Aerosol Pollution Impacts on Wintertime Orographic Precipitation

气溶胶污染对冬季地形降水的影响

• 批准号: 1138896
• 负责人: William Cotton
• 金额: $ 52.51万
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-02-15 至 2016-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1138896&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Aerosol; Pollution; Impacts; Wintertime; Orographic; Aerosol; Pollution; Impacts; Wintertime; Orographic

This project seeks to increase understanding of potential influences of aerosol pollution on wintertime orographic precipitation and, by extension, water resources. Research will initially focus on the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, but will ultimately seek to understand potential generality of these results in other regions such as the Sierra Nevada. A key question to be addressed is whether there is a regime in which cloud base temperatures are warm enough so that increased aerosol pollution can lead to suppression of drizzle, corresponding increase in supercooled cloud liquid water content, and ultimately an enhancement (vs. suppression) of precipitation. The intellectual merit of this work rests in conducting carefully planned numerical studies utilizing the Colorado State University RAMS mesoscale model that will both capitalize on and extend prior observational work undertaken by the principal investigator and colleagues over the Park Range of Colorado, as well as other recent NSF and Department of Energy supported studies in this same region. These prior data will be used to refine estimates of the range of aerosol pollution transported into western Colorado, make improvements to microphysical representations within the RAMS model, evaluate the model's performance, and ultimately to make improved quantitative estimates of aerosol pollution impacts on winter-season total precipitation in Colorado. Tests examining sensitivity to cloud base temperature and evidence for the potential reversal of the sign of aerosol impacts on precipitation (viz. enhancement vs. suppression) may have particular relevance to warmer-based mountain ranges such as the Sierra Nevada range. Broader impacts will include graduate student education, enhanced capabilities for the RAMS model, and better understanding of intertwined demographic impacts on regional climate and best practices for management of snowpack-derived water supplies that are of key importance to growing populations bordering mountainous regions across the western U.S.

该项目旨在增加对气溶胶污染对冬季地形降水的潜在影响以及扩展水资源的理解。 研究最初将集中在科罗拉多州的落基山上，但最终将寻求在内华达山脉等其他地区了解这些结果的潜在普遍性。 要解决的一个关键问题是，是否存在一个云基碱温度足够温暖的制度，以便增加的气溶胶污染可以导致毛毛雨抑制，相应的超冷云液体水含量以及最终增强（Vs.抑制）。 这项工作的智力优点在于利用科罗拉多州立大学RAMS中尺度模型进行仔细计划的数值研究，该模型将利用并扩展了科罗拉多州公园范围内的首席研究员和同事以及其他NSF以及同一地区的其他能源支持部的事先观察工作。 这些先前的数据将用于完善对传输到西科罗拉多州的气溶胶污染范围的估计值，改善RAMS模型中的微物理表示，评估模型的性能，并最终改善对Colorado冬季季节总降水量的气溶胶污染影响的定量估计。 测试检查对云基碱温度的敏感性以及对气溶胶迹象对降水的影响的潜在逆转的证据（即增强与抑制）可能与基于温暖的山区范围（例如内华达山脉范围）特别相关。 更广泛的影响将包括研究生教育，提高RAMS模型的能力，以及更好地理解人口统计学的影响对区域气候的影响和管理积雪衍生的水供应的最佳实践，这对与美国西部山区山区的不断增长至关重要