Large Contribution of Coarse Mode to Aerosol Microphysical and Optical Properties: Evidence from Ground-Based Observations of a Transpacific Dust Outbreak at a High-Elevation North American Site

Kassianov, E.; Pekour, M.; Flynn, C.; Berg, L. K.; Beranek, J.; Zelenyuk, A.; Zhao, C.; Leung, L. R.; Ma, P. L.; Riihimaki, L.; Fast, J. D.; Barnard, J.; Hallar, A. G.; McCubbin, I. B.; Eloranta, E. W.; McComiskey, A.; Rasch, P. J.

doi:10.1175/jas-d-16-0256.1

i

Large Contribution of Coarse Mode to Aerosol Microphysical and Optical Properties: Evidence from Ground-Based Observations of a Transpacific Dust Outbreak at a High-Elevation North American Site

2017
By Kassianov, E. ; Pekour, M. ; Flynn, C. ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Personal Author:

Kassianov, E. ; Pekour, M. ; Flynn, C. ; Berg, L. K. ; Beranek, J. ; Zelenyuk, A. ; Zhao, C. ; Leung, L. R. ; Ma, P. L. ; Riihimaki, L. ; Fast, J. D. ; Barnard, J. ; Hallar, A. G. ; McCubbin, I. B. ; Eloranta, E. W. ; McComiskey, A. ; Rasch, P. J.
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; ESRL (Earth System Research Laboratory)
Description:

This work is motivated by previous studies of transatlantic transport of Saharan dust and the observed quasi-static nature of coarse mode aerosol with a volume median diameter (VMD) of approximately 3.5 mm. The authors examine coarse mode contributions from transpacific transport of dust to North American aerosol properties using a dataset collected at the high-elevation Storm Peak Laboratory (SPL) and the nearby Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility. Collected ground-based data are complemented by quasi-global model simulations and satellite and ground-based observations. The authors identify a major dust event associated mostly with a transpacific plume (about 65% of near-surface aerosol mass) in which the coarse mode with moderate (similar to 3 mu m) VMDis distinct and contributes substantially to total aerosol volume (up to 70%) and scattering (up to 40%). The results demonstrate that the identified plume at the SPL site has a considerable fraction of supermicron particles (VMD similar to 3 mu m) and, thus, suggest that these particles have a fairly invariant behavior despite transpacific transport. If confirmed in additional studies, this invariant behavior may simplify considerably parameterizations for size-dependent processes associated with dust transport and removal.
Source:

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 74(5), 1431-1443.
DOI:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jas-d-16-0256.1
Document Type:

Journal Article
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:d8b947d9122076d5a9533b530bbbb48d7e40ea56eb83192da41258f5593737272dbf306b1428d8e0af6e3506b493bbac9a5248d49b1b73d3343fd839572679cb
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/22219/noaa_22219_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 2.50 MB ]

ON THIS PAGE

Details

The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners. As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.