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Title: Substantial convection and precipitation enhancements by ultrafine aerosol particles

Journal Article · · Science
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [8]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [10]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [11]; ORCiD logo [12]; ORCiD logo [1];  [13];  [13]; ORCiD logo [14] more »; ORCiD logo [15] « less
  1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Science and Global Change Div. (ASGC)
  2. Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem (Israel). Inst. of Earth Sciences
  3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Science and Global Change Div. (ASGC); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and ESSIC
  4. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Environmental and Climate Science Dept.
  5. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and ESSIC; Beijing Normal Univ., Beijing (China). State Lab. of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, GCESS
  6. National Inst. for Space Research, Cachoeira Paulista (Brazil). Weather Prevision Center and Climate Studies
  7. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
  8. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Science and Global Change Div. (ASGC); Beijing Municipal Weather Modification Office, Beijing (China)
  9. Univ. of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Inst. of Physics
  10. Univ. of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Inst. of Physics; Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD (United States). Dept. of Physics
  11. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Science and Global Change Div. (ASGC); Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of Severe Weather
  12. Federal Univ. of Alagoas (Brazil). Atmospheric and Climate Dynamics Lab. and Inst. of Atmospheric Sciences
  13. Max Planck Society, Mainz (Germany). Max Planck Inst. for Chemistry and Multiphase Chemistry and Biogeochemistry Dept.
  14. Max Planck Society, Mainz (Germany). Max Planck Inst. for Chemistry and Multiphase Chemistry and Biogeochemistry Dept.; Johannes Gutenberg Univ., Mainz (Germany)
  15. Amazonas State Univ. (UEA), Manaus-AM (Brazil). School of Technology and Dept. of Meteorology
+ Show Author Affiliations

Aerosol-cloud interactions remain the largest uncertainty in climate projections. Ultrafine aerosol particles smaller than 50 nanometers (UAP<50) can be abundant in the troposphere, but are conventionally considered too small to affect cloud formation. However, observational evidence and numerical simulations of deep convective clouds (DCCs) over the Amazon show that DCCs forming in a low aerosol environment can develop very large vapor supersaturation because fast droplet coalescence reduces integrated droplet surface area and subsequent condensation. UAP<50 from pollution plumes that are ingested into such clouds can be activated to form additional cloud droplets on which excess supersaturation condenses and forms additional cloud water and latent heating, thus intensifying convective strength. This mechanism suggests a strong anthropogenic invigoration of DCCs in previously pristine regions of the world.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23); National Science Foundation (NSF), Washington, DC (United States); National Science Foundation of China; European Union (EU); Cloud Processes of the Main Precipitation System (CHUVA) project; National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA); Amazonas State Univ. (UEA); Amazonas State Research Support Foundation (FAPEAM); National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq); German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1424983
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1427899; OSTI ID: 1438524
Report Number(s):
BNL-203206-2018-JAAM
Journal Information:
Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 6374 Vol. 359; ISSN 0036-8075
Publisher:
AAASCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (48)

Contrasting effects on deep convective clouds by different types of aerosols journal September 2018
Long‐Term Fog Variation and Its Impact Factors Over Polluted Regions of East China journal February 2019
GoAmazon2014/5 campaign points to deep-inflow approach to deep convection across scales journal April 2018
On the TGF/Lightning Ratio Asymmetry journal June 2019
Chemical composition of ultrafine aerosol particles in central Amazonia during the wet season journal January 2019
Ongoing Breakthroughs in Convective Parameterization journal April 2019
Thermodynamics and Microphysics Relation During CAIPEEX-I journal July 2018
Aerosol-induced changes in the vertical structure of precipitation: a perspective of TRMM precipitation radar journal January 2018
Method to retrieve cloud condensation nuclei number concentrations using lidar measurements posted_content February 2019
Possible Wintertime Sources of Fine Particles in an Urban Environment journal December 2019
The Green Ocean: precipitation insights from the GoAmazon2014/5 experiment journal January 2018
Upscaling urban data science for global climate solutions journal January 2019
Long-term observations of cloud condensation nuclei over the Amazon rain forest – Part 2: Variability and characteristics of biomass burning, long-range transport, and pristine rain forest aerosols journal January 2018
Aerosol effects on deep convection: the propagation of aerosol perturbations through convective cloud microphysics journal January 2019
Aircraft observations of the chemical composition and aging of aerosol in the Manaus urban plume during GoAmazon 2014/5 journal January 2018
The Impact of Cloud Processing on the Ice Nucleation Abilities of Soot Particles at Cirrus Temperatures journal February 2020
Method to retrieve cloud condensation nuclei number concentrations using lidar measurements journal January 2019
Remarkable nucleation and growth of ultrafine particles from vehicular exhaust journal February 2020
Observations of sesquiterpenes and their oxidation products in central Amazonia during the wet and dry seasons journal January 2018
Ice nucleation by aerosols from anthropogenic pollution journal July 2019
Remarkable nucleation and growth of ultrafine particles from vehicular exhaust journal February 2020
New Particle Formation in the Atmosphere: From Molecular Clusters to Global Climate journal July 2019
Aerosol as a potential factor to control the increasing torrential rain events in urban areas over the last decades journal January 2018
East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols and their Impact on Regional Clouds, Precipitation, and Climate (EAST‐AIR CPC ) journal December 2019
Enlarging Rainfall Area of Tropical Cyclones by Atmospheric Aerosols journal August 2018
Investigation of Liquid Cloud Microphysical Properties of Deep Convective Systems: 2. Parameterization of Raindrop Size Distribution and its Application for Convective Rain Estimation journal October 2018
Effects of Sea Spray on Microphysics and Intensity of Deep Convective Clouds Under Strong Winds journal August 2019
Aerosol-driven droplet concentrations dominate coverage and water of oceanic low-level clouds journal January 2019
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Polarimetric Radar Convective Cell Tracking Reveals Large Sensitivity of Cloud Precipitation and Electrification Properties to CCN journal November 2019
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Single-particle characterization of aerosols collected at a remote site in the Amazonian rainforest and an urban site in Manaus, Brazil journal January 2019
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Quantifying the aerosol effect on droplet size distribution at cloud top journal January 2019
Locally Enhanced Aerosols Over a Shipping Lane Produce Convective Invigoration but Weak Overall Indirect Effects in Cloud-Resolving Simulations journal September 2018

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