A case study of ships forming and not forming tracks in moderately polluted clouds
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Authors
Noone, Kevin J.
Öström, Elisabeth
Ferek, Ronald J.
Garrett, Tim
Hobbs, Peter V.
Johnson, Doug W.
Taylor, Jonathan P.
Russell, Lynn M.
Flagan, Richard C.
Seinfeld, John H.
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2000-08-15
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2000-08
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Abstract
The effects of anthropogenic particulate emissions from ships on the radiative, microphysical, and chemical properties
of moderately polluted marine stratiform clouds are examined. A case study of two ships in the same air mass is
presented where one of the vessels caused a discernible ship track while the other did not. In situ measurements of
cloud droplet size distributions, liquid water content, and cloud radiative properties, as well as aerosol size distributions
(outside cloud, interstitial, and cloud droplet residual particles) and aerosol chemistry, are presented. These are related
to measurements of cloud radiative properties. The differences between the aerosol in the two ship plumes are discussed;
these indicate that combustion-derived particles in the size range of about 0.03–0.3-mm radius were those that caused
the microphysical changes in the clouds that were responsible for the ship track.
The authors examine the processes behind ship track formation in a moderately polluted marine boundary
layer as an example of the effects that anthropogenic particulate pollution can have in the albedo of marine
stratiform clouds.
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Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 57, August 2000, pp. 2729-2747
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.