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Clouds, Aerosols, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer: An Arm Mobile Facility Deployment

Journal Article · · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
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The Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer (CAP-MBL) deployment at Graciosa Island in the Azores generated a 21 month (April 2009-December 2010) comprehensive dataset documenting clouds, aerosols and precipitation using the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF). The scientific aim of the deployment is to gain improved understanding of the interactions of clouds, aerosols and precipitation in the marine boundary layer. Graciosa Island straddles the boundary between the subtropics and midlatitudes in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, and consequently experiences a great diversity of meteorological and cloudiness conditions. Low clouds are the dominant cloud type, with stratocumulus and cumulus occurring regularly. Approximately half of all clouds contained precipitation detectable as radar echoes below the cloud base. Radar and satellite observations show that clouds with tops from 1- 11 km contribute more or less equally to surface-measured precipitation at Graciosa. A wide range of aerosol conditions was sampled during the deployment consistent with the diversity of sources as indicated by back trajectory analysis. Preliminary findings suggest important two-way interactions between aerosols and clouds at Graciosa, with aerosols affecting light precipitation and cloud radiative properties while being controlled in part by precipitation scavenging. The data from at Graciosa are being compared with short-range forecasts made a variety of models. A pilot analysis with two climate and two weather forecast models shows that they reproduce the observed time-varying vertical structure of lower-tropospheric cloud fairly well, but the cloud-nucleating aerosol concentrations less well. The Graciosa site has been chosen to be a permanent fixed ARM site that became operational in October 2013.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science - Office of Biological and Environmental Research - Atmospheric System Research
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1391809
Journal Information:
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Journal Name: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 96; ISSN 0003-0007
Publisher:
American Meteorological Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (28)

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Characterization of shallow oceanic precipitation using profiling and scanning radar observations at the Eastern North Atlantic ARM observatory journal January 2019
Substantial Seasonal Contribution of Observed Biogenic Sulfate Particles to Cloud Condensation Nuclei journal February 2018
Using MODIS cloud regimes to sort diagnostic signals of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions: AEROSOL-CLOUD-PRECIPITATION INTERACTIONS journal May 2017
Mechanisms Behind the Extratropical Stratiform Low‐Cloud Optical Depth Response to Temperature in ARM Site Observations journal February 2019
Evaluation of autoconversion and accretion enhancement factors in general circulation model warm-rain parameterizations using ground-based measurements over the Azores journal January 2018
A Case Study in Low Aerosol Number Concentrations Over the Eastern North Atlantic: Implications for Pristine Conditions in the Remote Marine Boundary Layer journal November 2017
The Ocean Carbon States Database: a proof-of-concept application of cluster analysis in the ocean carbon cycle journal January 2018
Quantifying cloud base updraft speeds of marine stratocumulus from cloud top radiative cooling journal November 2016
Joint retrievals of cloud and drizzle in marine boundary layer clouds using ground-based radar, lidar and zenith radiances journal January 2015
The Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) contribution to CMIP6 journal January 2017
A global view on the effect of water uptake on aerosol particle light scattering journal August 2019
Drizzle and Turbulence Below Closed Cellular Marine Stratocumulus Clouds journal June 2019
Low-CCN concentration air masses over the eastern North Atlantic: Seasonality, meteorology, and drivers: LOW-CCN AIR MASSES AT THE AZORES journal January 2017
The Interaction Between Boundary Layer and Convection Schemes in a WRF Simulation of Post Cold Frontal Clouds Over the ARM East North Atlantic Site journal April 2019
Evaluation of autoconversion and accretion enhancement factors in general circulation model warm-rain parameterizations using ground-based measurements over the Azores collection January 2018
Comparison of Daytime Low-Level Cloud Properties Derived From GOES and ARM SGP Measurements journal August 2018
Investigation of the marine boundary layer cloud and CCN properties under coupled and decoupled conditions over the Azores: MBL CLOUD AND CCN PROPERTIES journal June 2015
Midlatitude Oceanic Cloud and Precipitation Properties as Sampled by the ARM Eastern North Atlantic Observatory journal April 2019
Aerosol properties and their impacts on surface CCN at the ARM Southern Great Plains site during the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment journal January 2018
Land-ocean differences in the warm-rain formation process in satellite and ground-based observations and model simulations: Land-Ocean Differences in Warm Rain
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The Correlation of Mesoscale Humidity Anomalies With Mesoscale Organization of Marine Stratocumulus From Observations Over the ARM Eastern North Atlantic Site journal December 2019
Post Cold Frontal Clouds at the ARM Eastern North Atlantic Site: An Examination of the Relationship Between Large‐Scale Environment and Low‐Level Cloud Properties journal November 2018
Marine boundary layer aerosol in the eastern North Atlantic: seasonal variations and key controlling processes journal January 2018
The Relationships Between Cloud Top Radiative Cooling Rates, Surface Latent Heat Fluxes, and Cloud-Base Heights in Marine Stratocumulus journal October 2018
Assessment of marine boundary layer cloud simulations in the CAM with CLUBB and updated microphysics scheme based on ARM observations from the Azores: MBL CLOUDS IN CAM-CLUBB-MG2 VERSUS ARM OBSERVATIONS journal July 2016
Satellite Observations of Precipitating Marine Stratocumulus Show Greater Cloud Fraction for Decoupled Clouds in Comparison to Coupled Clouds journal May 2018
A cloudy planetary boundary layer oscillation arising from the coupling of turbulence with precipitation in climate simulations journal August 2017

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