AAAR 36th Annual Conference October 16 - October 20, 2017 Raleigh Convention Center Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Abstract View
A Multi-Instrument Cloud Condensation Nuclei Spectrum Product
EZRA LEVIN, Manasi Mahish, Peter Marinescu, Don Collins, Sonia Kreidenweis, Colorado State University
Abstract Number: 372 Working Group: Aerosols, Clouds, and Climate
Abstract Multiple years of aerosol data have been collected from routine observations at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. These measurements include aerosol size distributions and hygroscopicity via a tandem differential mobility analyzer. We combine these measurements, along with other measurements of aerosol number and composition, to calculate best estimate concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) at supersaturations from 0.1 to 10%. Direct measurements of CCN concentrations are also made at SGP via a CCN counter (Droplet Measurement Technologies). However, these measurements are limited to supersaturation values less than ~1% and could thus be missing large numbers of particles which could activate during strong updraft conditions. Our extended CCN spectra will therefore provide guidance for modeling efforts, especially those investigating convective systems which commonly occur in the Great Plains region. We also use the calculated CCN spectra and changes in CCN activated fraction as a function of supersaturation to investigate seasonal and interannual variations in aerosol types and sources impacting SGP.