Long-term observations of cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon rain forest – Part 1: Aerosol size distribution, hygroscopicity, and new model parametrizations for CCN prediction

La temporalidad no afecta
la variabilidad en la concentración
de CCN en el Amazonas.
Cloud condensation nuclei
Amazon rainforest

Mira L. Pöhlker, Christopher Pöhlker, Florian Ditas, Thomas Klimach, Isabella Hrabe de Angelis, Alessandro Araújo, Joel Brito, Samara Carbone, Yafang Cheng, Xuguang Chi, Reiner Ditz, Sachin S. Gunthe, Jürgen Kesselmeier, Tobias Könemann, Jošt V. Lavrič, Scot T. Martin, Eugene Mikhailov, Daniel Moran-Zuloaga, Diana Rose, Jorge Saturno, Hang Su, Ryan Thalman, David Walter, Jian Wang, Stefan Wolff, Henrique M. J. Barbosa, Paulo Artaxo, Meinrat O. Andreae, Ulrich Pöschl, Long-term observations of cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon rain forest – Part 1: Aerosol size distribution, hygroscopicity, and new model parametrizations for CCN prediction, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16: 15709–15740, doi: 10.5194/acp-16-15709-2016

Autores/as

Mira L. Pöhlker

Christopher Pöhlker

Florian Ditas

Thomas Klimach

Isabella Hrabe de Angelis

Alessandro Araújo

Joel Brito

Samara Carbone

Yafang Cheng

Xuguang Chi

Reiner Ditz

Sachin S. Gunthe

Jürgen Kesselmeier

Tobias Könemann

Jošt V. Lavrič

Scot T. Martin

Eugene Mikhailov

Daniel Moran-Zuloaga

Diana Rose

Jorge Saturno

Hang Su

Ryan Thalman

David Walter

Jian Wang

Stefan Wolff

Henrique M. J. Barbosa

Paulo Artaxo

Meinrat O. Andreae

Ulrich Pöschl

Fecha de publicación

diciembre 2016

Doi
Otros detalles

First cloud condensation nuclei measurements at the ATTO site.

Abstract

Size-resolved long-term measurements of atmospheric aerosol and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and hygroscopicity were conducted at the remote Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) in the central Amazon Basin over a 1-year period and full seasonal cycle (March 2014–February 2015). The measurements provide a climatology of CCN properties characteristic of a remote central Amazonian rain forest site. The CCN measurements were continuously cycled through 10 levels of supersaturation (S = 0.11 to 1.10 %) and span the aerosol particle size range from 20 to 245 nm. The mean critical diameters of CCN activation range from 43 nm at S = 1.10 % to 172 nm at S = 0.11 %. The particle hygroscopicity exhibits a pronounced size dependence with lower values for the Aitken mode (\(kappa\)Ait = 0.14 ± 0.03), higher values for the accumulation mode (\(\kappa\)Acc = 0.22 ± 0.05), and an overall mean value of \(\kappa\)mean = 0.17 ± 0.06, consistent with high fractions of organic aerosol. The hygroscopicity parameter, \(\kappa\), exhibits remarkably little temporal variability: no pronounced diurnal cycles, only weak seasonal trends, and few short-term variations during long-range transport events. In contrast, the CCN number concentrations exhibit a pronounced seasonal cycle, tracking the pollution-related seasonality in total aerosol concentration. We find that the variability in the CCN concentrations in the central Amazon is mostly driven by aerosol particle number concentration and size distribution, while variations in aerosol hygroscopicity and chemical composition matter only during a few episodes. For modeling purposes, we compare different approaches of predicting CCN number concentration and present a novel parametrization, which allows accurate CCN predictions based on a small set of input data.

Citation

@article{Pohlker2016, author = {Pöhlker, Mira L. and Pöhlker, Christopher and Ditas, Florian and Klimach, Thomas and Hrabe de Angelis, Isabella and Araújo, Alessandro and Brito, Joel and Carbone, Samara and Cheng, Yafang and Chi, Xuguang and Ditz, Reiner and Gunthe, Sachin S. and Kesselmeier, Jürgen and Könemann, Tobias and Lavrič, Jošt V. and Martin, Scot T. and Mikhailov, Eugene and Moran-Zuloaga, Daniel and Rose, Diana and Saturno, Jorge and Su, Hang and Thalman, Ryan and Walter, David and Wang, Jian and Wolff, Stefan and Barbosa, Henrique M. J. and Artaxo, Paulo and Andreae, Meinrat O. and Pöschl, Ulrich}, doi = {10.5194/acp-16-15709-2016}, issn = {1680-7324}, journal = {Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics}, keywords = {Amazon,CCN,Clouds}, month = {dec}, number = {24}, pages = {15709–15740}, title = {Long-term observations of cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon rain forest – Part 1: Aerosol size distribution, hygroscopicity, and new model parametrizations for CCN prediction}, url = {http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/acp-2016-519/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/15709/2016/}, volume = {16}, year = {2016} }