RAPID: Reconstruction of Atmospheric Observatory at Pico Este, Puerto Rico, After the Impact of Hurricane Maria

该项目将使皮科·埃斯特云站的大气测量计划得以恢复。皮科·埃斯特云站位于热带山地云雾森林中，这是世界上对气候变化最敏感和最脆弱的生态系统之一。空间站经常位于云层之上，因此便于研究云，而不需要飞机以及相关的复杂性和成本。由于飓风玛丽亚，空间站整体失去了联系，玛丽亚是萨菲尔-辛普森风级的四级飓风。这场飓风于2017年9月20日横扫波多黎各，极大地影响了该岛及其居民。自2004年以来在Pico Este及其同伴Cabezas de San Juan大气观测站进行的测量是波多黎各云基研究的基石，因为它们是连续和长期的，能够评估气溶胶和云特性的趋势，并为以过程为导向的短期实地活动提供了背景。这两个地点在世界上是独一无二的，因为它们是唯一提供海洋边界层中尘埃气溶胶长期测量的地点，可以与地点上方和顺风向云的化学和微物理特性联系起来。Pico ESTE的研究活动集中在气溶胶、云和降水研究上，特别强调气溶胶和云的相互作用和成分。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。

This project will enable the restoration of the atmospheric measurement program at the Pico Este Cloud Station. The Pico Este Cloud Station is located in a tropical montane cloud forest, one of the most sensitive and vulnerable of the world's ecosystems to climate change. The station is frequently above cloud base, thus facilitating the study of clouds without the need for aircraft and the related complexity and costs. The station was lost in its totality due to Hurricane Maria, a category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. This hurricane passed across Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 and greatly affected the island and its residents.The measurements carried out at Pico Este and its companion Cabezas de San Juan Atmospheric Observatory since 2004 are a cornerstone of cloud-based research in Puerto Rico because they have been continuous and long-term, enabling the evaluation of trends in aerosol and cloud properties, and providing a context for process-oriented short-term field campaigns. These two sites are unique in the world, as they have been the only locations that provided long-term measurements of dust aerosols in the marine boundary layer that can be linked to chemical and microphysical properties of clouds above and downwind of the sites. Research activities at Pico Este are focused on aerosol, cloud, and precipitation studies, with a particular emphasis on aerosol and cloud interactions and composition.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.