PNNL

Abstract

The primary goal of the Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study (CHAPS) was to characterize and contrast freshly emitted aerosols below, above, and within fields of cumuli, and to study changes to the cloud microphysical structure within these same cloud fields. The CHAPS is one of very few studies that have had an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) sampling downstream of a counter-flow virtual impactor (CVI) inlet on an aircraft, allowing the examination of the chemical composition of the nucleated aerosols within the cumuli. The results from the CHAPS will provide insights into changes in the aerosol chemical and optical properties as aerosols move through shallow cumuli downwind of a moderately sized city. Three instrument platforms were employed during the CHAPS, including the U.S. Department of Energy Gulfstream-1 aircraft, which was equipped for in situ sampling of aerosol optical and chemical properties; the NASA-Langley King Air B200, which carried the downward looking NASA Langley High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) to measure profiles of aerosol backscatter, extinction, and depolarization between the King Air and the surface; and a surface site equipped for continuous in situ measurements of aerosol properties, profiles of aerosol backscatter, and meteorological conditions including total sky cover and thermodynamic profiles of the atmosphere. In spite of record precipitation over central Oklahoma, a total of eight research flights were made by the G-1, and eighteen by the B200, including special satellite verification flights timed to coincide with NASA satellite A-Train overpasses.