Impact of Biomass Burning Aerosols on Cloud Formation in Coastal Regions
Abstract
In the tropics, shallow and deep convective cloud structures organize in hierarchy of spatial scales ranging from meso-gamma (2-20 km) to planetary scales (40,000km). At the lower end of the spectrum is shallow convection over the open ocean, whose upscale growth is dependent upon mesoscale convergence triggers. In this context, cloud systems associated with land breezes that propagate long distances into open ocean areas are important. We utilized numerical model simulations to examine the impact of biomass burning on such cloud systems in the maritime continent, specifically along the coastal regions of Sarawak. Numerical model simulations conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model show spatial patterns of smoke that show good agreement to satellite observations. Analysis of model simulations show that, during daytime the horizontal convective rolls (HCRs) that form over land play an important role in organizing transport of smoke in the coastal regions. Alternating patterns of low and high smoke concentrations that are well correlated to the wavelengths of HCRs are found in both the simulations and satellite observations. During night time, smoke transport is modulated by the land breeze circulation and a band of enhanced smoke concentration is found along the land breeze front. Biomass burning aerosols are ingested by the convective clouds that form along the land breeze and leads to changes in total water path, cloud structure and precipitation formation.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFM.A41L..07N
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0360 Radiation: transmission and scattering;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0368 Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE