The Contribution of Aerosol Formation and Growth to the Budget of Cloud Condensation Nuclei Observed at the ARM Southern Great Plains Site
Abstract
Atmospheric aerosol formation and growth is an important environmental nano-scale process, with field measurements and modeling studies indicating that freshly formed particles can contribute significantly to the global population of aerosol and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). However, our understanding of aerosol formation and growth and its influence on climate is still limited as few ambient measurements have been made of either the formation rate (down to 1 nanometer) or the initial growth rate of newly formed aerosol clusters (from 1 to 3 nanometers), both of which are necessary to constrain and investigate the aerosol formation mechanism and to develop process-level models. Aerosol formation and initial growth were investigated during the HI-SCALE study at the Southern Great Plains measurement site managed by the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. Aerosol sampling occurred over the span of two intensive observation periods, one in the spring and one in the late summer of 2016 at a measurement site in central Oklahoma. Characterization of the aerosol size distribution from 1.5 to 1000 nanometers was accomplished through the deployment of a conventional scanning mobility particle spectrometer, an ultra high sensitivity aerosol spectrometer, and condensation particle counters of various cut-sizes (> 3 nanometers, > 10 nanometers). Aerosol measurements were analyzed to determine the frequency of aerosol formation, the associated aerosol formation and growth rates, and the contribution of newly formed aerosol to the population of potentially CCN-active aerosol.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.A53A..03K
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0368 Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 3311 Clouds and aerosols;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES