Aerosol and Trace Gas Processing by Clouds During the Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study (CHAPS)

Clouds play an active role in the processing and cycling of atmospheric constituents. Gases and particles can partition to cloud droplets by absorption and condensation as well as activation and pact scavenging. The Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study (CHAPS) aimed at characterizing freshly emitted aerosols above, within and below fields of cumulus humilis (or fair-weather cumulus) in the vicinity of Oklahoma City. The experiment took place in June 2007. Evolution of aerosol and cloud properties downwind of the Oklahoma City is of particular interest in this project. These observations of a mid-size and mid-latitude city can be used in the development and evaluation of regional-scale and global climate model cumulus parameterizations that describes the transport and transformations of these aerosols by fair-weather cumulus. The Department of Energy (DOE) G-1 aircraft was one of the main platforms used in CHAPS. It carried a suite of instruments to measure properties of interstitial aerosols behind an isokinetic inlet and a set of duplicate instruments to determine properties of activated particles behind a counter-flow virtual impactor (CVI). The sampling line to the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer was switched between the isokinetic inlet and the CVI to allow characterization of interstitial particles out of clouds in contrast to particles activated in clouds. Trace gases including ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and a series of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were also measured as were key meteorological state parameters including liquid water content, cloud drop size, and dew point temperature were measured. This presentation will focus on results related to the transformation and transport of aerosols and trace gases observed in fair-weather cumulus and compare these results with concurrent observations made outside these clouds. Our interest will focus on the differences in particle size and composition under varying conditions. The role of sulfur (IV) oxidation as a potential path for sulfate formation in cloud will be considered, since it is known to be an important mechanism for new particle formation. Cloud water deposition as an alternative avenue for sulfate formation will also be evaluated.