Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

About: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Snow & Data assimilation. The organization has 332 authors who have published 997 publications receiving 38835 citations. The organization is also known as: CIRA.

Is snow sublimation important in the alpine water balance

Abstract: . In alpine terrain, snow sublimation represents an important component of the winter moisture budget, representing a proportion of precipitation which does not contribute to melt. To quantify its amount we analyze the spatial pattern of snow sublimation at the ground, from a canopy and from turbulent suspension during wind-induced snow transport for a high alpine area in the Berchtesgaden National Park (Germany), and we discuss the efficiency of these processes with respect to seasonal snowfall. Therefore, we utilized interpolated meteorological recordings from a network of automatic stations, and a distributed simulation framework comprising validated, physically based models. The applied simulation tools were: a detailed model for shortwave and longwave radiative fluxes, a mass and energy balance model for the ground snow cover, a model for the microclimatic conditions within a forest canopy and related snow-vegetation interactions including snow sublimation from the surface of the trees, and a model for the simulation of wind-induced snow transport and related sublimation from suspended snow particles. For each of the sublimation processes, mass rates were quantified and aggregated over an entire winter season. Sublimation from the ground and from most canopy types are spatially relatively homogeneous and sum up to about 100 mm of snow water equivalent (SWE) over the winter period. Accumulated seasonal sublimation due to turbulent suspension is small in the valley areas, but can locally, at very wind-exposed mountain ridges, add up to more than 1000 mm of SWE. The fraction of these sublimation losses of winter snowfall is between 10 and 90%.

Influence of water‐soluble organic carbon on cloud drop number concentration

Abstract: [1] Studies published to date produce ambiguous results regarding the magnitude and even the sign of the effect of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) on cloud drop concentration compared to well-characterized inorganics. We present a systematic investigation of the reasons for these discrepancies by examining the ranges of physico-chemical properties of water soluble organics that most influence drop formation. We show that when considered individually, composition parameters such as low solubility, increased molecular weight, and surface tension suppression can lead to significant effects on droplet concentration, compared to the equivalent aerosol size distribution assuming properties of ammonium sulfate solutions. When considered together, these effects tend to counteract one another and produce much smaller changes. In addition, an assessment of the published literature suggests that estimates of composition effects on drop concentration based on equilibrium assumptions can be much larger than similar estimates under nonequilibrium conditions.

Update on GOSAT TANSO-FTS performance, operations, and data products after more than 6 years in space

Abstract: . A data set containing more than 6 years (February 2009 to present) of radiance spectra for carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) observations has been acquired by the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT, available at http://data.gosat.nies.go.jp/GosatUserInterfaceGateway/guig/GuigPage/open.do ), nicknamed “Ibuki”, Thermal And Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observation Fourier Transform Spectrometer (TANSO-FTS). This paper provides updates on the performance of the satellite and TANSO-FTS sensor and describes important changes to the data product, which has recently been made available to users. With these changes the typical accuracy of retrieved column-averaged dry air mole fractions of CO2 and CH4 (XCO2 and XCH4, respectively) are 2 ppm or 0.5 % and 13 ppb or 0.7 %, respectively. Three major anomalies of the satellite system affecting TANSO-FTS are reported: a failure of one of the two solar paddles in May 2014, a switch to the secondary pointing system in January 2015, and most recently a cryocooler shutdown and restart in August 2015. The Level 1A (L1A) (raw interferogram) and the Level 1B (L1B) (radiance spectra) of version V201 described here have long-term uniform quality and provide consistent retrieval accuracy even after the satellite system anomalies. In addition, we discuss the unique observation abilities of GOSAT made possible by an agile pointing mechanism, which allows for optimization of global sampling patterns.

A major regional air pollution event in the northeastern United States caused by extensive forest fires in Quebec, Canada

Abstract: [1] During early July 2002, wildfires burned ∼1 × 106 ha of forest in Quebec, Canada. The resultant smoke plume was seen in satellite images blanketing the U.S. east coast. Concurrently, extremely high CO mixing ratios were observed at the Atmospheric Investigation, Regional Modeling, Analysis and Prediction (AIRMAP) network sites in New Hampshire and at the Harvard Forest Environmental Measurement Site (HFEMS) in Massachusetts. The CO enhancements were on the order of 525–1025 ppbv above low mixing ratio conditions on surrounding days. A biomass burning source for the event was confirmed by concomitant enhancements in aerosol K+, NH4+, NO3−, and C2O42− mixing ratios at the AIRMAP sites. Additional data for aerosol K, organic carbon, and elemental carbon from the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments network and CO data from Environmental Protection Agency sites indicated that the smoke plume impacted much of the U.S. east coast, from Maine to Virginia. CO mixing ratios and K concentrations at stations with 10-year or longer records suggested that this was the largest biomass burning plume to impact the U.S. east coast in over a decade. Furthermore, CO mixing ratios and aerosol particles with diameters <2.5 μm (PM2.5) mass and scattering coefficients from the AIRMAP network and HFEMS indicated that this event was comparable to the large anthropogenic combustion and haze events which intermittently impact rural New England. The degree of enhancement of O3, NOy, NO3−, NH4+, and SO42− in the biomass plume showed significant variation with elevation and latitude that is attributed to variations in transport and surface depositional processes.