All Climate Events

Thursday, February 7, 2019. 2:00PM. The Remote Marine Boundary Layer Cloud Condensation Nuclei Budget. Patricia Quinn, NOAA-PMEL. Sponsored by NOAA GFDL. More information here.

Sea spray aerosol (SSA) consists of inorganic sea salt and organics that are scavenged from surface seawater during a wind-driven bubble bursting process that results in a flux of aerosol from the ocean to the atmosphere. Sea spray aerosols impact Earth’s radiation balance by directly scattering solar radiation. They also act as cloud condensation nuclei, thereby altering cloud properties including reflectivity, lifetime and extent. The influence of sea spray aerosol on cloud properties is thought to be particularly strong over remote ocean regions devoid of continental particles. Yet the contribution of sea spray aerosol to the population of cloud condensation nuclei in the marine boundary layer remains poorly understood. This talk will assess what is known about the impact of surface ocean biology on SSA composition and CCN activity based on several research cruises in the sub-Arctic North Atlantic — home of the world's largest phytoplankton bloom. In addition, the relative contribution of SSA to the marine boundary layer CCN budget will be assessed based on measurements over the Pacific, Southern, Arctic, and Atlantic oceans made over the past 25 years.