A51L-0243
Gap-flow Mediated Transport of Pollution to a Remote Coastal Site: Effects upon Aerosol Composition
Friday, 18 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Gavin Cornwell1, Andrew Martin2, Markus Petters3, Kimberly A Prather1, Hans Taylor3, Nicholas Rothfuss3, Paul J DeMott4 and Sonia M Kreidenweis4, (1)University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, (2)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, (3)North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Raleigh, NC, United States, (4)Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
Abstract:
During the CalWater 2015 field campaign, observations of aerosol size, concentration, chemical composition, and cloud activity were made at Bodega Bay, CA on the remote California coast. Strong anthropogenic influence on air quality, aerosol physicochemical properties and cloud activity was observed at Bodega Bay during periods of special meteorological conditions, known as Petaluma Gap Flow, in which air from California’s interior is transported to the coast. This study utilizes single particle mass spectrometry, along with aerosol physical and chemical measurements and meteorological measurements to show that the dramatic change in aerosol properties is strongly related to regional meteorology and anthropogenically-influenced chemical processes in California’s Central Valley. The change in airmass properties from those typical of a remote marine environment to properties of a continental regime has impacts on atmospheric radiative balance and cloud formation that must be accounted for in regional climate simulation.
