Collaborative Research: The Influence of Tropical Convection on the Evolution and Transport of the Saharan Air Layer

合作研究：热带对流对撒哈拉空气层演化和输送的影响

• 批准号: 1408028
• 负责人: Cynthia Twohy
• 金额: $ 30.04万
• 依托单位: NorthWest Research Associates, Incorporated
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1408028&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Influence; Tropical; Convection

Dust in the atmosphere has important impacts on clouds, precipitation and climate. This is due to how the dust interacts with cloud particles and solar radiation. One of the dustiest places on Earth is the Atlantic Ocean just west of the Sahara Desert. A number of researchers have studied the effect of this "Saharan Air Layer" on tropical cyclones and other cloud systems. However, research under this award will look at the issue in reverse, asking the question: How do clouds and precipitation affect the Saharan Air Layer? The importance of this work is the discovery of how dust is transported and redistributed by clouds and precipitation, which may have a significant impact on climate. The removal of dust from the atmosphere through precipitation may also impact ocean fertilization. In addition, the research will provide training opportunities for the next generation of scientists.The overall objective of the project is to study how convection impacts the temporal and spatial distributions of dust through cloud processing and transport. The amount of dust and the impacts on the Saharan Air Layer will be assessed through a combination of regional cloud modeling, existing aircraft data sets and existing satellite data sets. The research team poses three main scientific questions that will be addressed in this award: 1) Relative to pre-storm amounts, how much dust is removed from the atmosphere and deposited to the ocean through the action of precipitating storms? 2) Where do convective storms preferentially redistribute dust in the atmosphere, and how is the vertical distribution of dust changed by the passage of convective storms? 3) What are the potential effects of the removal and redistribution of dust on ocean fertilization, and the impacts on direct and indirect radiative effects both locally and downstream of the storm development?

大气中的尘埃对云，降水和气候产生了重要影响。 这是由于粉尘如何与云颗粒和太阳辐射相互作用。 地球上最尘土的地方之一是撒哈拉沙漠以西的大西洋。 许多研究人员研究了这种“撒哈拉空气层”对热带气旋和其他云系统的影响。 但是，根据该奖项的研究将反向研究这个问题，问一个问题：云和降水如何影响撒哈拉空气层？ 这项工作的重要性是发现如何通过云和降水来运输和重新分布灰尘，这可能会对气候产生重大影响。 通过降水从大气中清除灰尘也可能影响海洋施肥。 此外，该研究将为下一代科学家提供培训机会。该项目的总体目标是研究对流如何通过云处理和运输来影响灰尘的时间和空间分布。 将通过区域云建模，现有飞机数据集和现有卫星数据集的结合来评估撒哈拉空气层的灰尘量和对撒哈拉空气层的影响。 研究小组提出了三个主要的科学问题，这些问题将在本奖项中解决：1）相对于预先措施的数量，从大气中去除多少灰尘并通过促成风暴的作用将其存放到海洋中？ 2）对流风暴在大气中优先重新分布灰尘，而对流风暴的通过如何改变灰尘的垂直分布？ 3）尘埃清除和重新分布对海洋施肥的潜在影响，以及对风暴发展的本地和下游的直接和间接辐射效应的影响？