ALBERT

Description: In this study, the variability of the spectral dispersion of droplet size distributions (DSDs) in convective clouds is investigated. Analyses are based on aircraft measurements of growing cumuli near the Amazon basin, and on numerical simulations of an idealized ice‐free cumulus. In cleaner clouds, the relative dispersion ϵ, defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean value of the droplet diameter, is negatively correlated with the ratio of the cloud water content (qc) to the adiabatic liquid water content (qa), while no strong correlation between ϵ and qc/qa is seen in polluted clouds. Bin microphysics numerical simulations suggest that these contrasting behaviors are associated with the effect of collision‐coalescence in cleaner clouds, and secondary droplet activation in polluted clouds, in addition to the turbulent mixing of parcels that experienced different paths within the cloud. Collision‐coalescence simultaneously broadens the DSDs and decreases qc, explaining the inverse relationship between ϵ and qc/qa in cleaner clouds. Secondary droplet activation broadens the DSDs but has little direct impact on qc. The combination of a rather modest DSD broadening due to weak collision‐coalescence with enhanced droplet activation in both diluted and highly undiluted cloud regions may contribute to maintain a relatively uniform ϵ within polluted clouds. These findings can be useful for parameterizing the shape parameter (μ) of gamma DSDs in bulk microphysics cloud‐resolving models. It is shown that emulating the observed μ−qc/qa relationship improves the estimation of the collision‐coalescence rate in bulk microphysics simulations compared to the bin simulations.

Description: Key Points: Droplet size distribution patterns observed in warm cumuli reflect the roles of collision‐coalescence, secondary activation, and mixing. The intra‐cloud distribution of droplet spectral dispersion varies with aerosol loading. Emulating the observed shape‐parameter improves bulk estimations of collision‐coalescence in models.

Description: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001807

Description: Max Planck Society (MPG)

Description: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000015

Description: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659

Description: HALO

Description: Black carbon (BC) aerosols influence the Earth's atmosphere and climate, but their microphysical properties, spatiotemporal distribution, and long-range transport are not well constrained. This study presents airborne observations of the transatlantic transport of BC-rich African biomass burning (BB) smoke into the Amazon Basin using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) as well as several complementary techniques. We base our results on observations of aerosols and trace gases off the Brazilian coast onboard the HALO (High Altitude and LOng range) research aircraft during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign in September 2014. During flight AC19 over land and ocean at the northeastern coastline of the Amazon Basin, we observed a BC-rich layer at ∼3.5 km altitude with a vertical extension of ∼0.3 km. Backward trajectories suggest that fires in African grasslands, savannas, and shrublands were the main source of this pollution layer and that the observed BB smoke had undergone more than 10 d of atmospheric transport and aging over the South Atlantic before reaching the Amazon Basin. The aged smoke is characterized by a dominant accumulation mode, centered at about 130 nm, with a particle concentration of Nacc=850±330 cm−3. The rBC particles account for ∼15 % of the submicrometer aerosol mass and ∼40 % of the total aerosol number concentration. This corresponds to a mass concentration range from 0.5 to 2 µg m−3 (1st to 99th percentiles) and a number concentration range from 90 to 530 cm−3. Along with rBC, high cCO (150±30 ppb) and cO3 (56±9 ppb) mixing ratios support the biomass burning origin and pronounced photochemical aging of this layer. Upon reaching the Amazon Basin, it started to broaden and to subside, due to convective mixing and entrainment of the BB aerosol into the boundary layer. Satellite observations show that the transatlantic transport of pollution layers is a frequently occurring process, seasonally peaking in August/September. By analyzing the aircraft observations together with the long-term data from the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), we found that the transatlantic transport of African BB smoke layers has a strong impact on the northern and central Amazonian aerosol population during the BB-influenced season (July to December). In fact, the early BB season (July to September) in this part of the Amazon appears to be dominated by African smoke, whereas the later BB season (October to December) appears to be dominated by South American fires. This dichotomy is reflected in pronounced changes in aerosol optical properties such as the single scattering albedo (increasing from 0.85 in August to 0.90 in November) and the BC-to-CO enhancement ratio (decreasing from 11 to 6 ng m−3 ppb−1). Our results suggest that, despite the high fraction of BC particles, the African BB aerosol acts as efficient cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), with potentially important implications for aerosol–cloud interactions and the hydrological cycle in the Amazon.

Description: Between 1 September and 4 October 2014, a combined airborne and ground-based measurement campaign was conducted to study tropical deep convective clouds over the Brazilian Amazon rain forest. The new German research aircraft, High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO), a modified Gulfstream G550, and extensive ground-based instrumentation were deployed in and near Manaus (State of Amazonas). The campaign was part of the German–Brazilian Aerosol, Cloud, Precipitation, and Radiation Interactions and Dynamics of Convective Cloud Systems–Cloud Processes of the Main Precipitation Systems in Brazil: A Contribution to Cloud Resolving Modeling and to the GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) (ACRIDICON– CHUVA) venture to quantify aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions and their thermodynamic, dynamic, and radiative effects by in situ and remote sensing measurements over Amazonia. The ACRIDICON–CHUVA field observations were carried out in cooperation with the second intensive operating period of Green Ocean Amazon 2014/15 (GoAmazon2014/5). In this paper we focus on the airborne data measured on HALO, which was equipped with about 30 in situ and remote sensing instruments for meteorological, trace gas, aerosol, cloud, precipitation, and spectral solar radiation measurements. Fourteen research flights with a total duration of 96 flight hours were performed. Five scientific topics were pursued: 1) cloud vertical evolution and life cycle (cloud profiling), 2) cloud processing of aerosol particles and trace gases (inflow and outflow), 3) satellite and radar validation (cloud products), 4) vertical transport and mixing (tracer experiment), and 5) cloud formation over forested/deforested areas. Data were collected in near-pristine atmospheric conditions and in environments polluted by biomass burning and urban emissions. The paper presents a general introduction of the ACRIDICON– CHUVA campaign (motivation and addressed research topics) and of HALO with its extensive instrument package, as well as a presentation of a few selected measurement results acquired during the flights for some selected scientific topics.

Description: The isolation of the Amazon rain forest makes it challenging to observe precipitation forming there, but it also creates a natural laboratory to study anthropogenic impacts on clouds and precipitation in an otherwise pristine environment. Observations were collected upwind and downwind of Manaus, Brazil, during the “Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon 2014–2015” experiment (GoAmazon2014/5). Besides aircraft, most of the observations were point measurements made in a spatially heterogeneous environment, making it hard to distinguish anthropogenic signals from naturally occurring spatial variability. In this study, 15 years of satellite data are used to examine the spatial and temporal variability of deep convection around the GoAmazon2014/5 sites using cold cloud tops (infrared brightness temperatures colder than 240 K) as a proxy for deep convection. During the rainy season, convection associated with the inland propagation of the previous day’s sea-breeze front is in phase with the diurnal cycle of deep convection near Manaus but is out of phase a few hundred kilometers to the east and west. Convergence between the river breezes and the easterly trade winds generates afternoon convection up to 10% more frequently (on average ~4 mm day−1 more intense rainfall) at the GoAmazon2014/5 sites east of the Negro River (T0e, T0t/k, and T1) relative to the T3 site, which was located west of the river. In general, the annual and diurnal cycles of precipitation during 2014 were similar to climatological values that are based on satellite data from 2000 to 2013.

Description: We describe the existence of an Amazonian low-level jet (ALLJ) that can affect the propagation and life cycle of convective systems from the northeast coast of South America into central Amazonia. Horizontal winds from reanalysis were analyzed during March–April–May (MAM) of the two years (2014–15) of the GoAmazon2014/5 field campaign. Convective system tracking was performed using GOES-13 infrared imagery and classified into days with high and weak convective activity. The MAM average winds show a nocturnal enhancement of low-level winds starting near the coast in the early evening and reaching 1600 km inland by late morning. Mean 3-hourly wind speeds maximize at 9–10 m s−1 near 900 hPa, but individual days can have nighttime low-level winds exceeding 12 m s−1. Based on objective low-level wind criteria, the ALLJ is present 10%–40% of the time over the Amazon during MAM depending on the location and time of day. The evolution of the ALLJ across the Amazon impacts the frequency of occurrence of cloud clusters and the intensity of the moisture flux. In addition, the ALLJ is associated with the enhancement of northeasterly flow in the midtroposphere during active convective days, when vertical momentum transport may be occurring in the organized cloud clusters. During the weakly active convective period, the ALLJ is weaker near the coast but stronger across the central Amazon and appears to be linked more directly with the South American low-level jet.

Description: This research explores the benefits of radar data assimilation for short-range weather forecast in Southeastern Brazil using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model’s three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) system. Different data assimilation options are explored, including the cycling frequency, the number of outer loops and the use of null-echo assimilation. Initially, four microphysics parameterizations are evaluated (Thompson, Morrison, WSM6 and WDM6). The Thompson parameterization produces the best results, while the other parameterizations generally overestimate the precipitation forecast, especially WDSM6. Additionally, the Thompson scheme tends to overestimate snow, while the Morrison scheme overestimates graupel. Regarding the data assimilation options, the results deteriorate and more spurious convection occurs when using a higher cycling frequency, i.e., 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes. The use of two outer loops produces worse precipitation forecasts than the use of one outer loop, and the null-echo assimilation is shown to be an effective way to suppress spurious convection. However, in some cases, the null-echo assimilation also removes convective clouds that are not observed by the radar and/or are still not producing rain, but have the potential to grow into an intense convective cloud with heavy rainfall. Finally, a cloud convective mask was implemented using ancillary satellite data to prevent null-echo assimilation from removing potential convective clouds. The mask demonstrated to be beneficial in some circumstances, but it needs to be carefully evaluated in more cases to have a more robust conclusion regarding its use.

Description: In this study, processes that broaden drop size distributions (DSDs) in Eulerian models with two-moment bin microphysics are analyzed. Numerous tests are performed to isolate the effects of different physical mechanisms that broaden DSDs in two- and three-dimensional Weather Research and Forecasting Model simulations of an idealized ice-free cumulus cloud. Sensitivity of these effects to modifying horizontal and vertical model grid spacings is also examined. As expected, collision–coalescence is a key process broadening the modeled DSDs. In-cloud droplet activation also contributes substantially to DSD broadening, whereas evaporation has only a minor effect and sedimentation has little effect. Cloud dilution (mixing of cloud-free and cloudy air) also broadens the DSDs considerably, whether or not it is accompanied by evaporation. This mechanism involves the reduction of droplet concentration from dilution along the cloud’s lateral edges, leading to locally high supersaturation and enhanced drop growth when this air is subsequently lifted in the updraft. DSD broadening ensues when the DSDs are mixed with those from the cloud core. Decreasing the horizontal and vertical model grid spacings from 100 to 30 m has limited impact on the DSDs. However, when these physical broadening mechanisms (in-cloud activation, collision–coalescence, dilution, etc.) are turned off, there is a reduction of DSD width by up to ~20%–50% when the vertical grid spacing is decreased from 100 to 30 m, consistent with effects of artificial broadening from vertical numerical diffusion. Nonetheless, this artificial numerical broadening appears to be relatively unimportant overall for DSD broadening when physically based broadening mechanisms in the model are included for this cumulus case.

Description: Airborne observations over the Amazon Basin showed high aerosol particle concentrations in the upper troposphere (UT) between 8 and 15 km altitude, with number densities (normalized to standard temperature and pressure) often exceeding those in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) by 1 or 2 orders of magnitude. The measurements were made during the German–Brazilian cooperative aircraft campaign ACRIDICON–CHUVA, where ACRIDICON stands for Aerosol, Cloud, Precipitation, and Radiation Interactions and Dynamics of Convective Cloud Systems and CHUVA is the acronym for Cloud Processes of the Main Precipitation Systems in Brazil: A Contribution to Cloud Resolving Modeling and to the GPM (global precipitation measurement), on the German High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO). The campaign took place in September–October 2014, with the objective of studying tropical deep convective clouds over the Amazon rainforest and their interactions with atmospheric trace gases, aerosol particles, and atmospheric radiation. Aerosol enhancements were observed consistently on all flights during which the UT was probed, using several aerosol metrics, including condensation nuclei (CN) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentrations and chemical species mass concentrations. The UT particles differed sharply in their chemical composition and size distribution from those in the PBL, ruling out convective transport of combustion-derived particles from the boundary layer (BL) as a source. The air in the immediate outflow of deep convective clouds was depleted of aerosol particles, whereas strongly enhanced number concentrations of small particles ( 90 nm) particles in the UT, which consisted mostly of organic matter and nitrate and were very effective CCN. Our findings suggest a conceptual model, where production of new aerosol particles takes place in the continental UT from biogenic volatile organic material brought up by deep convection and converted to condensable species in the UT. Subsequently, downward mixing and transport of upper tropospheric aerosol can be a source of particles to the PBL, where they increase in size by the condensation of biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) oxidation products. This may be an important source of aerosol particles for the Amazonian PBL, where aerosol nucleation and new particle formation have not been observed. We propose that this may have been the dominant process supplying secondary aerosol particles in the pristine atmosphere, making clouds the dominant control of both removal and production of atmospheric particles.