Campaign : Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES)

2010.06.02 - 2010.06.28

Website : http://campaign.arm.gov/cares/

Lead Scientist : Rahul Zaveri

For data sets, see below.

Description

The primary objective of the Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) in 2010 was to investigate the evolution of carbonaceous aerosols of different types and their optical and hygroscopic properties in central California, with a focus on the Sacramento urban plume. Carbonaceous aerosol components, which include black carbon (BC), urban primary organic aerosols (POA), biomass burning aerosols (BBA), and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) from both urban and biogenic precursors, have been shown to play a major role in the direct and indirect radiative forcing of climate. However, significant knowledge gaps and uncertainties still exist in the process-level understanding of: 1) SOA formation, 2) BC mixing state evolution, and 3) the optical and hygroscopic properties of fresh and aged carbonaceous aerosols. Light absorption by organic aerosols in the near-UV spectrum was discovered to be a very important part of the radiation budget in a past DOE ASP field campaign, although many questions remain. Several specific science questions under these three topics were addressed during CARES 2010. In addition to obtaining new observation-based understanding from the anticipated field data, the CARES campaign strategy was centered on using the data in various focused model evaluation exercises, so that the resulting new knowledge could be integrated into regional and global climate chemistry models. The sampling strategy during CARES was coordinated, to the extent possible, with CalNex 2010, a major field campaign that was planned in California in 2010 by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the California Energy Commission (CEC).

During summer, the Sacramento urban plume transport is controlled by highly consistent, terrain-driven upslope winds that draw polluted air to the northeast over the oak and pine trees in the Blodgett Forest area by late afternoon. The Sacramento-Blodgett Forest corridor therefore effectively serves as a mesoscale (~100 km) daytime flow reactor in which the urban aerosols undergo significant aging due to coagulation, condensation, and photochemical processes. The CARES campaign observation strategy consisted of the DOE G-1 aircraft sampling upwind, within, and outside of the evolving Sacramento urban plume in the morning and again in the afternoon. The NASA B-200 aircraft carrying a High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) and a Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) was also deployed to characterize the vertical and horizontal distribution of aerosols and aerosol optical properties. The aircraft measurements were complemented by a well-instrumented ground site within the Sacramento urban source area and a downwind receptor site near Cool, CA, to characterize the diurnal evolution of meteorological variables, trace gases/aerosol precursors, and aerosol composition and properties in freshly polluted and aged urban air. As opportunity allowed, one or more NOAA P-3 aircraft flights were carried out in the Sacramento plume in coordination with the G-1 flights to allow wing-tip to wing-tip inter-comparison and provide valuable additional measurements for CARES. The P-3 measurements throughout California provided a regional context for CARES. The resulting datasets lend themselves to focused model evaluation exercises, including local radiative and CCN closures; constrained Lagrangian modeling of SOA formation, aerosol size and composition evolution, and black carbon aging; and 3-D Eulerian modeling of radiative feedback of aerosols on meteorology and regional climate.

The second objective during CARES was to take advantage of natural wildfires in the vicinity to study the evolution and properties of biomass burning aerosol. Occurrence of natural wildfires is very likely all over the Central Valley during June/July. Thus, the location and timing of the CARES 2010 campaign allowed us to target such an opportunity when it arose.

Other Contacts

Co-Investigators
Daniel Cziczo
William Shaw

Campaign Data Sets

Campaign Participant Data Set Archived Data
Arnott, Pat Photoacoustic Spectroscopy- T1 Site Order Data
Arnott, Pat Photoacoustic Spectroscopy- T0 Site Order Data
Atkinson, Dean Humidity Controlled Cavity Ring-down Transmissometer (HCCRDT)- T1 Site Order Data
Atkinson, Dean Cavity Ring-down Transmissometer and Radiance Research Nephelometer- T0 Site Order Data
Barnard, James PSP Radiometer- T1 Site Order Data
Barnard, James PSP Radiometer- T0 Site Order Data
Barnard, James Multifilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer- T1 Site Order Data
Barnard, James Multifilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer- T0 Site Order Data
Berg, Larry Sodar- T1 Site Order Data
Berg, Larry Radiosondes- T1 Site Order Data
Berg, Larry Sodar- T0 Site Order Data
Berg, Larry Radiosondes- T0 Site Order Data
Berg, Larry Surface Meteorology- T1 Site Order Data
Berg, Larry Radar Wind Profiler- T1 Site Order Data
Cairns, Brian Research Scanning Polarimeter- B200 Aircraft Order Data
Cappa, Chris Cavity Ring Down Photoacoustic Spectrometer- T0 Site Order Data
Cziczo, Daniel Nephelometer- T1 Site Order Data
Cziczo, Daniel Cloud Condensation Nuclei Counter- T1 Site Order Data
Cziczo, Daniel Cloud Condensation Nuclei Counter- T0 Site Order Data
Cziczo, Daniel Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry- T1 Site Order Data
Dubey, Manvendra Gas Monitors- T1 Site Order Data
Dubey, Manvendra Three-wavelengths Photoacoustic and Nephelometer Integrated Spectrometer- T1 Site Order Data
Dubey, Manvendra Three-wavelengths Photoacoustic and Nephelometer Integrated Spectrometer- T0 Site Order Data
Dubey, Manvendra Three-wavelengths Photoacoustic and Nephelometer Integrated Spectrometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Fast, Jerome Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model Output- T0, T1 Sites Order Data
Ferrare, Richard HSR Lidar- B200 Aircraft Order Data
Jobson, Bertram Surface Meteorology- T0 Site Order Data
Jobson, Bertram Aerodynamic Particle Sizer- T0 Site Order Data
Jobson, Bertram Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry- T0 Site Order Data
Jobson, Bertram Carbon Monoxide, Ozone, and Nitrogen Oxides- T0 Site Order Data
Jobson, Bertram Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer - T0 Site Order Data
Kluzek, Celine Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler (PILS)- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Knighton, Walter Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer- T1 Site Order Data
Kubatova, Alena High Volume Aerosol Sampler- T1 Site Order Data
Kubatova, Alena High Volume Aerosol Sampler- T0 Site Order Data
Laskin, Alexander Time Resolved Aerosol Collectors- T1 Site Order Data
Laskin, Alexander Time Resolved Aerosol Collectors- T0 Site Order Data
Laskin, Alexander Time Resolved Aerosol Collectors- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Laulainen, Nels JNO2- T0 Site Order Data
Laulainen, Nels Actinic Flux- T1 Site Order Data
Mazzoleni, Claudio Scanning Electron Microscope- T1 Site Order Data
Mazzoleni, Claudio Scanning Electron Microscope- T0 Site Order Data
Pekour, Mikhail Aerodynamic Particle Sizer- T1 Site Order Data
Pekour, Mikhail Aerosol Monitoring System- T1 Site Order Data
Pekour, Mikhail Aerosol Monitoring System- T0 Site Order Data
Prather, Kimberly Single Particle Mass Spectrometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Sedlacek, Arthur Aethalometer- T1 Site Order Data
Sedlacek, Arthur Single Particle Soot Photometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Senum, Gunnar Accelerometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Senum, Gunnar Vertical Velocity- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Shilling, John Aerosol Mass Spectrometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Shilling, John Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Song, Chen Sulfur Dioxide Analyzer- T0 Site Order Data
Song, Chen Aerosol Mass Spectrometer- T0 Site Order Data
Song, Chen Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer and CPC- T0 Site Order Data
Springston, Stephen Nephelometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Springston, Stephen Chemical Gas Analyzers- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Springston, Stephen Cloud Aerosol Precip Spectrometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Springston, Stephen Particle Soot Absorption Photometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Springston, Stephen Meteorology/State/Position Parameters- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Subramanian, R. Single Particle Soot Photometer- T1 Site Order Data
Subramanian, R. Single Particle Soot Photometer- T0 Site Order Data
Tomlinson, Jason Condensation Particle Counter Order Data
Tomlinson, Jason Ultra High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Wang, Jian Cloud Condensation Nuclei Counter- T1 Site Order Data
Wang, Jian Fast Integrated Mobility Spectrometer- G1 Aircraft Order Data
Yu, Xiao-Ying Organic and Elemental Carbon Analysis- T1 Site Order Data
Yu, Xiao-Ying Organic and Elemental Carbon Analysis- T0 Site Order Data
Zelenyuk-Imre, Alla Single Particle Laser Ablasion Time II- T0 Site Order Data
Zhang, Qi Aerosol Mass Spectrometer- T1 Site Order Data
Zhang, Qi Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer- T1 Site Order Data
Zhang, Qi Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler (PILS)- T1 Site Order Data
Zhang, Qi Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler (PILS)- T0 Site Order Data
Zhang, Qi Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler (PILS)- G1 Aircraft Order Data