Aerosol activation properties and CCN closure during TCAP

The indirect effects of atmospheric aerosols currently remain the most uncertain components in forcing of climate change over the industrial period (IPCC, 2007). This large uncertainty is partially due to our incomplete understanding of the ability of particles to form cloud droplets under atmospherically relevant supersaturation. In addition, there is a large uncertainty in the aerosol optical depth (AOD) simulated by climate models near the North American coast and a wide variety in the types of clouds are observed over this region. The goal of the US Department of Energy Two Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) is to understand the processes responsible for producing and maintaining aerosol distributions and associated radiative and cloud forcing off the coast of North America. During the TCAP study, aerosol total number concentration, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) spectra and aerosol chemical composition were in-situ measured from the DOE Gulfstream 1 (G-1) research aircraft during two Intensive Operations Periods (IOPs), one conducted in July 2012 and the other in February 2013. An overall aerosol size distribution was achieved by merging the observations from several instruments, including Ultra High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer - Airborne (UHSAS-A, DMT), Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer Probe (PCASP-200, DMT), and Cloud Aerosol Spectrometer (CAS, DMT). Aerosol chemical composition was characterized using a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS, Aerodyne Inc.) and single particle mass spectrometer, mini-SPLAT. Based on the aerosol size distribution, CCN number concentration (characterized by a DMT dual column CCN counter with a range from 0.1% to 0.4%), and chemical composition, a CCN closure was obtained. The sensitivity of CCN closure to organic hygroscopicity was investigated. The differences in aerosol/CCN properties between two columns, and between two phases, will be discussed.