Johnathan W. Hair

Airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar for profiling aerosol optical properties

A compact, highly robust airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) that provides measurements of aerosol backscatter and extinction coefficients and aerosol depolarization at two wavelengths has been developed, tested, and deployed on nine field experiments (over 650 flight hours). A unique and advantageous design element of the HSRL system is the ability to radiometrically calibrate the instrument internally, eliminating any reliance on vicarious calibration from atmospheric targets for which aerosol loading must be estimated. This paper discusses the design of the airborne HSRL, the internal calibration and accuracy of the instrument, data products produced, and observations and calibration data from the first two field missions: the Joint Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment--Phase B (INTEX-B)/Megacity Aerosol Experiment--Mexico City (MAX-Mex)/Megacities Impacts on Regional and Global Environment (MILAGRO) field mission (hereafter MILAGRO) and the Gulf of Mexico Atmospheric Composition and Climate Study/Texas Air Quality Study II (hereafter GoMACCS/TexAQS II).

The 2013 Rim Fire: Implications for Predicting Extreme Fire Spread, Pyroconvection, and Smoke Emissions

AbstractThe 2013 Rim Fire, which burned over 104,000 ha, was one of the most severe fire events in California’s history, in terms of its rapid growth, intensity, overall size, and persistent smoke plume. At least two large pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) events were observed, allowing smoke particles to extend through the upper troposphere over a large portion of the Pacific Northwest. However, the most extreme fire spread was observed on days without pyroCb activity or significant regional convection. A diverse archive of ground, airborne, and satellite data collected during the Rim Fire provides a unique opportunity to examine the conditions required for both extreme spread events and pyroCb development. Results highlight the importance of upper-level and nocturnal meteorology, as well as the limitations of traditional fire weather indices. The Rim Fire dataset also allows for a detailed examination of conflicting hypotheses surrounding the primary source of moisture during pyroCb development. All pyroCbs wer...

Thunderstorms enhance tropospheric ozone by wrapping and shedding stratospheric air

A significant source of ozone in the troposphere is transport from the stratosphere. The stratospheric contribution has been estimated mainly using global models that attribute the transport process largely to the global scale Brewer-Dobson circulation and synoptic scale dynamics associated with upper tropospheric jet streams. We report observations from research aircraft that reveal additional transport of ozone-rich stratospheric air downward into the upper troposphere by a leading-line-trailing-stratiform (LLTS) mesoscale convective system (MCS) with convection overshooting the tropopause altitude. The fine-scale transport demonstrated by these observations poses a significant challenge to global models that currently do not resolve storm scale dynamics. Thus the upper tropospheric ozone budget simulated by global chemistry-climate models where large-scale dynamics and photochemical production from lightning-produced NO are the controlling factors may require modification.

Observing atmospheric formaldehyde (HCHO) from space: validation and intercomparison of six retrievals from four satellites (OMI, GOME2A, GOME2B, OMPS) with SEAC4RS aircraft observations over the southeast US

Formaldehyde (HCHO) column data from satellites are widely used as a proxy for emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) but validation of the data has been extremely limited. Here we use highly accurate HCHO aircraft observations from the NASA SEAC4RS campaign over the Southeast US in August-September 2013 to validate and intercompare six retrievals of HCHO columns from four different satellite instruments (OMI, GOME2A, GOME2B and OMPS) and three different research groups. The GEOS-Chem chemical transport model is used as a common intercomparison platform. All retrievals feature a HCHO maximum over Arkansas and Louisiana, consistent with the aircraft observations and reflecting high emissions of biogenic isoprene. The retrievals are also interconsistent in their spatial variability over the Southeast US (r=0.4-0.8 on a 0.5°×0.5° grid) and in their day-to-day variability (r=0.5-0.8). However, all retrievals are biased low in the mean by 20-51%, which would lead to corresponding bias in estimates of isoprene emissions from the satellite data. The smallest bias is for OMI-BIRA, which has high corrected slant columns relative to the other retrievals and low scattering weights in its air mass factor (AMF) calculation. OMI-BIRA has systematic error in its assumed vertical HCHO shape profiles for the AMF calculation and correcting this would eliminate its bias relative to the SEAC4RS data. Our results support the use of satellite HCHO data as a quantitative proxy for isoprene emission after correction of the low mean bias. There is no evident pattern in the bias, suggesting that a uniform correction factor may be applied to the data until better understanding is achieved.

Overview of the Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study.

Abstract The primary goal of the Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study (CHAPS) was to characterize and contrast freshly emitted aerosols below, within, and above fields of cumuli, and to study changes to the cloud microphysical structure within these same cloud fields in the vicinity of Oklahoma City during June 2007. CHAPS is one of few studies that have had an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) sampling downstream of a counterflow virtual impactor (CVI) inlet on an aircraft, allowing the examination of the chemical composition of activated aerosols within the cumuli. The results from CHAPS provide insights into changes in the aerosol chemical and optical properties as aerosols move through shallow cumuli downwind of a moderately sized city. Three instrument platforms were employed during CHAPS, including the U.S. Department of Energy Gulfstream-1 aircraft, which was equipped for in situ sampling of aerosol optical and chemical properties; the NASA Langley King Air B200, which carried the downward-lookin...

Convective and Wave Signatures in Ozone Profiles Over the Equatorial Americas: Views from TC4 (2007) and SHADOZ

[1] During the TC4 (Tropical Composition, Clouds, and Climate Coupling) campaign in July–August 2007, daily ozonesondes were launched over coastal Las Tablas, Panama (7.8°N, 80°W) and several times per week at Alajuela, Costa Rica (10°N, 84°W). Wave activity, detected most prominently in 100–300 m thick ozone laminae in the tropical tropopause layer, occurred in 50% (Las Tablas) and 40% (Alajuela) of the soundings. These layers, associated with vertical displacements and classified as gravity waves (GW, possibly Kelvin waves) by laminar identification, occur with similar structure and frequency over the Paramaribo (5.8°N, 55°W) and San Cristobal (0.92°S, 90°W) Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) sites. GW‐labeled laminae in individual soundings correspond to cloud outflow as indicated by DC‐8 tracers and other aircraft data, confirming convective initiation of equatorial waves. Layers representing quasi‐ horizontal displacements, referred to as Rossby waves by the laminar technique, are robust features in soundings from 23 July to 5 August. The features associated with Rossby waves correspond to extratropical influence, possibly stratospheric, and sometimes to pollution transport. Comparison of Las Tablas and Alajuela ozone budgets with 1999– 2007 Paramaribo and San Cristobal soundings shows that TC4 is typical of climatology for the equatorial Americas. Overall during TC4, convection and associated waves appear to dominate ozone transport in the tropical tropopause layer; intrusions from the extratropics occur throughout the free troposphere.

System analysis of a tilted field-widened Michelson interferometer for high spectral resolution lidar.

High spectral resolution lidars (HSRLs) have shown great value in aircraft aerosol remote sensing application and are planned for future satellite missions. A compact, robust, quasi-monolithic tilted field-widened Michelson interferometer is being developed as the spectral discrimination filter for an second-generation HSRL(HSRL-2) at NASA Langley Research Center. The Michelson interferometer consists of a cubic beam splitter, a solid arm and an air arm. Piezo stacks connect the air arm mirror to the body of the interferometer and can tune the interferometer within a small range. The whole interferometer is tilted so that the standard Michelson output and the reflected complementary output can both be obtained. In this paper, the transmission ratio is proposed to evaluate the performance of the spectral filter for HSRL. The transmission ratios over different types of system imperfections, such as cumulative wavefront error, locking error, reflectance of the beam splitter and anti-reflection coatings, system tilt, and depolarization angle are analyzed. The requirements of each imperfection for good interferometer performance are obtained.

Airborne characterization of subsaturated aerosol hygroscopicity and dry refractive index from the surface to 6.5 km during the SEAC4RS campaign

In situ aerosol particle measurements were conducted during 21 NASA DC-8 flights in the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds, and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys field campaign over the United States, Canada, Pacific Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico. For the first time, this study reports rapid, size-resolved hygroscopic growth and real refractive index (RI at 532 nm) data between the surface and upper troposphere in a variety of air masses including wildfires, agricultural fires, biogenic, marine, and urban outflow. The Differential Aerosol Sizing and Hygroscopicity Spectrometer Probe (DASH-SP) quantified size-resolved diameter growth factors (GF = Dp,wet/Dp,dry) that are used to infer the hygroscopicity parameter κ. Thermokinetic simulations were conducted to estimate the impact of partial particle volatilization within the DASH-SP across a range of sampling conditions. Analyses of GF and RI data as a function of air mass origin, dry size, and altitude are reported, in addition to κ values for the inorganic and organic fractions of aerosol. Average RI values are found to be fairly constant (1.52–1.54) for all air mass categories. An algorithm is used to compare size-resolved DASH-SP GF with bulk scattering f(RH = 80%) data obtained from a pair of nephelometers, and the results show that the two can only be reconciled if GF is assumed to decrease with increasing dry size above 400 nm (i.e., beyond the upper bound of DASH-SP measurements). Individual case studies illustrate variations of hygroscopicity as a function of dry size, environmental conditions, altitude, and composition.

Evidence of mixing between polluted convective outflow and stratospheric air in the upper troposphere during DC3

Aircraft measurements, including non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), long-lived halocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3) collected on board the NASA DC-8 during the Deep Convection, Clouds, and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign (May – June 2012), were used to investigate interactions and mixing between stratospheric intrusions and polluted air masses. Stratospherically influenced air masses were detected using a suite of long-lived halocarbons, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and HCFCs, as a tracer for stratospheric air. A large number of stratospherically influenced samples were found to have reduced levels of O3 and elevated levels of CO (both relative to background stratospheric air), indicative of mixing with anthropogenically influenced air. Using n-butane and propane as further tracers of anthropogenically influenced air, we show that this type of mixing was present both at low altitudes and in the upper troposphere (UT). At low altitudes, this mixing resulted in O3 enhancements consistent with those reported at surface sites during deep stratospheric intrusions, while in the UT, two case studies were performed to identify the process by which this mixing occurs. In the first case study, stratospheric air was found to be mixed with aged outflow from a convective storm, while in the second case study, stratospheric air was found to have mixed with outflow from an active storm occurring in the vicinity of a stratospheric intrusion. From these analyses, we conclude that deep convective events may facilitate the mixing between stratospheric air and polluted boundary layer air in the UT. Throughout the entire DC3 study region, this mixing was found to be prevalent: 72% of all samples that involve stratosphere-troposphere mixing show influence of polluted air. Applying a simple chemical kinetics analysis to these data, we show that during DC3, the instantaneous production of hydroxyl radical (OH) in these mixed stratospheric-polluted air masses was 11 ± 8 times higher than that of stratospheric air, and 4.2 ± 1.8 times higher than that of background upper tropospheric air.

Direct-detection Doppler wind measurements with a Cabannes-Mie lidar: A. Comparison between iodine vapor filter and Fabry-Perot interferometer methods

Atmospheric line-of-sight (LOS) wind measurement by means of incoherent Cabannes-Mie lidar with three frequency analyzers with nearly the same maximum transmission of ~80% that could be fielded at different wavelengths is analytically considered. These frequency analyzers are (a) a double-edge Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) at 1064 nm (IR-FPI), (b) a double-edge Fabry-Perot interferometer at 355 nm (UV-FPI), and (c) an iodine vapor filter (IVF) at 532 nm with two different methods, using either one absorption edge, single edge (se-IVF), or both absorption edges, double edge (de-IVF). The effect of the backscattered aerosol mixing ratio, R(b), defined as the ratio of the aerosol volume backscatter coefficient to molecular volume backscatter coefficient, on LOS wind uncertainty is discussed. Assuming a known aerosol mixing ratio, R(b), and 100,000 photons owing to Cabannes scattering to the receiver, in shot-noise-limited detection without sky background, the LOS wind uncertainty of the UV-FPI in the aerosol-free air (R(b)=0), is lower by ~16% than that of de-IVF, which has the lowest uncertainty for R(b) between 0.02 and 0.08; for R(b)>0.08, the IR-FPI yielded the lowest wind uncertainty. The wind uncertainty for se-IVF is always higher than that of de-IVF, but by less than a factor of 2 under all aerosol conditions, if the split between the reference and measurement channels is optimized. The design flexibility, which allows the desensitization of either aerosol or molecular scattering, exists only with the FPI system, leading to the common practice of using IR-FPI for the planetary boundary layer and using UV-FPI for higher altitudes. Without this design flexibility, there is little choice but to use a single wavelength IVF system at 532 nm for all atmospheric altitudes.