Scott J. Goetz, Jennifer Baltzer, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Arden Burrell, Catherine Dieleman, Nancy French, Stijn Hantson, Elizabeth E. Hoy, Liza Jenkins, Jill F. Johnstone, Evan S. Kane, Susan M. Natali, James T. Randerson, Merritt R. Turetsky, Ellen Whitman, Elizabeth Wiggins, and Brendan M. Rogers
Biogeosciences, 20, 2785–2804, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2785-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2785-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Here we developed a new burned-area detection algorithm between 2001–2019 across Alaska and Canada at 500 m resolution. We estimate 2.37 Mha burned annually between 2001–2019 over the domain, emitting 79.3 Tg C per year, with a mean combustion rate of 3.13 kg C m−2. We found larger-fire years were generally associated with greater mean combustion. The burned-area and combustion datasets described here can be used for local- to continental-scale applications of boreal fire science.
Francesca Gallo, Janek Uin, Kevin J. Sanchez, Richard H. Moore, Jian Wang, Robert Wood, Fan Mei, Connor Flynn, Stephen Springston, Eduardo B. Azevedo, Chongai Kuang, and Allison C. Aiken
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4221–4246, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4221-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4221-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a summary statistic of multiday aerosol plume transport event influences on aerosol physical properties and the cloud condensation nuclei budget at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Facility in the eastern North Atlantic (ENA). An algorithm that integrates aerosol properties is developed and applied to identify multiday aerosol transport events. The influence of the aerosol plumes on aerosol populations at the ENA is successively assessed.
Laura Tomsche, Felix Piel, Tomas Mikoviny, Claus J. Nielsen, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Benjamin A. Nault, Melinda K. Schueneman, Jose L. Jimenez, Hannah Halliday, Glenn Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, John B. Nowak, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Emily Gargulinski, Amber J. Soja, and Armin Wisthaler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2331–2343, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2331-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2331-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Ammonia (NH3) is an important trace gas in the atmosphere and fires are among the poorly investigated sources. During the 2019 Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) aircraft campaign, we measured gaseous NH3 and particulate ammonium (NH4+) in smoke plumes emitted from 6 wildfires in the Western US and 66 small agricultural fires in the Southeastern US. We herein present a comprehensive set of emission factors of NH3 and NHx, where NHx = NH3 + NH4+.
Fangqun Yu, Gan Luo, Arshad Arjunan Nair, Sebastian Eastham, Christina J. Williamson, Agnieszka Kupc, and Charles A. Brock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1863–1877, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1863-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1863-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Particle number concentrations and size distributions in the stratosphere are studied through model simulations and comparisons with measurements. The nucleation scheme used in most of the solar geoengineering modeling studies overpredicts the nucleation rates and particle number concentrations in the stratosphere. The model based on updated nucleation schemes captures reasonably well some aspects of particle size distributions but misses some features. The possible reasons are discussed.
Francesca Gallo, Kevin J. Sanchez, Bruce E. Anderson, Ryan Bennett, Matthew D. Brown, Ewan C. Crosbie, Chris Hostetler, Carolyn Jordan, Melissa Yang Martin, Claire E. Robinson, Lynn M. Russell, Taylor J. Shingler, Michael A. Shook, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, Armin Wisthaler, Luke D. Ziemba, and Richard H. Moore
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1465–1490, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1465-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1465-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We integrate in situ ship- and aircraft-based measurements of aerosol, trace gases, and meteorological parameters collected during the NASA North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) field campaigns in the western North Atlantic Ocean region. A comprehensive characterization of the vertical profiles of aerosol properties under different seasonal regimes is provided for improving the understanding of aerosol key processes and aerosol–cloud interactions in marine regions.
Pamela S. Rickly, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Glenn M. Wolfe, Ryan Bennett, Ilann Bourgeois, John D. Crounse, Jack E. Dibb, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Maximilian Dollner, Emily M. Gargulinski, Samuel R. Hall, Hannah S. Halliday, Thomas F. Hanisco, Reem A. Hannun, Jin Liao, Richard Moore, Benjamin A. Nault, John B. Nowak, Jeff Peischl, Claire E. Robinson, Thomas Ryerson, Kevin J. Sanchez, Manuel Schöberl, Amber J. Soja, Jason M. St. Clair, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Kirk Ullmann, Paul O. Wennberg, Bernadett Weinzierl, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, and Andrew W. Rollins
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15603–15620, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15603-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15603-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Biomass burning sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission factors range from 0.27–1.1 g kg-1 C. Biomass burning SO2 can quickly form sulfate and organosulfur, but these pathways are dependent on liquid water content and pH. Hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) appears to be directly emitted from some fire sources but is not the sole contributor to the organosulfur signal. It is shown that HMS and organosulfur chemistry may be an important S(IV) reservoir with the fate dependent on the surrounding conditions.
Rachel A. Bergin, Monica Harkey, Alicia Hoffman, Richard H. Moore, Bruce Anderson, Andreas Beyersdorf, Luke Ziemba, Lee Thornhill, Edward Winstead, Tracey Holloway, and Timothy H. Bertram
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15449–15468, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15449-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15449-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Correctly predicting aerosol surface area concentrations is important for determining the rate of heterogeneous reactions in chemical transport models. Here, we compare aircraft measurements of aerosol surface area with a regional model. In polluted air masses, we show that the model underpredicts aerosol surface area by a factor of 2. Despite this disagreement, the representation of heterogeneous chemistry still dominates the overall uncertainty in the loss rate of molecules such as N2O5.
Youhua Tang, Patrick C. Campbell, Pius Lee, Rick Saylor, Fanglin Yang, Barry Baker, Daniel Tong, Ariel Stein, Jianping Huang, Ho-Chun Huang, Li Pan, Jeff McQueen, Ivanka Stajner, Jose Tirado-Delgado, Youngsun Jung, Melissa Yang, Ilann Bourgeois, Jeff Peischl, Tom Ryerson, Donald Blake, Joshua Schwarz, Jose-Luis Jimenez, James Crawford, Glenn Diskin, Richard Moore, Johnathan Hair, Greg Huey, Andrew Rollins, Jack Dibb, and Xiaoyang Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7977–7999, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7977-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7977-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This paper compares two meteorological datasets for driving a regional air quality model: a regional meteorological model using WRF (WRF-CMAQ) and direct interpolation from an operational global model (GFS-CMAQ). In the comparison with surface measurements and aircraft data in summer 2019, these two methods show mixed performance depending on the corresponding meteorological settings. Direct interpolation is found to be a viable method to drive air quality models.
Hossein Dadashazar, Andrea F. Corral, Ewan Crosbie, Sanja Dmitrovic, Simon Kirschler, Kayla McCauley, Richard Moore, Claire Robinson, Joseph S. Schlosser, Michael Shook, K. Lee Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, Edward Winstead, Luke Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13897–13913, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13897-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13897-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Multi-season airborne data over the northwestern Atlantic show that organic mass fraction and the relative amount of oxygenated organics within that fraction are enhanced in droplet residual particles as compared to particles below and above cloud. In-cloud aqueous processing is shown to be a potential driver of this compositional shift in cloud. This implies that aerosol–cloud interactions in the region reduce aerosol hygroscopicity due to the jump in the organic : sulfate ratio in cloud.
Siying Lian, Luxi Zhou, Daniel M. Murphy, Karl D. Froyd, Owen B. Toon, and Pengfei Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13659–13676, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13659-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13659-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Parameterizations of dust lifting and microphysical properties of dust in climate models are still subject to large uncertainty. Here we use a sectional aerosol climate model to investigate the global vertical distributions of the dust. Constrained by a suite of observations, the model suggests that, although North African dust dominates global dust mass loading at the surface, the relative contribution of Asian dust increases with altitude and becomes dominant in the upper troposphere.
Ewan Crosbie, Luke D. Ziemba, Michael A. Shook, Claire E. Robinson, Edward L. Winstead, K. Lee Thornhill, Rachel A. Braun, Alexander B. MacDonald, Connor Stahl, Armin Sorooshian, Susan C. van den Heever, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Sarah Woods, Paola Bañaga, Matthew D. Brown, Francesca Gallo, Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario, Carolyn E. Jordan, Gabrielle R. Leung, Richard H. Moore, Kevin J. Sanchez, Taylor J. Shingler, and Elizabeth B. Wiggins
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13269–13302, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13269-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13269-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The linkage between cloud droplet and aerosol particle chemical composition was analyzed using samples collected in a polluted tropical marine environment. Variations in the droplet composition were related to physical and dynamical processes in clouds to assess their relative significance across three cases that spanned a range of rainfall amounts. In spite of the pollution, sea salt still remained a major contributor to the droplet composition and was preferentially enhanced in rainwater.
Nicole A. June, Anna L. Hodshire, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, Claire E. Robinson, K. Lee Thornhill, Kevin J. Sanchez, Richard H. Moore, Demetrios Pagonis, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Matthew M. Coggon, Jonathan M. Dean-Day, T. Paul Bui, Jeff Peischl, Robert J. Yokelson, Matthew J. Alvarado, Sonia M. Kreidenweis, Shantanu H. Jathar, and Jeffrey R. Pierce
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12803–12825, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12803-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12803-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The evolution of organic aerosol composition and size is uncertain due to variability within and between smoke plumes. We examine the impact of plume concentration on smoke evolution from smoke plumes sampled by the NASA DC-8 during FIREX-AQ. We find that observed organic aerosol and size distribution changes are correlated to plume aerosol mass concentrations. Additionally, coagulation explains the majority of the observed growth.
Ilann Bourgeois, Jeff Peischl, J. Andrew Neuman, Steven S. Brown, Hannah M. Allen, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Matthew M. Coggon, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Jessica B. Gilman, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Hongyu Guo, Hannah A. Halliday, Thomas F. Hanisco, Christopher D. Holmes, L. Gregory Huey, Jose L. Jimenez, Aaron D. Lamplugh, Young Ro Lee, Jakob Lindaas, Richard H. Moore, Benjamin A. Nault, John B. Nowak, Demetrios Pagonis, Pamela S. Rickly, Michael A. Robinson, Andrew W. Rollins, Vanessa Selimovic, Jason M. St. Clair, David Tanner, Krystal T. Vasquez, Patrick R. Veres, Carsten Warneke, Paul O. Wennberg, Rebecca A. Washenfelder, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Caroline C. Womack, Lu Xu, Kyle J. Zarzana, and Thomas B. Ryerson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4901–4930, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4901-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4901-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding fire emission impacts on the atmosphere is key to effective air quality management and requires accurate measurements. We present a comparison of airborne measurements of key atmospheric species in ambient air and in fire smoke. We show that most instruments performed within instrument uncertainties. In some cases, further work is needed to fully characterize instrument performance. Comparing independent measurements using different techniques is important to assess their accuracy.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Daniel T. McCoy, Ewan Crosbie, Richard H. Moore, Graeme J. Nott, David Painemal, Jennifer Small-Griswold, Armin Sorooshian, and Luke Ziemba
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3875–3892, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3875-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3875-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Droplet number concentration is a key property of clouds, influencing a variety of cloud processes. It is also used for estimating the cloud response to aerosols. The satellite retrieval depends on a number of assumptions – different sampling strategies are used to select cases where these assumptions are most likely to hold. Here we investigate the impact of these strategies on the agreement with in situ data, the droplet number climatology and estimates of the indirect radiative forcing.
Simon Kirschler, Christiane Voigt, Bruce Anderson, Ramon Campos Braga, Gao Chen, Andrea F. Corral, Ewan Crosbie, Hossein Dadashazar, Richard A. Ferrare, Valerian Hahn, Johannes Hendricks, Stefan Kaufmann, Richard Moore, Mira L. Pöhlker, Claire Robinson, Amy J. Scarino, Dominik Schollmayer, Michael A. Shook, K. Lee Thornhill, Edward Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8299–8319, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8299-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8299-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we show that the vertical velocity dominantly impacts the cloud droplet number concentration (NC) of low-level clouds over the western North Atlantic in the winter and summer season, while the cloud condensation nuclei concentration, aerosol size distribution and chemical composition impact NC within a season. The observational data presented in this study can evaluate and improve the representation of aerosol–cloud interactions for a wide range of conditions.
Linghan Zeng, Jack Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Joseph M. Katich, Joshua P. Schwarz, Ilann Bourgeois, Jeff Peischl, Tom Ryerson, Carsten Warneke, Anne E. Perring, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, John B. Nowak, Richard H. Moore, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Demetrios Pagonis, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Lu Xu, and Rodney J. Weber
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8009–8036, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8009-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8009-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Wildfires emit aerosol particles containing brown carbon material that affects visibility and global climate and is toxic. Brown carbon is poorly characterized due to measurement limitations, and its evolution in the atmosphere is not well known. We report on aircraft measurements of brown carbon from large wildfires in the western United States. We compare two methods for measuring brown carbon and study the evolution of brown carbon in the smoke as it moved away from the burning regions.
Joel C. Corbin, Tobias Schripp, Bruce E. Anderson, Greg J. Smallwood, Patrick LeClercq, Ewan C. Crosbie, Steven Achterberg, Philip D. Whitefield, Richard C. Miake-Lye, Zhenhong Yu, Andrew Freedman, Max Trueblood, David Satterfield, Wenyan Liu, Patrick Oßwald, Claire Robinson, Michael A. Shook, Richard H. Moore, and Prem Lobo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3223–3242, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3223-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3223-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The combustion of sustainable aviation fuels in aircraft engines produces particulate matter (PM) emissions with different properties than conventional fuels due to changes in fuel composition. Consequently, the response of various diagnostic instruments to PM emissions may be impacted. We found no significant instrument biases in terms of particle mass, number, and size measurements for conventional and sustainable aviation fuel blends despite large differences in the magnitude of emissions.
Kevin J. Sanchez, Bo Zhang, Hongyu Liu, Matthew D. Brown, Ewan C. Crosbie, Francesca Gallo, Johnathan W. Hair, Chris A. Hostetler, Carolyn E. Jordan, Claire E. Robinson, Amy Jo Scarino, Taylor J. Shingler, Michael A. Shook, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, Georges Saliba, Savannah L. Lewis, Lynn M. Russell, Patricia K. Quinn, Timothy S. Bates, Jack Porter, Thomas G. Bell, Peter Gaube, Eric S. Saltzman, Michael J. Behrenfeld, and Richard H. Moore
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2795–2815, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2795-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2795-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric particle concentrations impact clouds, which strongly impact the amount of sunlight reflected back into space and the overall climate. Measurements of particles over the ocean are rare and expensive to collect, so models are necessary to fill in the gaps by simulating both particle and clouds. However, some measurements are needed to test the accuracy of the models. Here, we measure changes in particles in different weather conditions, which are ideal for comparison with models.
Li Zhang, Georg A. Grell, Stuart A. McKeen, Ravan Ahmadov, Karl D. Froyd, and Daniel Murphy
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 467–491, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-467-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-467-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Applying the chemistry package from WRF-Chem into the Flow-following finite-volume Icosahedra Model, we essentially make it possible to explore the importance of different levels of complexity in gas and aerosol chemistry, as well as in physics parameterizations, for the interaction processes in global modeling systems. The model performance validated by the Atmospheric Tomography Mission aircraft measurements in summer 2016 shows good performance in capturing the aerosol and gas-phase tracers.
Tiziana Bräuer, Christiane Voigt, Daniel Sauer, Stefan Kaufmann, Valerian Hahn, Monika Scheibe, Hans Schlager, Felix Huber, Patrick Le Clercq, Richard H. Moore, and Bruce E. Anderson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16817–16826, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16817-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16817-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Over half of aviation climate impact is caused by contrails. Biofuels can reduce the ice crystal numbers in contrails and mitigate the climate impact. The experiment ECLIF II/NDMAX in 2018 assessed the effects of biofuels on contrails and aviation emissions. The NASA DC-8 aircraft performed measurements inside the contrail of the DLR A320. One reference fuel and two blends of the biofuel HEFA and kerosene are analysed. We find a max reduction of contrail ice numbers through biofuel use of 40 %.
Zachary C. J. Decker, Michael A. Robinson, Kelley C. Barsanti, Ilann Bourgeois, Matthew M. Coggon, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Frank M. Flocke, Alessandro Franchin, Carley D. Fredrickson, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Samuel R. Hall, Hannah Halliday, Christopher D. Holmes, L. Gregory Huey, Young Ro Lee, Jakob Lindaas, Ann M. Middlebrook, Denise D. Montzka, Richard Moore, J. Andrew Neuman, John B. Nowak, Brett B. Palm, Jeff Peischl, Felix Piel, Pamela S. Rickly, Andrew W. Rollins, Thomas B. Ryerson, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Kanako Sekimoto, Lee Thornhill, Joel A. Thornton, Geoffrey S. Tyndall, Kirk Ullmann, Paul Van Rooy, Patrick R. Veres, Carsten Warneke, Rebecca A. Washenfelder, Andrew J. Weinheimer, Elizabeth Wiggins, Edward Winstead, Armin Wisthaler, Caroline Womack, and Steven S. Brown
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16293–16317, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16293-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16293-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
To understand air quality impacts from wildfires, we need an accurate picture of how wildfire smoke changes chemically both day and night as sunlight changes the chemistry of smoke. We present a chemical analysis of wildfire smoke as it changes from midday through the night. We use aircraft observations from the FIREX-AQ field campaign with a chemical box model. We find that even under sunlight typical
nighttimechemistry thrives and controls the fate of key smoke plume chemical processes.
Hossein Dadashazar, Majid Alipanah, Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario, Ewan Crosbie, Simon Kirschler, Hongyu Liu, Richard H. Moore, Andrew J. Peters, Amy Jo Scarino, Michael Shook, K. Lee Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, Hailong Wang, Edward Winstead, Bo Zhang, Luke Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16121–16141, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16121-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16121-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates precipitation impacts on long-range transport of North American outflow over the western North Atlantic Ocean (WNAO). Results demonstrate that precipitation scavenging plays a significant role in modifying surface aerosol concentrations over the WNAO, especially in winter and spring due to large-scale scavenging processes. This study highlights how precipitation impacts surface aerosol properties with relevance for other marine regions vulnerable to continental outflow.
David Painemal, Douglas Spangenberg, William L. Smith Jr., Patrick Minnis, Brian Cairns, Richard H. Moore, Ewan Crosbie, Claire Robinson, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Edward L. Winstead, and Luke Ziemba
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6633–6646, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6633-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6633-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Cloud properties derived from satellite sensors are critical for the global monitoring of climate. This study evaluates satellite-based cloud properties over the North Atlantic using airborne data collected during NAAMES. Satellite observations of droplet size and cloud optical depth tend to compare well with NAAMES data. The analysis indicates that the satellite pixel resolution and the specific viewing geometry need to be taken into account in research applications.
Charles A. Brock, Karl D. Froyd, Maximilian Dollner, Christina J. Williamson, Gregory Schill, Daniel M. Murphy, Nicholas J. Wagner, Agnieszka Kupc, Jose L. Jimenez, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Benjamin A. Nault, Jason C. Schroder, Douglas A. Day, Derek J. Price, Bernadett Weinzierl, Joshua P. Schwarz, Joseph M. Katich, Siyuan Wang, Linghan Zeng, Rodney Weber, Jack Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, ThaoPaul Bui, Jonathan M. Dean-Day, Chelsea R. Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Ilann Bourgeois, Bruce C. Daube, Róisín Commane, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15023–15063, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15023-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15023-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The Atmospheric Tomography Mission was an airborne study that mapped the chemical composition of the remote atmosphere. From this, we developed a comprehensive description of aerosol properties that provides a unique, global-scale dataset against which models can be compared. The data show the polluted nature of the remote atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere and quantify the contributions of sea salt, dust, soot, biomass burning particles, and pollution particles to the haziness of the sky.
Xinxin Ye, Pargoal Arab, Ravan Ahmadov, Eric James, Georg A. Grell, Bradley Pierce, Aditya Kumar, Paul Makar, Jack Chen, Didier Davignon, Greg R. Carmichael, Gonzalo Ferrada, Jeff McQueen, Jianping Huang, Rajesh Kumar, Louisa Emmons, Farren L. Herron-Thorpe, Mark Parrington, Richard Engelen, Vincent-Henri Peuch, Arlindo da Silva, Amber Soja, Emily Gargulinski, Elizabeth Wiggins, Johnathan W. Hair, Marta Fenn, Taylor Shingler, Shobha Kondragunta, Alexei Lyapustin, Yujie Wang, Brent Holben, David M. Giles, and Pablo E. Saide
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14427–14469, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14427-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14427-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Wildfire smoke has crucial impacts on air quality, while uncertainties in the numerical forecasts remain significant. We present an evaluation of 12 real-time forecasting systems. Comparison of predicted smoke emissions suggests a large spread in magnitudes, with temporal patterns deviating from satellite detections. The performance for AOD and surface PM2.5 and their discrepancies highlighted the role of accurately represented spatiotemporal emission profiles in improving smoke forecasts.
J. Brant Dodson, Patrick C. Taylor, Richard H. Moore, David H. Bromwich, Keith M. Hines, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Chelsea A. Corr, Bruce E. Anderson, Edward L. Winstead, and Joseph R. Bennett
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11563–11580, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11563-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11563-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Aircraft in situ observations of low-level Beaufort Sea cloud properties and thermodynamics from the ARISE campaign are compared with the Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR) to better understand deficiencies in simulated clouds. ASR produces too little cloud water, which coincides with being too warm and dry. In addition, ASR struggles to produce cloud water even in favorable thermodynamic conditions. A random sampling experiment also shows the effects of the limited aircraft sampling on the results.
Hossein Dadashazar, David Painemal, Majid Alipanah, Michael Brunke, Seethala Chellappan, Andrea F. Corral, Ewan Crosbie, Simon Kirschler, Hongyu Liu, Richard H. Moore, Claire Robinson, Amy Jo Scarino, Michael Shook, Kenneth Sinclair, K. Lee Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, Hailong Wang, Edward Winstead, Xubin Zeng, Luke Ziemba, Paquita Zuidema, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10499–10526, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10499-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10499-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the seasonal cycle of cloud drop number concentration (Nd) over the western North Atlantic Ocean (WNAO) using multiple datasets. Reasons for the puzzling discrepancy between the seasonal cycles of Nd and aerosol concentration were identified. Results indicate that Nd is highest in winter (when aerosol proxy values are often lowest) due to conditions both linked to cold-air outbreaks and that promote greater droplet activation.
Cited articles
Andrews, E., Sheridan, P. J., Fiebig, M., McComiskey, A., Ogren, J. A.,
Arnott, P., Covert, D., Elleman, R., Gasparini, R., Collins, D., Jonsson,
H., Schmid, B., and Wang, J.: Comparison of methods for deriving aerosol
asymmetry parameter, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D05S04,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005734, 2006.
Bohren, C. F. and Huffman, D. R.: Absorption and scattering of light by
small particles, Wiley, New York, xiv, 530 pp., https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527618156, 1983.
Chen, G., Ziemba, L., Chu, D., Thornhill, K., Schuster, G., Winstead, E.,
Diskin, G., Ferrare, R., Burton, S., and Ismail, S.: Observations of Saharan
dust microphysical and optical properties from the Eastern Atlantic during
NAMMA airborne field campaign, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 723–740,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-723-2011, 2011.
Dolgos, G.: Polarized imaging nephelometer development and applications on aircraft, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, UMI 3668705, 2014.
Dolgos, G. and Martins, J. V.: Polarized Imaging Nephelometer for in situ
airborne measurements of aerosol light scattering, Opt. Express, 22,
21972–21990, https://doi.org/10.1364/Oe.22.021972, 2014.
Dubovik, O. and King, M. D.: A flexible inversion algorithm for retrieval
of aerosol optical properties from Sun and sky radiance measurements, J.
Geophys. Res., 105, 20673–20696, 2000.
Dubovik, O., Holben, B., Eck, T. F., Smirnov, A., Kaufman, Y. J., King, M.
D., Tanré, D., and Slutsker, I.: Variability of absorption and optical
properties of key aerosol types observed in worldwide locations, J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 590–608, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2002)059<0590:VOAAOP>2.0.CO;2, 2002.
Espinosa, W. R.: Comprehensive Airborne in Situ Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosols: From Angular Light Scattering to Particle Microphysics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, UMI 10639352, 2017.
Espinosa, W. R., Remer, L. A., Dubovik, O., Ziemba, L., Beyersdorf, A., Orozco, D., Schuster, G., Lapyonok, T., Fuertes, D., and Martins, J. V.: Retrievals of aerosol optical and microphysical properties from Imaging Polar Nephelometer scattering measurements, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 811–824, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-811-2017, 2017.
Espinosa, W. R., Martins, J. V., Remer, L. A., Dubovik, O., Lapyonok, T.,
Fuertes, D., Puthukkudy, A., Orozco, D., Ziemba, L., Thornhill, K. L., and
Levy, R.: Retrievals of aerosol size distribution, spherical fraction, and
complex refractive index from airborne in situ angular light scattering and
absorption measurements, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 7997–8024,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jd030009, 2019.
FIREX-AQ Science Team: Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality, NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center DAAC [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/SUBORBITAL/FIREXAQ2019/DATA001, 2021.
Ge, J. M., Su, J., Fu, Q., Ackerman, T. P., and Huang, J. P.: Dust aerosol
forward scattering effects on ground-based aerosol optical depth retrievals,
J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 112, 310–319, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2010.07.006, 2011.
Gogoi, A., Borthakur, L. J., Choudhury, A., Stanciu, G. A., and Ahmed, G. A.: Detector array incorporated optical scattering instrument for nephelometric measurements on small particles, Meas. Sci. Technol., 20, 95901–95911,
https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-0233/20/9/095901, 2009.
Hansen, J. E. and Travis, L. D.: Light scattering in planetary atmospheres,
Space Sci. Rev., 16, 527–610, 1974.
InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6493/, last access: 20 July 2021.
Lack, D. A., Richardson, M. S., Law, D., Langridge, J. M., Cappa, C. D.,
McLaughlin, R. J., and Murphy, D. M.: Aircraft instrument for comprehensive
characterization of aerosol optical properties, part 2: black and brown
carbon absorption and absorption enhancement measured with photo acoustic
spectroscopy, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 46, 555–568, 2012.
Langridge, J. M., Richardson, M. S., Lack, D., Law, D., and Murphy, D. M.:
Aircraft instrument for comprehensive characterization of aerosol optical
properties, Part I: Wavelength-dependent optical extinction and its relative
humidity dependence measured using cavity ringdown spectroscopy, Aerosol
Sci. Tech., 45, 1305-1318, 2011.
Liu, L. and Mishchenko, M. I.: Scattering and radiative properties of
morphologically complex carbonaceous aerosols: A systematic modeling study,
Remote Sens., 10, 1634, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101634, 2018.
Manfred, K. M., Washenfelder, R. A., Wagner, N. L., Adler, G., Erdesz, F., Womack, C. C., Lamb, K. D., Schwarz, J. P., Franchin, A., Selimovic, V., Yokelson, R. J., and Murphy, D. M.: Investigating biomass burning aerosol morphology using a laser imaging nephelometer, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 1879–1894, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1879-2018, 2018.
Marshall, S. F., Covert, D. S., and Charlson, R. J.: Relationship between
asymmetry parameter and hemispheric backscatter ratio: Implications for
climate forcing by aerosols, Appl. Optics, 34, 6306–6311, 1995.
McNaughton, C. S., Clarke, A. D., Howell, S. G., Pinkerton, M., Anderson,
B., Thornhill, L., Hudgins, C., Winstead, E., Dibb, J. E., and Scheuer, E.:
Results from the DC-8 Inlet Characterization Experiment (DICE): Airborne
versus surface sampling of mineral dust and sea salt aerosols, Aerosol Sci.
Tech., 41, 136–159, 2007.
Mie, G.: Beiträge zur Optik trüber Medien, speziell kolloidaler Metallösungen, Ann. Phys. (Leipzig), 25, 377–455, 1908.
Mishchenko, M. I., Cairns, B., Kopp, G., Schueler, C. F., Fafaul, B. A.,
Hansen, J. E., Hooker, R. J., Itchkawich, T., Maring, H. B., and Travis, L.
D.: Accurate monitoring of terrestrial aerosols and total solar irradiance:
Introducing the glory mission, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 88, 677–692, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-88-5-677, 2007.
Moore, R. H., Wiggins, E. B., Ahern, A. T., Zimmerman, S., Montgomery, L., Campuzano Jost, P., Robinson, C. E., Ziemba, L. D., Winstead, E. L., Anderson, B. E., Brock, C. A., Brown, M. D., Chen, G., Crosbie, E. C., Guo, H., Jimenez, J. L., Jordan, C. E., Lyu, M., Nault, B. A., Rothfuss, N. E., Sanchez, K. J., Schueneman, M., Shingler, T. J., Shook, M. A., Thornhill, K. L., Wagner, N. L., and Wang, J.: Sizing response of the Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS) and Laser Aerosol Spectrometer (LAS) to changes in submicron aerosol composition and refractive index, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4517–4542, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4517-2021, 2021.
Moosmüller, H. and Ogren, J. A.: Parameterization of the aerosol
upscatter fraction as function of the backscatter fraction and their
relationships to the asymmetry parameter for radiative transfer
calculations, Atmosphere, 8, 133, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos8080133, 2017.
Penndorf, R.: Tables of the Refractive Index for Standard Air and the
Rayleigh Scattering Coefficient for the Spectral Region between 0.2 and 20.0 µ and Their Application to Atmospheric Optics, J. Opt. Soc. Am., 47, 176–182, https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSA.47.000176, 1957.
Schuster, G. L., Dubovik, O., and Arola, A.: Remote sensing of soot carbon – Part 1: Distinguishing different absorbing aerosol species, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1565–1585, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1565-2016, 2016.
Schuster, G. L., Espinosa, W. R., Ziemba, L. D., Beyersdorf, A. J.,
Rocha-Lima, A., Anderson, B. E., Martins, J. V., Dubovik, O., Ducos, F.,
Fuertes, D., Lapyonok, T., Shook, M., Derimian, Y., and Moore, R. H.: A
laboratory experiment for the statistical evaluation of aerosol retrieval
(STEAR) algorithms, Remote Sens., 11, 498, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11050498, 2019.
Wiggins, E. B., Soja, A. J., Gargulinski, E., Halliday, H. S., Pierce, R.
B., Schmidt, C. C., Nowak, J. B., DiGangi, J. P., Diskin, G. S., and Katich,
J. M.: High temporal resolution satellite observations of fire radiative
power reveal link between fire behavior and aerosol and gas emissions,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL090707, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090707, 2020.
Wiscombe, W. J. and Grams, G. W.: Backscattered fraction in 2-stream
approximations, J. Aerosol Sci., 33, 2440–2451, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1976)033<2440:Tbfits>2.0.Co;2, 1976.
Xie, Y., Li, Z., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Li, D., Li, K., Xu, H., Zhang, Y.,
Wang, Y., and Chen, X.: Estimation of atmospheric aerosol composition from
ground-based remote sensing measurements of Sun-sky radiometer, J. Geophys.
Res.-Atmos., 122, 498–518, 2017.
Short summary
Particles in the atmosphere play a significant role in climate change by scattering light back into space, reducing the amount of energy available to be absorbed by greenhouse gases. We built a new instrument to measure what direction light is scattered by particles, e.g., wildfire smoke. This is important because, depending on the angle of the sun, some particles scatter light into space (cooling the planet), but some light is also scattered towards the Earth (not cooling the planet).
Particles in the atmosphere play a significant role in climate change by scattering light back...
