Aerosol Radiative Closure in the Marine Atmosphere Based on Transmissometer Measurements

Abstract

LONG-TERM GOALS. The long term goal of this program is to characterize the radiative properties of aerosols over the oceans so as to understand the factors that affect radiation transmission in the marine boundary layer (MBL) close to the ocean surface. OBJECTIVES. We will perform field studies in which we measure the spectrally-resolved transmission properties of the marine atmosphere while making concurrent measurements of aerosol physical, chemical and radiative properties. The aerosol properties are then used in a radiative model to ascertain if the model can duplicate the atmospheric transmission measurements. The degree of agreement between the transmission measurements and the model results is a measure of the adequacy of the characterization of the aerosol properties and the radiative model. The comparison (commonly referred to as "closure") is the ultimate test of the completeness of our knowledge of atmospheric radiative properties. These studies will be carried out in coastal and near-continental ocean regions that are impacted by continental aerosols. Specific objectives are: to resolve and distinguish between the relative contribution of marine and continental aerosols to the radiative properties of the near-shore marine atmosphere; to investigate the sensitivity of the radiative properties of ambient aerosols in the coastal region to changes in relative humidity and to partition the relative humidity effects to specific aerosol components; and to develop and validate closure models for atmospheric transmission in the marine atmosphere. The ultimate objective is to link our measurements of aerosol radiative properties to regional/global aerosol transport models so that we can predict the aerosol radiative environment over the oceans, especially in coastal regions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 1999
Accession Number
ADA636467

Entities

People

  • Dennis L. Savoie
  • Hal Maring
  • Joseph M. Prospero

Organizations

  • Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheres
  • Atmospheric Chemistry
  • Atmospheric Sciences
  • Backscattering
  • Boundary Layer
  • Chemical Analysis
  • Chemistry
  • Coastal Regions
  • Environment
  • Instrumentation
  • Light Scattering
  • Marine Atmospheres
  • Measurement
  • Optical Properties
  • Particles
  • Scattering
  • Transmissometers

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Remote Sensing.
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers