PNNL

Abstract

The Aerosol and Cloud Experiment in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) investigated properties of aerosols and subtropical marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds. Low subtropical marine clouds can have a large effect on Earth’s radiative budget, but they are poorly represented in global climate models. In order to understand their radiative effects, it is imperative to understand the composition and sources of the MBL cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The campaign consisted of two intensive operation periods (IOP) (June-July, 2017 and January-February, 2018) during which a fully instrumented G-1 aircraft was deployed from Lajes Field on Terceira Island in the Azores, Portugal. The G-1 conducted research flights in the vicinity of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) atmospheric observatory on Graciosa Island. An Aerodyne HR-ToF Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and Ionicon Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) were deployed aboard the aircraft, characterizing chemistry of non-refractory aerosol and trace gases, respectively. The Eastern North Atlantic region was found to be very clean, with average non-refractory aerosol mass loading of 0.6 µg m-3 in the summer and 0.1 µg m-3 in the winter, measured by the AMS. Average concentrations of trace reactive gases methanol and acetone were 1 - 2 ppb; benzene, toluene and isoprene were even lower,