Collaborative Research: Quantifying the Role of Pollen in Cloud Formation through Measurements and Modeling

合作研究：通过测量和建模量化花粉在云形成中的作用

• 批准号: 1821095
• 负责人: Sarah Brooks
• 金额: $ 35.76万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-08-15 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1821095&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Quantifying; Role; Pollen

While pollen is emitted from the Earth's surface in large quantities from vegetation, these emissions are typically excluded from inventories due to the large size of pollen grains. However, recent studies have shown that pollen grains easily rupture when wet, forming smaller sub pollen particles (SPP); these SPP have not been well-studied. The central goal of this study is to accurately establish the amount of SPP produced by pollen rupture and to determine its cloud formation properties.This study will include a series of experiments utilizing a plant chamber and atmospheric modeling simulations. The laboratory measurements will (1) Quantify the number of SPP emitted from a single pollen grain and from a plant under atmospheric conditions, (2) Determine the supersaturation required for cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activation, and (3) Determine the temperatures and relative humidities required for ice nucleating particles (INP) activation. These results will provide critical input for an online pollen emissions model that will be used with the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry model (WRF-Chem) to (1) Implement the pollen emission rupture mechanism in WRF-Chem, (2) Utilize measured rupture data to improve simulations of pollen rupture, and (3) Conduct new simulations that account for the indirect effects from both warm and cold clouds using CCN and INP activation measurements.This interdisciplinary project uses laboratory and modeling components to maximize the value of the measurements for improving model estimates of pollen effects on cloud formation. The work will also be integrated in an undergraduate course that will introduce pollen sampling equipment and instruct students on the basics of aerosol and climate modeling.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

虽然大量的花粉是从地球表面从植被中释放出来的，但由于花粉颗粒很大，这些排放通常被排除在清单之外。然而，最近的研究表明，花粉粒在潮湿时很容易破裂，形成较小的亚花粉粒(SPP)；这些亚花粉粒还没有得到很好的研究。这项研究的中心目标是准确确定花粉破裂产生的SPP的数量，并确定其云形成特性。这项研究将包括利用植物小室和大气模拟模拟的一系列实验。实验室测量将(1)量化大气条件下单个花粉粒和植物释放的SPP的数量，(2)确定激活云凝结核(CCN)所需的过饱和度，以及(3)确定激活冰核(INP)所需的温度和相对湿度。这些结果将为在线花粉释放模型提供关键输入，该模型将与天气研究和预报模型与化学模型(WRF-Chem)结合使用，以(1)在WRF-Chem中实施花粉释放破裂机制，(2)利用测量的破裂数据来改进花粉破裂的模拟，以及(3)使用CCN和INP激活测量进行新的模拟，以解释来自暖云和冷云的间接影响。这个跨学科的项目使用实验室和模拟组件来最大化测量值，以改进花粉对云形成的影响的模型估计。这项工作还将被整合到一门本科课程中，该课程将介绍花粉采样设备，并指导学生关于气溶胶和气候模型的基础知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。