Integrating system for the measurement of cloud properties in the Amazon Basin

Abstract

This research plan aims to enhance a system designed for measuring the reflected and emitted radiance by clouds. The impact of clouds upon climate is of great scientific significance. Several cloud properties can be altered by the smoke originated in biomass burning. To know how clouds can change their properties is essential for studies on climate change in Brazil. Under several aspects this theme is still not fully understood, and one of the reasons for that is the lack of systematic analyses of physical and chemical properties of aerosols and clouds. Despite the fundamental role the Amazon Basin has on the world's hydrologic and energetic cycles, there are still few quantitative studies on the interactions between clouds and aerosols. This projects proposes using an integrated set of measurements performed by meteorological sensors of atmospheric pressure, temperature, and relative humidity, coupled to 3D positioning and spatial orientation, to enhance the results obtained by a suite of instruments previously built, that measure the thermal radiance emitted by clouds, allowing the determination of their brightness temperature. This project will contribute for the expansion of scientific knowledge on the interactions of clouds and aerosols, which are key for climatic analyses in regional and national spatial scales.