Aerosol Optical Properties Observed during CHAPS
Abstract
During the CHAPS, the DOE Gulfstream-1 aircraft was used to make in-situ measurements of aerosol optical properties. The flight pattern was designed to allow for measurements below cloud, within the cloud layer, and above the clouds in the vicinity of Oklahoma City. Two different inlets were used on the G-1: an isokinetic inlet for sampling dry aerosols smaller than approximately 2 μm in diameter, and a Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) that excluded unactivated aerosols, but which allows cloud droplets to enter. A suite of paired instruments, including a nephelometer, Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP), and Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS), was used to measure the aerosol optical properties from both sampling streams. Below the clouds, the single-scattering albedo measured inside the Oklahoma City plume was generally smaller than that observed outside of the plume. Within the cloud layer, but far from the clouds, there is little difference in the aerosol scattering measured inside and outside of the plume. These observations indicate that the vertical transport by the shallow clouds is very localized. Both aerosol extensive and intensive properties are discussed. For example, the total aerosol scattering and the mass-scattering efficiency measured inside the clouds was slightly larger for clouds that have roots within the Oklahoma City plume. Using data from the AMS in conjunction with the CVI inlet reveals that these in-cloud aerosols also have a relatively large amount of nitrate. Possible explanations for this increase nitrate will be discussed.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUFM.A31F0178B
- Keywords:
-
- 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345;
- 4801;
- 4906);
- 0319 Cloud optics;
- 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry;
- 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305;
- 0478;
- 4251)