Vertically Resolved Aerosol Optical Properties over the ARM SGP Site

In order to meet one of its goals - to relate observations of radiative fluxes and radiances to the atmospheric composition - the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program has pursued measurements and modeling activities that attempt to determine how aerosols impact atmospheric radiative transfer, both directly and indirectly. However, significant discrepancies between aerosol properties measured in situ or remotely remain. To this end, the ARM program will conduct an Aerosol Intensive Operational Period (IOP) in May 2003 at the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in north central Oklahoma. The IOP involves airborne measurements from two airplanes over the heavily instrumented SGP site. We will give an overview of early airborne results obtained aboard Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) Twin Otter aircraft. The aircraft will carry instrumentation to perform in-situ measurements of aerosol absorption, scattering, extinction and particle size including such novel techniques as the photoacoustic and cavity ring-down methods. Aerosol optical depth and extinction will be measured with the NASA Ames Airborne Tracking 14-channel sunphotometer. Furthermore up- and downwelling solar (broadband and spectral) and infrared radiation will be measured using three different instruments. The up-looking radiation instruments will be mounted on a newly developed stabilized platform, which will keep the instruments level up to aircraft pitch and roll angles of 10 degrees. Additional effort will be directed toward measurement of cloud condensation nucleus concentration as a function of supersaturation and relating CCN concentration to aerosol composition and size distribution. This relation is central to description of the aerosol indirect effect.