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Carl M. Berkowitz Pacific Northwest National Laboratory P.O. Box 999/K9-30 Richland, WA 99352 email: Carl.Berkowitz@pnl.gov Previous research has shown that there is significant mass transport from the boundary layer to the free troposphere associated with shallow fair-weather cumuli and cumuli with more vertical development. Anticipating a similar redistribution of aerosol particulate matter, we argue that aerosol activation, aqueous-phase chemistry, and scavenging associated with cumulus transport will induce significant changes not only to the particulate matter (PM) size and mass distribution but to intrinsic aerosol optical properties as well. We will conduct a research program to address three questions relevant to this topic: 1) what is the vertical and horizontal variability in aerosol absorption and scattering over regions occupied primarily by cumuliform clouds? 2) what are the differences in these properties below and above cumulus clouds? and 3) what is the variability and magnitude of derived quantities such as the aerosol single scattering albedo and aerosol extinction below and above these clouds? We will address these questions by completing the following tasks: an aircraft field program to characterize aerosols processed by cumuliform clouds downwind of an urban area producing fresh aerosols, development and use of a detailed aerosol-process model to analyze results from the field program, and the addition of parameterized aerosol physics and chemistry to an existing cumulus parameterization suitable for inclusion in regional-scale models. [back to ASP ST Membership] |