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Aerosol-Radiation-Cloud Interactions in the South-East Atlantic: Future Suborbital Activities to Address Knowledge Gaps in Satellite and Model AssessmentsSouthern Africa produces almost a third of the Earth's biomass burning (BB) aerosol particles. Particles lofted into the mid-troposphere are transported westward over the South-East (SE) Atlantic, home to one of the three permanent subtropical stratocumulus (Sc) cloud decks in the world. The SE Atlantic stratocumulus deck interacts with the dense layers of BB aerosols that initially overlay the cloud deck, but later subside and may mix into the clouds. These interactions include adjustments to aerosol-induced solar heating and microphysical effects, and their global representation in climate models remains one of the largest uncertainties in estimates of future climate. Hence, new observations over the SE Atlantic have significant implications for global climate change scenarios. Our understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions in the SE Atlantic is hindered both by the lack of knowledge on aerosol and cloud properties, as well as the lack of knowledge about detailed physical processes involved. Most notably, we are missing knowledge on the absorptive and cloud nucleating properties of aerosols, including their vertical distribution relative to clouds, on the locations and degree of aerosol mixing into clouds, on the processes that govern cloud property adjustments, and on the importance of aerosol effects on clouds relative to co-varying synoptic scale meteorology. We discuss the current knowledge of aerosol and cloud property distributions based on satellite observations and sparse suborbital sampling. Recent efforts to make full use of A-Train aerosol sensor synergies will be highlighted. We describe planned field campaigns in the region to address the existing knowledge gaps. Specifically, we describe the scientific objectives and implementation of the five synergistic, international research activities aimed at providing some of the key aerosol and cloud properties and a process-level understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions over the SE Atlantic: NASA's ORACLES, the UK Met Office's CLARIFY-2016, the DoE's LASIC, NSF's ONFIRE, and CNRS' AEROCLO-SA.
Document ID
20160005166
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Abstract
Authors
Redemann, Jens (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Wood, R. (Washington Univ. Seattle, WA, United States)
Zuidema, P. (Miami Univ. Key Biscayne, FL, United States)
Haywood, J. (Exeter Univ. United Kingdom)
Piketh, S. (North-West Univ. Potchefstroom, South Africa)
Formenti, P. (Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systems Atmospheriques (LISA)) Creteil Cedex, France)
L'Ecuyer, T. (Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Kacenelenbogen, M. (Bay Area Environmental Research Inst. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Segal-Rosenheimer, M. (Bay Area Environmental Research Inst. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Shinozuka, Y. (Bay Area Environmental Research Inst. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
LeBlanc, S. (Oak Ridge Associated Universities Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Vaughan, M. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Schmidt, S. (Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Flynn, C. (Pacific Northwest National Lab. Richland, WA, United States)
Schmid, B. (Pacific Northwest National Lab. Richland, WA, United States)
Luna, B. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Abel, S. (MET Office (Meteorological Office) Exeter, United Kingdom)
Date Acquired
April 19, 2016
Publication Date
April 16, 2016
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN29526
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Radiation Symposium 2016
Location: Auckland
Country: New Zealand
Start Date: April 16, 2016
End Date: April 22, 2016
Sponsors: International Radiation Commission, Auckland Univ.
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AD05A
WBS: WBS 967701.02.01.01.57
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
aerosols
cloud physics
stratocumulus clouds

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