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Title: Linking Meteorology, Turbulence, and Air Chemistry in the Amazon Rain Forest

Journal Article · · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [1];  [8];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [13];  [4];  [7]
  1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
  2. Univ. do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus (Brazil)
  3. National Inst. for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos (Brazil)
  4. Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States)
  5. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
  6. State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Albany, NY (United States). Atmospheric Sciences Research Center
  7. Inst. Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus (Brazil)
  8. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)
  9. Univ. Federal do Oeste do Pará (UFOPA), Santarém (Brazil)
  10. Univ. Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba (Brazil)
  11. Inst. de Aeronaútica e Espaço, São Paulo (Brazil). Dept. de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial
  12. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  13. Federal Univ. of Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria (Brazil)
+ Show Author Affiliations

We describe the salient features of a field study whose goals are to quantify the vertical distribution of plant-emitted hydrocarbons and their contribution to aerosol and cloud condensation nuclei production above a central Amazonian rain forest. Using observing systems deployed on a 50-m meteorological tower, complemented with tethered balloon deployments, the vertical distribution of hydrocarbons and aerosols was determined under different boundary layer thermodynamic states. The rain forest emits sufficient reactive hydrocarbons, such as isoprene and monoterpenes, to provide precursors of secondary organic aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei. Mesoscale convective systems transport ozone from the middle troposphere, enriching the atmospheric boundary layer as well as the forest canopy and surface layer. Through multiple chemical transformations, the ozone-enriched atmospheric surface layer can oxidize rain forest–emitted hydrocarbons. One conclusion derived from the field studies is that the rain forest produces the necessary chemical species and in sufficient amounts to undergo oxidation and generate aerosols that subsequently activate into cloud condensation nuclei.

Research Organization:
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0011075
OSTI ID:
1536979
Journal Information:
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 97, Issue 12; ISSN 0003-0007
Publisher:
American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (30)

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Regulated large-scale annual shutdown of Amazonian isoprene emissions? journal January 2009
Transport of ozone to the surface by convective downdrafts at night journal January 2002
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Biogenic Hydrocarbon Chemistry within and Above a Mixed Deciduous Forest journal December 2006
Downward transport of ozone rich air and implications for atmospheric chemistry in the Amazon rainforest journal January 2016
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A global model of natural volatile organic compound emissions journal January 1995
Highly reactive light‐dependent monoterpenes in the Amazon journal March 2015
Within-canopy sesquiterpene ozonolysis in Amazonia journal January 2011
Another look at sonic thermometry journal September 1991
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Turbulence Statistics Above And Within Two Amazon Rain Forest Canopies journal February 2000
Seasonal differences in isoprene and light-dependent monoterpene emission by Amazonian tree species journal May 2004
The Chuva Project: How Does Convection Vary across Brazil? journal September 2014
Radiação solar e distribuição vertical de área foliar em floresta - Reserva Biológica do Cuieiras ZF2, Manaus journal December 2005
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Introduction: Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) journal January 2016
Rainforest Aerosols as Biogenic Nuclei of Clouds and Precipitation in the Amazon journal September 2010
Cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon Basin: “marine” conditions over a continent? journal July 2001
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Contrasting convective regimes over the Amazon: Implications for cloud electrification journal January 2002
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Cited By (12)

Nighttime wind and scalar variability within and above an Amazonian canopy journal January 2018
Air-Parcel Residence Times Within Forest Canopies journal June 2017
Effects of Path Averaging in a Sonic Anemometer on the Estimation of Turbulence-Kinetic-Energy Dissipation Rates journal June 2019
Contributions of biomass-burning, urban, and biogenic emissions to the concentrations and light-absorbing properties of particulate matter in central Amazonia during the dry season journal January 2019
Land–atmosphere interactions in the tropics – a review journal January 2019
Campaign datasets for Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GOAMAZON) dataset January 2016
Effects of topography on in‐canopy transport of gases emitted within dense forests
  • Chen, Bicheng; Chamecki, Marcelo; Katul, Gabriel G.
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 145, Issue 722 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3546
journal April 2019
Planetary boundary layer evolution over the Amazon rainforest in episodes of deep moist convection at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory journal January 2020
Turbulent transport of energy across a forest and a semiarid shrubland journal January 2018
Turbulent transport of energy across a forest and a semiarid shrubland text January 2018
Observing and Modeling the Vertical Wind Profile at Multiple Sites in and above the Amazon Rain Forest Canopy journal January 2017
Campaign datasets for Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GOAMAZON) dataset January 2016

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