Collaborative Research: Determination of the Optical and Reactive Properties of Water Vapor of Relevance to Atmospheric Radiation, Cloud Physics and Chemistry

该项目正在研究大气中近紫外线(NUV)太阳辐射的水蒸气吸收。这项研究的结果可能有助于解决大气中晴朗天空条件下模拟和观测到的太阳能吸收之间的长期差异。这项研究结合了实验室实验、野外测量和模拟来研究关于水汽吸收在决定大气辐射平衡中的作用的关键问题。该项目的目标是在实验室测量接近紫外吸收截面的水汽及其在光谱分辨率和间隔上与现有卫星/地面臭氧监测仪器相当的温度依赖关系，监测热带大气中近紫外吸收的水汽，并评估将这种近紫外线吸收计入卫星/地面臭氧反演以及大气辐射、环流和气候模型中的后果。实地测量将通过携带美国国家海洋和大气管理局(NOAA)项目、气溶胶和海洋科学考察(AEROSE)赤道大西洋实地活动中的紫外线辐射光谱仪来获得。臭氧和水蒸气对大气吸收的不同分配可能会改变大尺度大气环流的模型模拟。

This project is investigating water vapor absorption of near ultraviolet (NUV) solar radiation in the atmosphere. The results of this research may help resolve a long-standing discrepancy between modeled and observed solar energy absorption under clear sky conditions in the atmosphere. This research combines laboratory experiments, field measurements, and modeling to investigate critically important issues regarding the role of water vapor absorption in determining the radiative equilibrium of the atmosphere.The objectives of the project are to make laboratory measurements of water vapor near UV absorption cross sections and their temperature dependence at spectral resolution and intervals comparable to existing satellite/surface ozone monitoring instruments, to monitor water vapor near UV spectral absorption in the tropical atmosphere, and to evaluate the consequences of including this near UV absorption by water vapor on satellite/surface ozone retrievals and on models of atmospheric radiation, circulation, and climate. Field measurements will be acquired by piggybacking a UV radiation spectrometer on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) project, the AERosols and Ocean Science Expeditions (AEROSE) field campaign in the equatorial Atlantic. A different partitioning of atmospheric absorption by ozone and water vapor could alter model simulations of large-scale atmospheric circulation.