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DOE OSTI2024

Influence of covariance of aerosol and meteorology on co-located precipitating and non-precipitating clouds over the Indo-Gangetic Plain

Aerosol–cloud–precipitation interaction (ACPI) plays a pivotal role in the global and regional water cycle and the earth's energy budget; however, it remains highly uncertain due to the different underlying physical mechanisms. Therefore, this study aims to systematically analyze the effects of aerosols and meteorological factors on ACPI in the co-located precipitating clouds (PCs) and non-precipitating clouds (NPCs) in winter and summer seasons by employing the long-term (2001–2021) retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) coupled with the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis-II datasets over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The results exhibit a decadal increase in aerosol optical depth (AOD) over Lahore (5.2 %), Delhi (9 %), Kanpur (10.7 %), and Gandhi College (22.7 %) and a decrease over Karachi (-1.9 %) and Jaipur (-0.5 %). The most stable meteorology with high values of lower-tropospheric stability (LTS) is found in both seasons over Karachi. In the summer season, the occurrence frequency of clouds is high (74 %) over Gandhi College, 60 % of which are PCs. Conversely, the lowest number of PCs is found over Karachi. Similarly, in the winter season, the frequency of cloud occurrence is low over Karachi and high over Lahore and Gandhi College. The analysis of cloud top pressure (CTP) and cloud optical thickness (COT) indicates high values of cloud fraction (CF) for thick and high-level clouds over all study areas except Karachi. The microphysical properties such as cloud effective radius (CER) and cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) bear high values (CER ≳ 15 µm and CDNC ≳ 50 cm -3 ) for both NPCs and PCs in summer. The AOD–CER correlation is good (weak) for PCs (NPCs) in winter. Similarly, the sensitivity value of the first indirect effect (FIE) is high (ranging from 0.2 ± 0.13 to 0.3 ± 0.01 in winter and from 0.19 ± 0.03 to 0.32 ± 0.05 in summer) for PCs and low for NPCs. The sensitivity value for the second indirect effect (SIE) is relatively higher (such as 0.6 ± 0.14 in winter and 0.4 ± 0.04 in summer) than FIE. Sensitivity values of the aerosol-cloud interaction (ACI) are low (i.e., -0.06 ± 0.09) for PCs in summer. Furthermore, the precipitation rate (PR) exhibits high values in the summer season, primarily due to the significant contribution from optically thick clouds with lower CDNC (≲ 50 cm -3 ) and larger CER and the intermediate contribution from optically thick clouds with higher CDNC ( ≳ 50 cm -3 ).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

The Two-Column Aerosol Project: Phase I-Overview and impact of elevated aerosol layers on aerosol optical depth

The Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP), conducted from June 2012 through June 2013, was a unique study designed to provide a comprehensive data set that can be used to investigate a number of important climate science questions, including those related to aerosol mixing state and aerosol radiative forcing. The study was designed to sample the atmosphere between and within two atmospheric columns; one fixed near the coast of North America (over Cape Cod, MA) and a second moveable column over the Atlantic Ocean several hundred kilometers from the coast. The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF) was deployed at the base of the Cape Cod column, and the ARM Aerial Facility was utilized for the summer and winter intensive observation periods. One important finding from TCAP is that four of six nearly cloud-free flight days had aerosol layers aloft in both the Cape Cod and maritime columns that were detected using the nadir pointing second-generation NASA high-spectral resolution lidar (HSRL-2). In addition, these layers contributed up to 60% of the total observed aerosol optical depth (AOD). Many of these layers were also intercepted by the aircraft configured for in situ sampling, and the aerosol in the layers was found to have increased amounts of biomass burning material and nitrate compared to aerosol found near the surface. Lastly, while there was a great deal of spatial and day-to-day variability in the aerosol chemical composition and optical properties, no systematic differences between the two columns were observed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Use of Satellite-Measured Aerosol Optical Depth to Constrain Biomass Burning Emissions Source Strength in a Global Model GOCART

Small particles in the atmosphere, called "atmospheric aerosol" have a direct effect on Earth climate through scattering and absorbing sunlight, and also an indirect effect by changing the properties of clouds, as they interact with solar radiation as well. Aerosol typically stays in the atmosphere for several days, and can be transported long distances, affecting air quality, visibility, and human health not only near the source, but also far downwind. Smoke from vegetation fires is one of the main sources of atmospheric aerosol; other sources include anthropogenic pollution, dust, and sea salt. Chemistry transport models (CTMs) are among the major tools for studying the atmospheric and climate effects of aerosol. Due to the considerable variation of aerosol concentrations and properties on many temporal and spatial scales, and the complexity of the processes involved, the uncertainties in aerosol effects on climate are large, as is featured in the latest report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007. Reducing this uncertainty in the models is very important both for predicting future climate scenarios and for regional air quality forecasting and mitigation. During vegetation fires, also called biomass burning (BB) events, complex mixture of gases and particles is emitted. The amount of BB emissions is usually estimated taking into account the intensity and size of the fire and the properties of burning vegetation. These estimates are input into CTMs to simulate BB aerosol. Unfortunately, due to large variability of fire and vegetation properties, the quantity of BB emissions is very difficult to estimate and BB emission inventories provide numbers that can differ by up to the order of magnitude in some regions. Larger uncertainties in data input make uncertainties in model output larger as well. A powerful way to narrow the range of possible model estimates is to compare model output to observations. We use satellite observations of aerosol properties, specifically aerosol optical depth, which is directly proportional to the amount of aerosol in the atmosphere, and compare it to the model output. Assuming the model represents aerosol transport and particle properties correctly, the amount of BB emissions determines the simulated aerosol optical depth. In this study, we explore the regional performance of 13 commonly used emission estimates. These are each input to global Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model. We then evaluate how well each emission estimate reproduces the smoke aerosol optical depth measured by the MODIS instrument. We compared GOCART-simulate aerosol optical depth with that measured from the satellite for 124 fire cases around the world during 2006 and 2007. We summarize the regional performance of each emission inventory and discuss reasons for their differences by considering the assumptions made during their development. We also show that because stronger wind disperses smoke plumes more readily, in cases with stronger wind, a larger increase in emission amount is needed to increase aerosol optical depth. In quiet, low-wind-speed environments, BB emissions produce a more significant increase in aerosol optical depth, other things being equal. Using the region-specific, quantitative relationships derived in our paper, together with the wind speed obtained from another source for a given fire case, we can constrain the amount of emission required in the model to reproduce the observations. The results of this paper are useful to the developers of BB emission inventories, as they show the strengths and weaknesses of individual emission inventories in different regions of the globe, and also for modelers who use these inventories and wish to improve their model results.

Petrenko, Mariya↗
NASA NTRS1985

Aerosol observations for climate studies

The Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment satellite systems have provided to date more than five years and almost three years, respectively, of data on atmospheric aerosol profiles on a near-global scale. Studies with these unique data sets are developing a global aerosol climatology for the first time and have shown the existence and quantification of polar stratospheric clouds and tropical stratospheric cirrus. In addition, a tropospheric cirrus climatology is evolving. Since these two experiments were launched, a series of large volcanic eruptions have occurred which have greatly impacted the stratospheric aerosol loading. The aerosol layer produced by the eruption of El Chichon, for example, increased the 30 mb temperatures in the northern tropics by as much as 4 C for six months after the eruption. This paper describes in detail, from a climate perspective, the evolving aerosol and cloud climatologies as a function of space and time, and shows the stratospheric dynamics of volcanic injections and their enhancements on stratospheric optical depth and mass loading.

Mccormick, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Impact of Assimilated and Interactive Aerosol on Tropical Cyclogenesis

This article investigates the impact 3 of Saharan dust on the development of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic. A global data assimilation and forecast system, the NASA GEOS-5, is used to assimilate all satellite and conventional data sets used operationally for numerical weather prediction. In addition, this new GEOS-5 version includes assimilation of aerosol optical depth from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The analysis so obtained comprises atmospheric quantities and a realistic 3-d aerosol and cloud distribution, consistent with the meteorology and validated against Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) and CloudSat data. These improved analyses are used to initialize GEOS-5 forecasts, explicitly accounting for aerosol direct radiative effects and their impact on the atmospheric dynamics. Parallel simulations with/without aerosol radiative effects show that effects of dust on static stability increase with time, becoming highly significant after day 5 and producing an environment less favorable to tropical cyclogenesis.

dust↗
NASA NTRS1976

Infrared observations of ices and silicates in molecular clouds

Spectrophotometric observations from 2 to 4 microns and from 8 to 13 microns of several infrared sources associated with molecular clouds are reported. Narrow absorption features at 3.08 microns, attributed to interstellar ices, appear in all sources with a molecular cloud in the intervening line of sight. All sources showing ice absorptions also show broad absorption features, attributed to cold silicates, from 8 to 13 microns. The observed ice absorption profiles are all quite similar; however, they do not fit in detail Mie theory predictions of extinction for pure H2O or NH3 ices. The ratio of ice-to-silicate optical depths is found to vary, with most sources showing a ratio in the range 0.1-0.4. The ratio of visual extinction to ice absorption is found to increase rapidly from inside to outside the molecular cloud in NGC 2024.

Merrill, K. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Far-infrared observations of young clusters embedded in the R Coronae Australis and Rho Ophiuchi dark clouds

Multicolor far-infrared maps in two nearby dark clouds, R Coronae Australis and Rho Ophiuchi, have been made in order to investigate the individual contribution of low-mass stars to the energetics and dynamics of the surrounding gas and dust. Emission from cool dust associated with five low-mass stars has been detected in CrA and four in Rho Oph; their far-infrared luminosities range from 2 solar luminosities to 40 solar luminosities. When an estimate of the bolometric luminosity was possible, it was found that typically more than 50 percent of the star's energy was radiated longward of 20 microns. Meaningful limits to the far-infrared luminosities of an additional 11 association members in CrA and two in Rho Oph were also obtained. The dust optical depth surrounding the star R CrA appears to be asymmetric and may control the dynamics of the surrounding molecular gas. The implications of these results for the cloud energetics and star formation efficiency in these two clouds are discussed.

Wilking, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Cloud and Aerosol Measurements from the GLAS Polar Orbiting Lidar: First Year Results

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) launched in 2003 is the first polar orbiting satellite lidar. The instrument was designed for high performance observations of the distribution and optical scattering cross sections of clouds and aerosol. GLAS is approaching six months of on orbit data operation. These data from thousands of orbits illustrate the ability of space lidar to accurately and dramatically measure the height distribution of global cloud and aerosol to an unprecedented degree. There were many intended science applications of the GLAS data and significant results have already been realized. One application is the accurate height distribution and coverage of global cloud cover with one goal of defining the limitation and inaccuracies of passive retrievals. Comparison to MODIS cloud retrievals shows notable discrepancies. Initial comparisons to NOAA 14&15 satellite cloud retrievals show basic similarity in overall cloud coverage, but important differences in height distribution. Because of the especially poor performance of passive cloud retrievals in polar regions, and partly because of high orbit track densities, the GLAS measurements are by far the most accurate measurement of Arctic and Antarctica cloud cover from space to date. Global aerosol height profiling is a fundamentally new measurement from space with multiple applications. A most important aerosol application is providing input to global aerosol generation and transport models. Another is improved measurement of aerosol optical depth. Oceanic surface energy flux derivation from PBL and LCL height measurements is another application of GLAS data that is being pursued. A special area of work for GLAS data is the correction and application of multiple scattering effects. Stretching of surface return pulses in excess of 40 m from cloud propagation effects and other interesting multiple scattering phenomena have been observed. As an EOS project instrument, GLAS data products are openly available to the science community. First year results from GLAS are summarized.

Spinhirne, J. D.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Deriving Broadband Radiances from Geostationary Satellite Visible Radiance Channels for Use in the CERES SYN1deg Product

The NASA CERES project was designed to monitor the Earth’s radiation budget, both at the regional and global scale. The CERES SSF1deg single satellite product provides TOA flux observations from Aqua, Terra, NPP, and NOAA-20. The SYN1deg product incorporates observations from Terra, Aqua, and geostationary (GEO) satellites. The GEO observations are included in the SYN1deg product to infer the regional diurnal cycle between CERES observations. GEO satellites throughout the CERES record have different narrowband spectral response functions and do not directly observe radiances over the broadband spectra of CERES instruments. Hence the emphasis of this study is improving the process of deriving broadband radiances from the myriad GEO visible channel observations. We present a new method for converting the narrowband radiances observed from GEO operational satellites. This study relies on radiative transfer model hyper-spectral radiances for many cloud and surface conditions under all angular conditions observed by GEO sensors. First, the hyper-spectral radiances from a radiative transfer model must be convolved with the spectral response function of the visible imager for each GEO sensor in the CERES record. For each angular bin and surface type, the clear-sky and multiple optical depth and phase cloudy-sky narrowband and broadband reflectance pairs are linearly regressed. This study found that, no matter how the scene conditions are stratified, for example the all-sky, clear-sky, ice or water clouds, they all provide similar linear regressions. This includes ocean glint conditions, where the clear-sky reflectance exceeds cloudy conditions and yet the relationship was found to be linear in the given angular bin. This infers that no GEO retrieved cloud information is necessary in the narrowband to broadband conversion process, which relies only on visible channel reflectance. Over land, most of the GEO visible channels do not observe the NIR vegetation reflectance. We intend to use land adjustment factors developed using the TOA reflectance difference between the real-time MODIS .86um and the .64um channel. We validate this approach by using coincident observational data between CERES and MODIS aboard Aqua and Terra as well as GEO and CERES observations .

CERES↗
NASA NTRS1985

Far-infrared observations of young clusters embedded in the R Coronae Austrinae and RHO Ophiuchi dark clouds

Multicolor far infrared maps in two nearby dark clouds, R Coronae Austrinae and rho Ophiuchi, were made in order to investigate the individual contribution of low mass stars to the energetics and dynamics of the surrounding gas and dust. Emission from cool dust associated with five low mass stars in Cr A and four in rho Oph was detected; their far infrared luminosities range from 2 far infrared luminosities L. up to 40 far infrared luminosities. When an estimate of the bolometric luminosity was possible, it was found that typically more than 50% of the star's energy was radiated longward of 20 micrometers. meaningful limits to the far infrared luminosities of an additional eleven association members in Cr A and two in rho Oph were also obtained. The dust optical depth surrounding the star R Cr A appears to be asymmetric and may control the dynamics of the surrounding molecular gas. The implications of the results for the cloud energetics and star formation efficiency in these two clouds are discussed.

Wilking, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Summary of results and conclusions based on analysis of volume imaging and high spectral resolution lidar data acquired during FIRE phase 1, part 2

Since the fall of 1986, cirrus clouds were observed with backscatter cross sections ranging from less than 1 x 10(exp -7) to 4.2 x 10(exp -5)m/sr, optical thicknesses ranging from less than .003 to greater than 2.7, and bulk average backscatter phase functions from .02 to .065/sr. Cirrus cloud structures were recorded ranging in vertical extent from 0.1 to 8 km, having horizontal scales from 10's of meters to 266 km, and exhibiting aspect ratios of from 1:5 to 1:100. The altitude relationship between cloud top and bottom boundaries and the optical center of the cloud is influenced by the type of formation observed. Cirrus morphology and generation processes appear to be related to the wind field. The high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) was adapted to the task of cirrus cloud optical property measurement. The HSRL data reported were collected with the CuCl2 transmitter producing 50 mW of output power, achieving eye safe, direct optical depth and backscatter cross section measurements with 10 minute averaging times.

Grund, Christian J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

SAGE II measurements of early Pinatubo aerosols

SAGE II satellite measurements of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption cloud in the stratosphere during June, July, and early August 1991 show that aerosols in the tropics reached as high as 29 km altitude with most of the cloud between 20 and 25 km. The most optically thick portions of the cloud covered latitudes from 10 deg S to 30 deg N during the early part of this period. By late July, high stratospheric optical depths were observed to at least 70 deg N, with the high values north of about 30 deg N from layers below 20 km. High pressure systems in both hemispheres were observed to be correlated with the movement of volcanic material at 21 km into the westerly jet stream at high southern latitudes and similarly to high northern latitudes at 16 km. By August, the entire Southern Hemisphere had experienced a 10-fold increase in optical depth relative to early July due to layers above 20 km. Initial mass calculations using SAGE II data place the aerosol produced from this eruption at 20 to 30 megatons, well above the 12 megatons produced by El Chichon.

Mccormick, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Modeling the Relationships Between Aerosol Properties and the Direct and Indirect Effects of Aerosols on Climate

Aerosols may affect climate directly by scattering and absorbing visible and infrared energy, They may also affect climate indirectly by modifying the properties of clouds through microphysical processes, and by altering abundances of radiatively important gases through heterogeneous chemistry. Researchers understand which aerosol properties control the direct effect of aerosols on the radiation budget. Unfortunately, despite an abundance of data on certain types of aerosols, much work remains to be done to determine the values of these properties. For instance we have little idea about the global distribution, seasonal variation, or interannual variability of the aerosol optical depth. Also we do not know the visible light absorption properties of tropical aerosols which may contain much debris from slash and burn agriculture. A positive correlation between aerosol concentrations and albedos of marine stratus clouds is observed, and the causative microphysics is understood. However, models suggest that it is difficult to produce new particles in the marine boundary layer. Some modelers have suggested that the particles in the marine boundary layer may originate in the free troposphere and be transported into the boundary layer. Others argue that the aerosols are created in the marine boundary layer. There are no data linking aerosol concentration and cirrus cloud albedo, and models suggest cirrus properties may not be very sensitive to aerosol abundance. There is clear evidence of a radiatively significant change in the global lower stratospheric ozone abundance during the past few decades. These changes are caused by heterogeneous chemical reactions occurring on the surfaces of particles. The rates of these reactions depend upon the chemical composition of the particles. Although rapid advances in understanding heterogeneous chemistry have been made, much remains to be done.

Toon, Owen B.↗
DOE OSTI2015

MODIS comparisons with northeastern Pacific in situ stratocumulus microphysics

Abstract Vertical sounding measurements within stratocumuli during two aircraft field campaigns, Marine Stratus/stratocumulus Experiment (MASE) and Physics of Stratocumulus Top (POST), are used to validate Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud optical thickness (COT), cloud liquid water path (LWP), and cloud effective radius ( r e ). In situ COT, LWP, and r e were calculated using 5 m vertically averaged droplet probe measurements of complete vertical cloud penetrations. MODIS COT, LWP, and r e 1 km pixels were averaged along these penetrations. COT comparisons in POST showed strong correlations and a near 1:1 relationship. In MASE, comparisons showed strong correlations; however, MODIS COT exceeded in situ COT, likely due to larger temporal differences between MODIS and in situ measurements. LWP comparisons between two cloud probes show good agreement for POST but not MASE, giving confidence to POST data. Both projects provided strong LWP correlations but MODIS exceeded in situ by 14–36%. MODIS in situ r e correlations were strong, but MODIS 2.1 µm r e exceeded in situ r e , which contributed to LWP bias; in POST, MODIS r e was 20–30% greater than in situ r e . Maximum in situ r e near cloud top showed comparisons nearer 1:1. Other MODIS r e bands (3.7 µm and 1.6 µm) showed similar comparisons. Temporal differences between MODIS and in situ measurements, airplane speed differences, and cloud probe artifacts were likely causes of weaker MASE correlations. POST COT comparison was best for temporal differences under 20 min. POST data validate MODIS COT but it also implies a positive MODIS r e bias that propagates to LWP while still capturing variability.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1994

Satellite remote sensing of H2SO4 aerosol using the 8- to 12-microns window region: Application to Mount Pinatubo

Monitoring stratospheric aerosols containing H2SO4 using the brightness temperature (BT) difference between 11 and 8.3 microns (BT(sub 8)-BT(sub 11)) spectral channels is demonstrated using theoretical calculations and satellite observations. Assuming an aqueous solution of 50% and 75% sulfuric acid, radiative transfer calculations indicate that over oceans an increase in the optical depth of the stratospheric aerosol results in an increase in BT(sub 8)-BT(sub 11). Theoretical simulations suggest that the technique is sensitive to visible optical depths greater than approximately 0.15. The simulations also demonstrate a lack of sensitivity to the particle size distribution. Changes in pre- and post-Pinatubo observations by the High-resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder 2 (HIRS2) on board the NOAA 10 are consistent with observed optical depth measurements and confirm the sensitivity of these channels to the presence of the aerosol. The technique is also applied to cold tropical convective clouds and desert regions where the signal, though evident, is less conclusive. Time series analysis is applied to the NOAA 10 and NOAA 12 combined BT(sub 8-BT(sub 11) observations to detect the periodicity of the spread of the volcanic aerosol. Over a region of the southern Pacific a 18- to 26-day period is present. Model simulations were conducted to demonstrate a trispectral with observations near 8, 11, and 12 microns. The trispectral approach has high potential in that the spectral signature of cirrus, water vapor, and H2SO4 aerosols are different. Observations from NOAA 10 and NOAA 11 are combined to demonstrate the capabilities of these infrared wavelengths of detecting the aerosol. The signal is clearly evident when a region of the South Atlantic is compared for pre- and post-Pinatubo conditions.

Ackerman, Steven A.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Planck intermediate results: XXVIII. Interstellar gas and dust in the Chamaeleon clouds as seen by Fermi LAT and Planck $\star$

The nearby Chamaeleon clouds have been observed in γ rays by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and in thermal dust emission by Planck and IRAS. Cosmic rays and large dust grains, if smoothly mixed with gas, can jointly serve with the H i and 12 CO radio data to (i) map the hydrogen column densities, N H , in the different gas phases, in particular at the dark neutral medium (DNM) transition between the H i -bright and CO-bright media; (ii) constrain the CO-to-H 2 conversion factor, X CO ; and (iii) probe the dust properties per gas nucleon in each phase and map their spatial variations across the clouds. We have separated clouds at local, intermediate, and Galactic velocities in H i and 12 CO line emission to model in parallel the γ-ray intensity recorded between 0.4 and 100 GeV; the dust optical depth at 353 GHz, τ 353 ; the thermal radiance of the large grains; and an estimate of the dust extinction, A VQ , empirically corrected for the starlight intensity. Furthermore, the dust and γ-ray models have been coupled to account for the DNM gas. The consistent γ-ray emissivity spectra recorded in the different phases confirm that the GeV–TeV cosmic rays probed by the LAT uniformly permeate all gas phases up to the 12 CO cores. The dust and cosmic rays both reveal large amounts of DNM gas, with comparable spatial distributions and twice as much mass as in the CO-bright clouds. We give constraints on the H i -DNM-CO transitions for five separate clouds. CO-dark H 2 dominates the molecular columns up to AV ≃ 0.9 and its mass often exceeds the one-third of the molecular mass expected by theory. The corrected A VQ extinction largely provides the best fit to the total gas traced by the γ rays. Nevertheless, we find evidence for a marked rise in A VQ /N H with increasing N H and molecular fraction, and with decreasing dust temperature. The rise in τ 353 /NH is even steeper. Here, we observe variations of lesser amplitude and orderliness for the specific power of the grains, except for a coherent decline by half in the CO cores. This combined information suggests grain evolution. We also provide average values for the dust properties per gas nucleon in the different phases. The γ rays and dust radiance yield consistent X CO estimates near 0.7 × 10 20 cm -2 K -1 km -1 s. The A VQ and τ 353 tracers yield biased values because of the large rise in grain opacity in the CO clouds. These results clarify a recurrent disparity in the γ-ray versus dust calibration of X CO , but they confirm the factor of 2 difference found between the X CO estimates in nearby clouds and in the neighbouring spiral arms.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2015

The Two-Column Aerosol Project: Phase I - Overview and Impact of Elevated Aerosol Layers on Aerosol Optical Depth

The Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP), conducted from June 2012 through June 2013, was a unique study designed to provide a comprehensive data set that can be used to investigate a number of important climate science questions, including those related to aerosol mixing state and aerosol radiative forcing. The study was designed to sample the atmosphere be tween and within two atmospheric columns; one fixed near the coast of North America (over Cape Cod, MA) and a second moveable column over the Atlantic Ocean several hundred kilometers from the coast. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF) was deployed at the base of the Cape Cod column, and the ARM Aerial Facility was utilized for the summer and winter intensive observation periods. One important finding from TCAP is that four of six nearly cloud-free flight days had aerosol layers aloft in both the Cape Cod and maritime columns that were detected using the nadir pointing second-generation NASA high-spectral resolution lidar (HSRL-2).These layer s contributed up to 60 of the total observed aerosol optical depth (AOD). Many of these layers were also intercepted by the aircraft configured for in situ sampling, and the aerosol in the layers was found to have increased amounts of biomass burning material and nitrate compared to aerosol found near the surface. In addition, while there was a great deal of spatial and day-to-day variability in the aerosol chemical composition and optical properties, no systematic differences between the two columns were observed.

aerosols↗
DOE OSTI2014

Accelerated evolution of the Lyα luminosity function at z ≳ 7 revealed by the Subaru ultra-deep survey for Lyα emitters at z = 7.3

We present the ultra-deep Subaru narrowband imaging survey for Lyα emitters (LAEs) at z = 7.3 in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) and Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) fields (∼0.5 deg{sup 2}) with a total integration time of 106 hr. Exploiting our new sharp bandwidth filter, NB101, installed on the Suprime-Cam, we have reached L(Lyα) = 2.4 × 10{sup 42} erg s{sup –1} (5σ) for z = 7.3 LAEs, about four times deeper than previous Subaru z ≳ 7 studies, which allows us to reliably investigate the evolution of the Lyα luminosity function (LF) for the first time down to the luminosity limit same as those of Subaru z = 3.1-6.6 LAE samples. Surprisingly, we only find three and four LAEs in the SXDS and COSMOS fields, respectively, while one expects a total of ∼65 LAEs by our survey in the case of no Lyα LF evolution from z = 6.6 to 7.3. We identify a decrease of the Lyα LF from z = 6.6 to 7.3 at the >90% confidence level from our z = 7.3 Lyα LF with the best-fit Schechter parameters of L{sub Lyα}{sup ∗}=2.7{sub −1.2}{sup +8.0}×10{sup 42} erg s{sup −1} and ϕ{sup ∗}=3.7{sub −3.3}{sup +17.6}×10{sup −4} Mpc{sup −3} for a fixed α = –1.5. Moreover, the evolution of the Lyα LF is clearly accelerated at z > 6.6 beyond the measurement uncertainties including cosmic variance. Because no such accelerated evolution of the UV-continuum LF or the cosmic star formation rate (SFR) is found at z ∼ 7, but suggested only at z > 8, this accelerated Lyα LF evolution is explained by physical mechanisms different from a pure SFR decrease but related to the Lyα production and escape in the process of cosmic reionization. Because a simple accelerating increase of intergalactic medium neutral hydrogen absorbing Lyα cannot be reconciled with Thomson scattering of optical depth measurements from WMAP and Planck, our findings may support new physical pictures suggested by recent theoretical studies, such as the existence of HI clumpy clouds within cosmic ionized bubbles that are selectively absorbing Lyα and the large ionizing photon escape fraction of galaxies causing weak Lyα emission.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗