B2NF

Airborne bioaerosols are an integral part of the atmosphere-biosphere interface and significantly affect Earth’s climate. Bioaerosols such as pollen, fungal spores, bacteria, and plant debris emitted directly from the biosphere affect hydrological cycles by serving as nuclei for cloud droplets and ice crystals. Primary bioaerosols such as spores and pollen can rupture near the surface in dry and windy conditions, when airborne under high-humidity conditions, or in clouds, resulting in the atmospheric release of fragments. A forested region such as Bankhead National Forest (BNF) in Alabama is an ideal site to study biological and organic aerosols due to enriched biogenic emissions. The proposed project will fill key gaps in our understanding of the role of biological and organic aerosols particles in cloud ice formation and their radiative impacts by applying integrated approaches that combine field measurements, laboratory experiments, and modeling techniques. This study will focus on the following under-studied but important processes by pursuing these overarching goals:

1.  Assess the impacts of vertically resolved aqueous-phase processing on biological and organic aerosols.
2. Evaluate the role of biological and organic aerosols on ice formation in the boundary layer.

We propose to deploy a newly developed Mini- Size- and Time-resolved Aerosol Collector (Mini-STAC) onboard of ARM’s tethered balloon system (TBS). The Mini-STAC platform will allow us to collect aerosol samples for both size-resolved and total suspended aerosol. We also propose to deploy a Mini- Time-resolved bulk aerosol collector (Mini-TBAC). Samples collected from these instruments will provide comprehensive analysis of bioaerosols and their ice formation potential in the BNF.

Timeline