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

Title: 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

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Abstract

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 μm. In this work, 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 (~3 μm) VMD is 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 ~3 μm) 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.

Authors:

Kassianov, E. ^[1]; Pekour, M. ^[1]; Flynn, C. ^[1]; Berg, L. K. ^[1]; Beranek, J. ^[1]; Zelenyuk, A. ^[1]; Zhao, C. ^[1]; Leung, L. R. ^[1]; Ma, P. L. ^[1]; Riihimaki, L. ^[1]; Fast, J. D. ^[1]; Barnard, J. ^[2]; Hallar, A. G. ^[3]; McCubbin, I. B. ^[3]; Eloranta, E. W. ^[4]; McComiskey, A. ^[5]; Rasch, P. J. ^[1]

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington
University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada
Storm Peak Laboratory, Desert Research Institute, Steamboat Springs, Colorado
University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado

Publication Date:: 2017-04-17

Research Org.:: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

OSTI Identifier:: 1351708

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1353321

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-118075
Journal ID: ISSN 0022-4928

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

Resource Type:: Published Article

Journal Name:: Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences Journal Volume: 74 Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-4928

Publisher:: American Meteorological Society

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Dust or dust storms; Optical phenomena; Precipitation; In situ atmospheric observations; Lidars/Lidar observations; Surface observations

Citation Formats


                    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., and Rasch, P. J. 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.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-16-0256.1.

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                    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. 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.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-16-0256.1

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                    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., and Rasch, P. J. Mon .  
"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".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-16-0256.1.

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@article{osti_1351708,

  title        = {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},

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

  abstractNote = {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 μm. In this work, 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 (~3 μm) VMD is 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 ~3 μm) 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.},

  doi          = {10.1175/JAS-D-16-0256.1},

  journal      = {Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences},

  number       = 5,

  volume       = 74,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2017},

  month        = {4}

}

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