NOAA Aerosols and Ocean Science Expeditions

And it is a wrap… well, almost

Posted by aerosecampaigns on March 1, 2013

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PNE/AEROSE 8 was completed successfully on February 13^th, 2013. A total of

8 buoys were recovered/deployed, 111 radiosondes were launched and 37 days worth of chemical, biological and physical measurements were collected to study and characterize aerosols over the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first AEROSE winter campaign and the team enjoyed of three major dust events, over 10 days of biomass burning, a Nor’easter and several episodes of 22 ft seas. Our last sounding occurred at 2 am on February 13th, (as we were approaching San Juan), and was part of a satellite validation experiment where simultaneous soundings were conducted at the National Weather Service in San Juan and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez campus.

: Team gathers to release the balloon.

The sun rises as we arrive to San Juan, PR

Dust regime!

Posted by aerosecampaigns on January 26, 2013

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: aerose, biomass burning, pirata northeast extention, pne, rb-13-01, rhb, ronald h. brown, saharan air layer, saharan dust. Leave a Comment

We are currently at 12N, 23W advancing towards our next Atlas mooring recovery/deployment station, which we shall reach by early morning. Aerosol sampling and sounding operations have been successful with just a few minor incidents. We have launched around 50 RS-92s, 11 of them along with ozonesondes. M. Oyola is currently completing day of flight preparations for tonight’s ozonesonde, which will be deployed around 1:00 am ship-time. Besides, serving for cal/val for the NPP satellite, this ozonesonde will be launched within the Saharan dust regime. Oceanographic operations are also going well and PNE has completed 18 stationary CTD casts, along with several underway-CTD measurements.

So far, we have experienced two Saharan Dust episodes on this campaign. The second “dust event” started on January 24th (two days ago). Surface measurements carried by the aerosol and trace gas team (Morris, Roper, Castillo and Spells) showed increase of particle number concentration within the 0.7-1.2 microns and dust was captured in the filters. Backscatter profiles as well as broadband radiation data (M.Oyola and E. Joseph) shows signs of dust, both aloft and the surface. The radiation team also reported dust accumulation over the radiometers that are installed on top of the AEROSE van. N. Nalli also reported a substantial decrease in RH in the atmospheric column accompanied with increased windspeeds, characterisitcs of the Saharan Air Layer. Today’s sunphotometer measurements (carried by C. Spells, E. Castillo and processed by M. Oyola), showed aerosol optical depth (aod) values of up 0.7 (aod = degree of atmospheric attenuation due to the presence of aerosols). Another interesting aspect is that we are quickly approaching the African biomass burning region. C. Spells informed us during tonight’s weather briefing that we should be able to see a “mixed” regime of dust and biomass as soon as tomorrow night.

Special Feature: Saharan Dust

Posted by aerosecampaigns on January 25, 2013

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What is it? The Sahara Desert is the primary source on Earth of mineral dust. It has been estimated that 60-200 millions of tons per year. Saharan dust can be lifted over hot desert areas (namely, convection), and is transported vertically; from there it can be easily transported worldwide by horizontal winds, covering distances larger than the continental United States!

Why do we study it: Copious amounts of mineral dust can be found in the tropical Atlantic along the same path hurricanes and tropical storms are formed. Tons of Saharan Dust also reach the Caribbean and portions of the US east coast, which has several implications for weather and health. For example, the Saharan dust carries the fungus Aspergillus sydowilly which is known to infect and kill coral reefs. It also has been linked to increased incidence of asthma in the Caribbean (for example, Barbados and Puerto Rico). The dust combined with the hot dry air advected from the desert forms an atmospheric layer known the Saharan Air Layer (SAL), which has significant effects on tropical weather, especially as it interferes with the development of hurricanes and other systems.

SeaWIFS Satellite image of a dust plum emerging from Northeast Africa. Courtesy of NASA GSFC

Special feature: Why buoys?

Posted by aerosecampaigns on January 23, 2013

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Buoys have been used since the 50’s to collect oceanographic and weather data. They are of extreme importance not only as a navigational aid for sailors, but because other than ships, they provide a direct way to measure conditions over the open seas.

Buoys can work like many weather stations; they measure parameters such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, windspeed and direction above the ocean surface. They also provide information of the same parameters beneath the surface (pressure, temperature) and also salinity, density, wave height, wave period, etc…

The data is processed and collected inside the buoy and then transmitted via radio or satellite to weather offices around the world. These data in turn are used in daily weather forecasting, atmospheric research and climate weather forecasting and climate studies.

There are two main types of buoys. Buoys that “drift” in the open ocean are called drifting buoys. Moored buoys, on the other hand, are anchored to weights in the bottom of the ocean. An example of a moored buoy is the “Atlas” buoy which is one of the type of buoys we are recovering and deploying during PNE/AEROSE (see pictures below).

Want to see where are the buoys around the world? Check out the National Data Buoy Center website: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

In a kingdom of moorings, lightning and biomass burning

Posted by aerosecampaigns on January 18, 2013

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Today we arrived to latitude 20N, where our partner research group, the PIRATA from NOAA/AOML, commenced their Conductivity, Temperature, Density (CTD) as well as their hydrophone moorings and buoy recovery/deployments operations. The recovery/deployment of the first hydrophone mooring was successful. CTDs operations were just completed (it is 2:52 am ship time) and we are standing in station (20N, 37W) for an Atlas buoy recovery that will commence in the morning.

PMEL scientists along with the RHB crew pull in the mooring from the ocean

NOAA Corps Lt. Paul Chamberlain (our Field and Operations Officer) and Chief Bosun Bruce Cowden, oversee operations

Working on the RHB takes a lot of hard work, knowledge and discipline

The “rescued” hydrophone mooring

As for the AEROSE group, sampling has intensified. The Navy Aerosol forecast (NAAPs) is showing a strong biomass outflow along with a moderate Saharan Dust plum, both emerging from the African coast that has extended to the 20N latitude due to the presence of a high-pressure system on the west African coast. Besides the continuous radiosonde launches throughout the day, the team also deployed and ozonesonde at 1:05 am shiptime.

During the afternoon/evening hours we enjoyed of a magnificent weather show including intermittent lightning for several hours, drizzle and strong winds. For this reason the ship (which was already sitting in station for the next buoy) had to navigate away from the inclement weather area. However, we manage to get some beautiful snapshots, here we post two for your entertainment. (Make sure to check on our Facebook page for more pictures).

Scientist Chris Spell doing a little bit of “storm chasing” on the O-3 deck

Scientists Mayra Oyola (left) and Ebony Roper (right) enjoying the bad weather

Week 1: Back to rock and roll

Posted by aerosecampaigns on January 18, 2013

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: aerose, aerosols, moorings, pne, ronald h. brown, tropical atlantic. Leave a Comment

Internet connectivity aboard the ship has been limited, so we have not being able to update as much as we would like to on this page. However, we had been able provided some quick updates in our Facebook Fan Page. Feel free to peruse through some of our pictures and don’t forget to like us too! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/NOAA-Aerosols-and-Ocean-Science-Expeditions-Aerose/216006751763910?ref=ts&fref=ts)

We have enjoyed of a couple of sunny and beautiful days on the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown. But it has not been that way at all during the past week. We were riding at the tail of a massive low-pressure system that developed higher latitudes and moved in a SSE (south-southeast) pattern. The ship followed the southwestern edge of this low, which allowed us to experience a wild rock and roll ride (with up to 22 ft seas and sustained winds of over 30 knots over a period of 5 days). Besides the science, we have also been busy with mandatory emergency drills.

Model of the wave heights and direction, courtesy of Navy NRL/Monterey Lab

Our science has been going on since day one despite the weather and sea sickness. All of our instruments are installed and fully operational. Our instrument suite for this campaign includes an aerodynamic particle sizer, a scanning mobility particle spectrometer, laser particle counters, gas analyzers, hand-held sunphotometers for both visible and uv channels, a bio-sampler, broadband radiometers, a ceilometer, radiosondes and ozonesondes, among others. The two primary objectives of this campaign are to (1) study the physical, chemical and marine meteorology characteristics of biomass and other aerosols, particularly those emerging from the African coast during the peak of their biomass burning season and (2) provide validation for the newest NOAA/NASA weather satellite, NPP. So far, most of our instruments have been running continually and we have deployed 25 radiosondes (Vaisala RS-92s) and 6 electrochemical cells ozonesondes.

Our group of scientists is led by Dr. Vernon Morris, AEROSE Principal Investigator and Director of the NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences at Howard University. The mission is divided into three different components:

(1) Aerosol and Trace Gas (ATG) operations by Dr. Morris (Howard University), Dr. Ebony Roper (Howard), Mr. Chris Spells (Hampton) and Ms. Elsa Castillo (UTEP)

(2) Atmospheric Physics and Radiation (APR) operations by Dr. Everette Joseph and Ms. Mayra Oyola (Howard)

(3) Satellite validation operations by Dr. Nick Nalli (NOAA/NESDIS), Dr. Everette Joseph (Howard) Ms. Mayra Oyola (Howard)

Our sister research team for this mission (and over the past 6 years) is the PIRATA Northeast Extension (PNE), a joint venture of NOAA AOML and PMEL to expand an array of tropical Atlantic buoys and moorings into the northern and northeastern sectors of the Tropical Atlantic Ocean.

The 14 science pirates of the PNE/AEROSE 8 campaign, led by Dr. Claudia Schmid, onboard the NOAA research vessel Ronald H. Brown

And off we go!

Posted by aerosecampaigns on January 8, 2013

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The PNE/AEROSE 8th cruise has officially started. We are moving towards the Cooper Bridge, which marks our exit from Charleston, SC and the beginning of a very exciting field season!

NOAA Aerosols and Ocean Science Expeditions

And it is a wrap… well, almost

Dust regime!

Special Feature: Saharan Dust

Special feature: Why buoys?

In a kingdom of moorings, lightning and biomass burning

Week 1: Back to rock and roll

And off we go!

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