Aircraft Observations of Marine Aerosol Properties in the Presence of Boundary Layer Rolls

The Hawaii Group for Environmental Aerosol Research deployed a wide range of airborne aerosol instrumentation as part of MILAGRO/INTEX (2006) and PASE (2007) experiments. These were designed to provide rapid information on aerosol composition, state of mixing (internal or external), spectral optical properties (scattering and absorption), the humidity dependence of light scattering - f(RH). The measurements revealed frequently observed presence of numerous periodic structures related both to horizontal convective rolls (HCRs) and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). HCRs, commonly formed when some vertical wind shear is present, are significant to the vertical transport of momentum, heat, moisture, and air pollutant including aerosols within the boundary layer. KHIs, occurred in areas of enhanced velocity shear and/or a local minimum of static stability, contribute strongly to the dissipation of large-scale motions into turbulence. This presentation focused on the direct in-situ marine aerosol properties in the presence of BL rolls by providing evidence that the observed variations are caused by rolls. We also studied whether the presence of rolls leads to the enhancement of aerosol fluxes. We have investigated roll structures in diverse MBL settings and have demonstrated that these can play an active role in the redistribution of aerosol, gas and water vapor in the MBL. Depending upon the thermodynamic profiles and the roll size, altitude, temporal duration these rolls can have a marked effect on the exchange of air masses between the buffer layer, the surface mixed layer and the free troposphere. This will lead to changes in the horizontal extinction in these layers relative to regions not influenced by the rolls. Hence, the evolution of aerosol optical properties in the near-surface mixed layer will be affected by rolls and the conditions that stimulate them. These can occur with or without associated cloud features. Some ongoing studies include the following: what are the aerosol optics differences in rolls updraft and downdraft caused by RH, aerosol concentration and entrainment? what are implications of roll structure for extinction measurements and remote sensing? what are implications of rolls on the redistributions of aerosol and gases during transport?