Aerosol and clouds life cycles in Amazonia: biogenic emissions, biomass burning and impacts on ecosystem

Abstract

Amazonia is a living laboratory to study critical processes that regulate tropical atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The forest is an important global source of aerosols, trace gases and water vapor, and the complex nonlinear processes that regulate these different components are still not fully understood. In this project, we will study Aerosol Life Cycle (ALC), Cloud Life Cycle (CLC), and Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation-Precipitation Interactions (CAPI) in Amazonia, using a combination of approaches that allows innovative research in the tropics. The project comprises 4 measurement efforts: 1) new long term observations at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO); 2) several fluvial expeditions in the untouched areas of Western Amazonia; 3) a large scale aircraft experiment with the HALO G5 high altitude plane (14 km); and 4) aerosol and trace gas measurement campaigns at Chacaltaya, Bolivia, 5,240 altitude in the Andes, to study the transport and impact of Amazonian aerosols. These measurement efforts, going from the ATTO 325 meters tall tower, through fluvial ship and aircraft up into the Andes at the GAW-WMO Chacaltaya station, will allow a large spectrum of critical processes that regulates the links between forest-atmosphere-climate in tropical regions. In these sites and platforms, we will measure, among other things, aerosol optical properties with spectral light scattering and absorption, aerosol size distribution, aerosol composition for organic and inorganic components, aerosol optical depth, radiation balance, cloud condensation nuclei, cloud droplet size, cloud optical depth, and vertical profiles of aerosols, clouds, precipitation and thermodynamic variables. A large set of advanced instrumentation will make these measurements in difficult logistical conditions. High resolution cloud modeling will integrate aerosol, CCN and water vapor for a variety of thermodynamic conditions and will allow integration of organic aerosol analysis with cloud processes. High-resolution BRAMS and WRF-Chem regional modeling will be performed to help understanding regional processes and transport. With these new datasets and associated modeling efforts, we plan to study cloud-aerosol-precipitation interactions and the feedbacks between biosphere and atmosphere and human activities through deforestation and biomass burning emissions. We expect that these measurements and modeling framework will provide new insights in critical and important processes that regulate tropical atmospheric Chemistry and cloud Physics. The analysis will also provide insights into how Amazonia is being perturbed by biomass burning emissions and how it influences climate regionally and globally. (AU)