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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ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1765690 2023-07-30T04:01:05+02:00 Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements Creamean, Jessie M. de Boer, Gijs Telg, Hagen Mei, Fan Dexheimer, Darielle Shupe, Matthew D. Solomon, Amy McComiskey, Allison 2021-03-31 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1765690 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1765690 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1765690 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1765690 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 doi:10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 2021 ftosti https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 2023-07-11T10:01:20Z 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 ... Other/Unknown Material Arctic Alaska SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) Arctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 21 3 1737 1757 |
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Open Polar |
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SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
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ftosti |
language |
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topic |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES |
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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Creamean, Jessie M. de Boer, Gijs Telg, Hagen Mei, Fan Dexheimer, Darielle Shupe, Matthew D. Solomon, Amy McComiskey, Allison Assessing the vertical structure of Arctic aerosols using balloon-borne measurements |
topic_facet |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES |
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 ... |
author |
Creamean, Jessie M. de Boer, Gijs Telg, Hagen Mei, Fan Dexheimer, Darielle Shupe, Matthew D. Solomon, Amy McComiskey, Allison |
author_facet |
Creamean, Jessie M. de Boer, Gijs Telg, Hagen Mei, Fan Dexheimer, Darielle Shupe, Matthew D. Solomon, Amy McComiskey, Allison |
author_sort |
Creamean, Jessie M. |
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 |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1765690 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1765690 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Alaska |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1765690 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1765690 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 doi:10.5194/acp-21-1737-2021 |
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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1772811823089713152 |