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Drivers of Cloud Condensation Nuclei in the Eastern North Atlantic
  • +4
  • Virendra Prakash Ghate,
  • thomas e surleta,
  • Leehi Magaritz Ronen,
  • Shira Raveh-Rubin,
  • Francesca Gallo,
  • Annmarie G. Carlton,
  • Eduardo B Azevedo
Virendra Prakash Ghate
Argonne National Laboratory (DOE)

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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thomas e surleta
Actalent Inc.
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Leehi Magaritz Ronen
Weizmann Institute of Science
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Shira Raveh-Rubin
Weizmann Institute of Science
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Francesca Gallo
NASA Langley
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Annmarie G. Carlton
University of California, Irvine
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Eduardo B Azevedo
University of Azores
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Abstract

Seven years of data collected at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM)’s Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) site are analyzed to understand the controls of Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) concentrations in the region. Day-night differences in the aerosol data as segregated by wind direction demonstrated the aerosol observations to be impacted by local emissions when the wind direction (wdir) is between 90° and 310° (measured clockwise from the North where air is coming from). Data collected during marine conditions (wdir<90° or wdir>310°) showed the CCN concentrations to be higher in the summer months as compared to the winter months. CCN budget analysis revealed advection and precipitation scavenging being primarily responsible for modulating the CCN concentrations at the site on monthly timescales, with rain rates driving the precipitation scavenging term. High (greater than 75th percentile) and low (lower than 25th percentile) CCN events were identified for each month to characterize the sub-monthly variability of CCN concentrations. Low CCN events had deeper clouds, stronger rain rates, and lower free-tropospheric aerosol mass at the ENA site as compared to the high CCN events. Analysis of satellite data of air-parcels 48 hours prior to their arrival at the ENA site demonstrated the air parcels during low CCN events to encounter higher cloudiness, stronger rain rates, and higher cloud top heights as compared to the high CCN events. The results presented herein provide key constraints for model evaluation studies and climatological studies conducted at the ENA site.
24 Oct 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
26 Oct 2023Published in ESS Open Archive