Publications

Mace, GG; Abernathy, AC (2016). Observational evidence for aerosol invigoration in shallow cumulus downstream of Mount Kilauea. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 43(6), 2981-2988.

Abstract
Knowledge of how marine boundary layer (MBL) shallow cumulus clouds respond to changes in aerosol is central to understanding how MBL clouds modulate the climate system. Mount Kilauea on the island of Hawaii began erupting in 2008 injecting substantial SO2 into the marine boundary layer creating a unique natural laboratory. Examining data from approximately 600 passes of the A-Train downstream of Mount Kilauea over a 3year period and separating data into aerosol optical depth quartiles, we find an unambiguous increase in marine boundary cloud top height and an increase in surface wind speed as aerosol increases while the radar reflectivity does not change substantially. We conclude that increased aerosols may have caused invigoration of the MBL clouds. Additionally, we find that increases in sub 1km cloud fraction combined with increasing aerosol explain the increased visible reflectance suggesting that evidence for the so-called first aerosol indirect effect should be reexamined.

DOI:
10.1002/2016GL067830

ISSN:
0094-8276