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Title: Amazon boundary layer aerosol concentration sustained by vertical transport during rainfall

Journal Article · · Nature (London)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19819· OSTI ID:1341705
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  1. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  2. Stockholm Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Applied Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry
  3. Univ. of Sao Paulo (Brazil)
  4. Max Planck Inst. for Chemistry, Mainz (Germany). Biogeochemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments; Nanjing Univ. and Collaborative Innovation Center for Climate Change, Nanjing (China). School of Atmospheric Sciences
  5. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Science and Global Change Div. (ASGC)
  6. Max Planck Inst. for Chemistry, Mainz (Germany). Biogeochemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments
  7. Max Planck Inst. for Biogeochemistry, Jena (Germany)
  8. Univ. of Helsinki (Finland). Dept. of Physics
  9. Amazonas State Univ., Amazonas (Brazil)
  10. Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  11. National Inst. for Space Research, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo (Brazil)
  12. Max Planck Inst. for Chemistry, Mainz (Germany). Biogeochemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments; Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Scripps Inst. of Oceanography
  13. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences
+ Show Author Affiliations

The nucleation of atmospheric vapours is an important source of new aerosol particles that can subsequently grow to form cloud condensation nuclei in the atmosphere. Most field studies of atmospheric aerosols over continents are influenced by atmospheric vapours of anthropogenic origin and, in consequence, aerosol processes in pristine, terrestrial environments remain poorly understood. The Amazon rainforest is one of the few continental regions where aerosol particles and their precursors can be studied under near-natural conditions, but the origin of small aerosol particles that grow into cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon boundary layer remains unclear. Here we present aircraft- and ground-based measurements under clean conditions during the wet season in the central Amazon basin. We find that high concentrations of small aerosol particles (with diameters of less than 50 nanometres) in the lower free troposphere are transported from the free troposphere into the boundary layer during precipitation events by strong convective downdrafts and weaker downward motions in the trailing stratiform region. Lastly, this rapid vertical transport can help to maintain the population of particles in the pristine Amazon boundary layer, and may therefore influence cloud properties and climate under natural conditions.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC02-98CH10886
OSTI ID:
1341705
Report Number(s):
BNL-113454-2017-JA; R&D Project: 2016-BNL-EE630EECA-Budg; KP1701000
Journal Information:
Nature (London), Vol. 539, Issue 7629; ISSN 0028-0836
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 84 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (33)

Validation of high‐resolution MAIAC aerosol product over South America journal July 2017
New Particle Formation in the Atmosphere: From Molecular Clusters to Global Climate journal July 2019
Rapid growth of organic aerosol nanoparticles over a wide tropospheric temperature range journal August 2018
Substantial convection and precipitation enhancements by ultrafine aerosol particles journal January 2018
Sensitivities of Amazonian clouds to aerosols and updraft speed journal January 2017
CCN activity and organic hygroscopicity of aerosols downwind of an urban region in central Amazonia: seasonal and diel variations and impact of anthropogenic emissions journal January 2017
Meteorological context of the onset and end of the rainy season in Central Amazonia during the GoAmazon2014/5 journal January 2017
Multi-year statistical and modeling analysis of submicrometer aerosol number size distributions at a rain forest site in Amazonia journal January 2018
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
Observations of sesquiterpenes and their oxidation products in central Amazonia during the wet and dry seasons journal January 2018
Combining airborne in situ and ground-based lidar measurements for attribution of aerosol layers journal January 2018
Constraining nucleation, condensation, and chemistry in oxidation flow reactors using size-distribution measurements and aerosol microphysical modeling journal January 2018
Ground-based observation of clusters and nucleation-mode particles in the Amazon journal January 2018
Aircraft-based observations of isoprene-epoxydiol-derived secondary organic aerosol (IEPOX-SOA) in the tropical upper troposphere over the Amazon region journal January 2018
Estimating the influence of transport on aerosol size distributions during new particle formation events journal January 2018
Tropical continental downdraft characteristics: mesoscale systems versus unorganized convection journal January 2018
Vertically resolved concentration and liquid water content of atmospheric nanoparticles at the US DOE Southern Great Plains site journal January 2018
Overview: Precipitation characteristics and sensitivities to environmental conditions during GoAmazon2014/5 and ACRIDICON-CHUVA journal January 2018
Aerosol characteristics and particle production in the upper troposphere over the Amazon Basin journal January 2018
Chemical composition of ultrafine aerosol particles in central Amazonia during the wet season journal January 2019
Estimating cloud condensation nuclei number concentrations using aerosol optical properties: role of particle number size distribution and parameterization journal January 2019
Free tropospheric aerosols at the Mt. Bachelor Observatory: more oxidized and higher sulfate content compared to boundary layer aerosols journal January 2019
Quantifying the aerosol effect on droplet size distribution at cloud top journal January 2019
Interaction between succinic acid and sulfuric acid–base clusters journal January 2019
Land cover and its transformation in the backward trajectory footprint region of the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory journal January 2019
Temperature effects on sulfuric acid aerosol nucleation and growth: initial results from the TANGENT study journal January 2019
Long-term cloud condensation nuclei number concentration, particle number size distribution and chemical composition measurements at regionally representative observatories text January 2018
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Rapid growth of organic aerosol nanoparticles over a wide tropospheric temperature range text January 2018
Combining airborne in situ and ground-based lidar measurements for attribution of aerosol layers journal January 2018
Aerosol characteristics and particle production in the upper troposphere over the Amazon Basin text January 2018
Free Tropospheric Aerosols at the Mt. Bachelor Observatory: More Oxidized and Higher Sulfate Content Compared to Boundary Layer Aerosols journal September 2018
Long-term cloud condensation nuclei number concentration, particle number size distribution and chemical composition measurements at regionally representative observatories text January 2018

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