AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Evolution of the Aerosol Size Distribution and Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) Within Smoke Plumes during the Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP)
JASON TOMLINSON, Fan Mei, Jian Wang, Jennifer Comstock, John Hubbe, Mikhail Pekour, John Shilling, Edward Fortner, Duli Chand, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Lawrence Kleinman, Gunnar Senum, Beat Schmid, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Abstract Number: 503 Working Group: Biomass Burning Aerosol: From Emissions to Impacts
Abstract Biomass burning from wildfires and controlled agricultural burns are estimated to be a major contributor of fine particles and organic aerosol at northern temperature latitudes during the summer months. However, the evolution of the physicochemical properties of the aerosol during transport and the potential impact of the aerosol on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity has rarely been studied. During the DOE Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP) in 2013, over 20 research flights were conducted within biomass burn plumes from wildfires in the Northwestern United States and agricultural burns in the Mid-South region of the United States.
A large suite of instruments aboard the DOE G-1 measured the chemical and physical properties of the aerosol with an emphasis on black carbon. A Fast Integrated Mobility Spectrometer (FIMS), Ultra High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS-A), and Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer (PCASP) measured the aerosol size distribution from 15 – 3,000 nm at 1-Hz. A dual column CCN counter measured the CCN number concentration at supersaturations of 0.25% and 0.50% at a time resolution of 1-Hz. The aerosol chemical composition was measured using high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) that has that has been configured to measure refractory aerosol particles. Utilizing the aforementioned measurements, a CCN closure study is used to investigate the emitted aerosol hygroscopicity and potential impacts on cloud microphysics from the different fuel sources.