Aerosol effects on clouds and the role of deforestation in the Amazon using remote sensing techniques

Abstract

This project will explore in an integrated way the relationship between cloud properties, precipitation, atmospheric aerosols and the impact of deforestation in the Amazon, from measurements obtained by remote sensing. This theme is highly relevant considering the influence of these factors on Earth's radiative balance, its hydrological and energy cycles, and the fact that they account for much of the uncertainty in climatic models. This project will obtain vertical profiles of temperature, thermodynamic phase and effective radius of droplets in a cloud field, while controlling for weather conditions and the atmospheric burden of aerosols in the vicinity of the cloud field under analysis. The effect of deforestation in the Amazon and the effect of aerosols on cloud properties and precipitation will be investigated considering the differences in Amazonian sub-regions. This project is associated to the FAPESP Thematic Project AEROCLIMA 2008/58100-2 and will contribute to advancing the knowledge on the experimental study of interactions between aerosols, clouds and land use in the Amazon, with the level of spatial extent actually necessary for understanding this system. (AU)