Award Abstract # 2246488
Collaborative Research: Elucidating the Role of Natural Aerosols in Modulating Boundary Layer Clouds and Precipitation in the Southern Ocean

NSF Org: AGS
Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Initial Amendment Date: February 6, 2023
Latest Amendment Date: August 14, 2024
Award Number: 2246488
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Nicholas Anderson
nanderso@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4715
AGS
 Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: April 1, 2023
End Date: March 31, 2026 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $789,423.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $789,423.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2023 = $292,642.00
FY 2024 = $496,781.00
History of Investigator:
  • Gerald Mace (Principal Investigator)
    mace@met.utah.edu
  • Anna Gannet Hallar (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Christina McCluskey (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Utah
201 PRESIDENTS CIR
SALT LAKE CITY
UT  US  84112-9049
(801)581-6903
Sponsor Congressional District: 01
Primary Place of Performance: University of Utah
201 PRESIDENTS CIR
SALT LAKE CITY
UT  US  84112-9049
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
01
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): LL8GLEVH6MG3
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Physical & Dynamic Meteorology,
ANT Ocean & Atmos Sciences
Primary Program Source: 01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

0100CYXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 1525, 4444, 5113
Program Element Code(s): 152500, 511300
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050, 47.078

ABSTRACT

The Southern Ocean is an important region for understanding current and future climate due to a persistent mix of cloud types that affect the Earth?s energy balance. An improved understanding of Southern Ocean clouds relies on better measurements of aerosols, which are small particles that cloud droplets and ice crystals form on. This project will deploy a suite of instrumentation on a series of research vessel cruises conducted by Australian collaborators, and at a location in Antarctica, to measure these aerosols. The impact of the project will be to improve representation of aerosol-cloud interactions and cloud-climate feedbacks over the Southern Ocean, with a view towards improved climate projections. There is a significant outreach component to the work, where the researchers will interact with K-12 classrooms globally through on-line and in person activities. The project also represents strong international collaboration.

The research team will conduct an observational and modeling study of the role of natural aerosols in modulating the properties of clouds and precipitation in the Southern Ocean region. The Southern Ocean is one of the least polluted places on Earth and the distance from dust sources means that aerosols are dominated by biogenically derived sulfates, including impacts from marine primary productivity. The sources and abundances of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) remain poorly quantified over the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. This project will take advantage of four upcoming voyages on Australian research vessels, and a deployment at Davis Station, Antarctica, to double the volume of existing surface-based measurements to constrain Southern Ocean aerosol and cloud properties. The research team will contribute to the pre-existing observational campaigns by providing additional radiosonde measurements and collecting aerosol, seawater, sea ice, snow, and soil for offline INP and DNA analyses. The researchers will then co-develop process-oriented aerosol and cloud model diagnostics for parameterization testing and development in the Community Earth System Model (CESM). The project will result in the following deliverables: 1) Documentation of the latitudinal gradients in cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and cloud droplet number concentration (Nd) over the pristine oceans during three seasons derived from ship-based sources, 2) Quantification of the susceptibility of Nd to sources of aerosol types and processes to provide important constraints on the observed Nd, and 3) Documentation of latitudinal and season variability in INPs and precipitation occurrence and phase.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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