AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Cloud Condensation Nuclei, Cloud Droplet Number, and the Radiative Balance over the Southeastern United States: Measurement and Modeling Results from the NOAA SENEX Campaign
JACK LIN, Ricardo Morales Betancourt, Aikaterini Bougiatioti, Petros Vasilakos, Athanasios Nenes, Charles Brock, Nick Wagner, Daniel Lack, Daniel Law, Timothy Gordon, Mathews Richardson, Milos Markovic, Joshua P. Schwarz, Ann M. Middlebrook, Jin Liao, André Welti, Joost de Gouw, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract Number: 422 Working Group: Air Quality and Climate in the Southeast US: Insights from Recent Measurement Campaigns
Abstract The southeastern United States is characterized by high biogenic and anthropogenic emissions and active photochemistry affecting aerosol production and CCN concentrations with important influences on the Earth’s radiative balance. In particular, the interactions between biogenic and anthropogenic emissions are not well characterized and may play an important role in explaining the anomalous cooling trend observed in the southeast United States over the latter half of the twentieth century.
Aerosol and CCN concentrations and aerosol size and composition data were collected aboard the NOAA WP-3D during the June-July 2013 NOAA SENEX mission, a part of the Southeast Atmosphere Study. We present measurements of CCN activity as well as calculations of cloud droplet number from a parameterization to assess associated radiative forcing for the southeastern United States. Cloud droplet number is calculated using data measured aboard the WP-3D as well as from the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) and the Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model (CMAQ). Calculated droplet number sensitivities identify the parameters driving the difference between droplet number calculated from measurements and modeled aerosol parameters.