MRI: Acquisition of Instrumentation for an Integrated South Florida Cloud-Aerosol-Rain-OBserving System (CAROB)

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。通过NSF的主要研究仪器计划支持的这项工作将采购，集成和应用一套仪器，使迈阿密大学和合作机构的科学家社区能够研究南佛罗里达和邻近沃茨大气中的气溶胶-云相互作用。 这种环境，其季节性变化的气流制度，经验的条件，从入侵的充满灰尘的空气质量起源于撒哈拉沙漠在夏季的几个月，污染的空气质量涌动东南在北美大陆在冬季和海洋气溶胶在更安静的时期。 这种多变但反复出现的气溶胶气候学与从信风制度（夏季）到斜压锋面通道（冬季）到偶尔的飓风（夏末/初秋）的气象环境相结合，从而提供了一个极好的环境来研究气溶胶，大气传输/吸收太阳和红外辐射以及云过程之间的联系。请求提供的设备包括一台翻新的94千兆赫测云雷达和风廓线仪、一台气溶胶探测激光雷达、微波辐射计、云凝结核计数器、一对太阳光度计和一台云高计。 除了迈阿密大学工作人员现有的研究和技术专长外，现有设备还进一步利用了这种新的和改进的仪器组合，包括9.4 GHz（X波段）雷达、94 GHz雷达组件和允许移动的操作的集装箱/货车。 由这套气溶胶和远程云传感器组合而成的同步观测将用于提供以统计学上有意义的方式代表云-气溶胶相互作用所需的频繁、例行和长期测量。这项工作的智力价值集中在更好地量化气溶胶对气候系统内云微观物理学和宏观物理学（“云反馈”）的影响，并扩展到更好地理解调节热带气旋和其他更常见风暴的强度和发展所涉及的过程。 通过加强该大学的研究基础设施和在课堂和研究生研究培训中使用这些数据流，包括开发一个关于“佛罗里达气候”的课程模块，将产生更广泛的影响。“外联和传播将包括在迈阿密大学的弗吉尼亚钥匙和珊瑚山墙校区展示数据以及在网上分发。 该观测系统将作为K-12学生团体校园图尔斯参观的联络点，测量结果将输入现有的全球数据库（包括AERONET和MPLNET），供广大科学界使用。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This effort supported through NSF's Major Research Instrumentation program will procure, integrate and apply a suite of instrumentation to enable a community of scientists at the University of Miami and collaborating institutions to study aerosol-cloud interactions in the atmosphere over South Florida and adjacent waters. This environment, with its seasonally-shifting airflow regimes, experiences conditions ranging from incursions of dust-laden airmasses originating over the Saharan desert during the summer months, polluted airmasses surging southeastward over the North American continent during winter, and marine aerosols during more quiescent periods. This variable yet recurring aerosol climatology is coupled with meteorological settings ranging from a Trade Wind regime (in summer) to baroclinic frontal passages (in winter) to occasional hurricanes (late summer/early fall), thus providing an excellent environment in which to examine linkages among aerosols, atmospheric transmission/absorption of solar and infrared radiation, and cloud processes. Requested equipment includes components for a refurbished 94 GHz cloud radar and wind profiler, an aerosol detecting lidar, microwave radiometer, cloud condensation nuclei counter, a pair of sun photometers, and a ceilometer. This combination of new and revamped instrumentation is further leveraged by existing equipment including a 9.4 GHz (X-band) radar, 94 GHz radar components and a container/van allowing mobile operations, in addition to existing research and technical expertise among University of Miami staff. Synchronized observations by this assembled suite of aerosol and remote cloud sensors will be used to provide frequent, routine and long-term measurements of the sort needed to represent cloud-aerosol interactions in a statistically meaningful way. The intellectual merit of this effort centers upon efforts to better quantify aerosol impacts on cloud microphysics and macrophysics ("cloud feedbacks") within the climate system, and extend to improved understanding of processes involved in modulating the strength and development of tropical cyclones and other more commonly occurring storms. Broader impacts will be derived through enhancement of the University's research infrastructure and use of these datastreams in classroom and graduate research training, including development of a class module on "The Florida Climate." Outreach and dissemination will include display of data on both the Virginia Key and Coral Gables campuses of the University of Miami as well as web-based distribution. The observing system will serve as a focal point for campus tours by K-12 student groups, and measurements will be contributed to existing global databases (including AERONET and MPLNET) utilized by the larger scientific community.