Linking meteorology, turbulence, and air chemistry in the Amazon Rain Forest

Abstract

We describe the salient features of a field study whose goals are to quantify the vertical distribution of plant-emitted hydrocarbons and their contribution to aerosol and cloud condensation nuclei production above a central Amazonian rain forest. Using observing systems deployed on a 50-m meteorological tower, complemented with tethered balloon deployments, the vertical distribution of hydrocarbons and aerosols was determined under different boundary layer thermodynamic states. The rain forest emits sufficient reactive hydrocarbons, such as isoprene and monoterpenes, to provide precursors of secondary organic aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei. Mesoscale convective systems transport ozone from the middle troposphere, enriching the atmospheric boundary layer as well as the forest canopy and surface layer. Through multiple chemical transformations, the ozone-enriched atmospheric surface layer can oxidize rain forest-emitted hydrocarbons. One conclusion derived from the field studies is that the rain forest produces the necessary chemical species and in sufficient amounts to undergo oxidation and generate aerosols that subsequently activate into cloud condensation nuclei.

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Citation

Fuentes, Jose D, Marcelo Chamecki, Rosa Maria Nascimento dos Santos, Celso Von Randow, Paul C Stoy, Katul Gabriel, David Fitzjarrald, Antonio Manzi, Tobias Gerken, Amy Trowbridge, Livia Souza Freire, Jesus Ruiz-Plancarte, Jair Max Furtunato Maia, Julio Tota, Nelson Dias, Gilberto Fisch, Courtney Schumacher, Otavio Acevedo, Juliane Rezende Mercer, and Ana Maria Yanez-Serrano. "Linking meteorology, turbulence, and air chemistry in the Amazon Rain Forest." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 97, no. 12 (December 2016): 2329. DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00152.1 .
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