Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements
The rapidly warming Arctic is sensitive to perturbations in the surface energy budget, which can be caused by clouds and aerosols. However, the interactions between clouds and aerosols are poorly quantified in the Arctic, in part due to (1) limited observations of vertical structure of aerosols rela...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7d5eff399b31459e8ad6e59c413c9e00 2023-05-15T14:50:12+02:00 Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements J. M. Creamean G. de Boer H. Telg F. Mei D. Dexheimer M. D. Shupe A. Solomon A. McComiskey 2021-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 https://doaj.org/article/7d5eff399b31459e8ad6e59c413c9e00 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/1737/2021/acp-21-1737-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/7d5eff399b31459e8ad6e59c413c9e00 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 21, Pp 1737-1757 (2021) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 2022-12-31T13:27:34Z The rapidly warming Arctic is sensitive to perturbations in the surface energy budget, which can be caused by clouds and aerosols. However, the interactions between clouds and aerosols are poorly quantified in the Arctic, in part due to (1) limited observations of vertical structure of aerosols relative to clouds and (2) ground-based observations often being inadequate for assessing aerosol impacts on cloud formation in the characteristically stratified Arctic atmosphere. Here, we present a novel evaluation of Arctic aerosol vertical distributions using almost 3 years' worth of tethered balloon system (TBS) measurements spanning multiple seasons. The TBS was deployed at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program's facility at Oliktok Point, Alaska. Aerosols were examined in tandem with atmospheric stability and ground-based remote sensing of cloud macrophysical properties to specifically address the representativeness of near-surface aerosols to those at cloud base. Based on a statistical analysis of the TBS profiles, ground-based aerosol number concentrations were unequal to those at cloud base 86 % of the time. Intermittent aerosol layers were observed 63 % of the time due to poorly mixed below-cloud environments, mostly found in the spring, causing a decoupling of the surface from the cloud layer. A uniform distribution of aerosol below cloud was observed only 14 % of the time due to a well-mixed below-cloud environment, mostly during the fall. The equivalent potential temperature profiles of the below-cloud environment reflected the aerosol profile 89 % of the time, whereby a mixed or stratified below-cloud environment was observed during a uniform or layered aerosol profile, respectively. In general, a combination of aerosol sources, thermodynamic structure, and wet removal processes from clouds and precipitation likely played a key role in establishing observed aerosol vertical structures. Results such as these could be used to improve future parameterizations of aerosols and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 21 3 1737 1757 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 J. M. Creamean G. de Boer H. Telg F. Mei D. Dexheimer M. D. Shupe A. Solomon A. McComiskey Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
The rapidly warming Arctic is sensitive to perturbations in the surface energy budget, which can be caused by clouds and aerosols. However, the interactions between clouds and aerosols are poorly quantified in the Arctic, in part due to (1) limited observations of vertical structure of aerosols relative to clouds and (2) ground-based observations often being inadequate for assessing aerosol impacts on cloud formation in the characteristically stratified Arctic atmosphere. Here, we present a novel evaluation of Arctic aerosol vertical distributions using almost 3 years' worth of tethered balloon system (TBS) measurements spanning multiple seasons. The TBS was deployed at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program's facility at Oliktok Point, Alaska. Aerosols were examined in tandem with atmospheric stability and ground-based remote sensing of cloud macrophysical properties to specifically address the representativeness of near-surface aerosols to those at cloud base. Based on a statistical analysis of the TBS profiles, ground-based aerosol number concentrations were unequal to those at cloud base 86 % of the time. Intermittent aerosol layers were observed 63 % of the time due to poorly mixed below-cloud environments, mostly found in the spring, causing a decoupling of the surface from the cloud layer. A uniform distribution of aerosol below cloud was observed only 14 % of the time due to a well-mixed below-cloud environment, mostly during the fall. The equivalent potential temperature profiles of the below-cloud environment reflected the aerosol profile 89 % of the time, whereby a mixed or stratified below-cloud environment was observed during a uniform or layered aerosol profile, respectively. In general, a combination of aerosol sources, thermodynamic structure, and wet removal processes from clouds and precipitation likely played a key role in establishing observed aerosol vertical structures. Results such as these could be used to improve future parameterizations of aerosols and ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. M. Creamean G. de Boer H. Telg F. Mei D. Dexheimer M. D. Shupe A. Solomon A. McComiskey |
author_facet |
J. M. Creamean G. de Boer H. Telg F. Mei D. Dexheimer M. D. Shupe A. Solomon A. McComiskey |
author_sort |
J. M. Creamean |
title |
Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements |
title_short |
Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements |
title_full |
Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements |
title_fullStr |
Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements |
title_sort |
assessing the vertical structure of arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 https://doaj.org/article/7d5eff399b31459e8ad6e59c413c9e00 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Alaska |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 21, Pp 1737-1757 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/1737/2021/acp-21-1737-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/7d5eff399b31459e8ad6e59c413c9e00 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
1737 |
op_container_end_page |
1757 |
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1766321254771458048 |