CAREER: Quantifying the Sea Salt Aerosol Size Distribution in the Coastal Atmosphere: The Role of Wind and Waves

本研究将调查风、波浪和其他大气和海洋特性在三个太平洋岛屿沿海环境中影响海盐气溶胶产生的作用。海盐气溶胶是悬浮在大气中的天然颗粒，是在海洋表面由破碎的波浪和破裂的气泡形成的。尽管它们体积小，但它们在海洋大气中很重要，因为它们直接或间接地影响太阳辐射和云的形成等现象。然而，由于科学家对破碎浪产生的颗粒大小和数量的了解不完全，特别是在沿海地区，很难评估它们的影响。这项研究将使用低成本的3d打印仪器，对海盐气溶胶进行采样，并在多个太平洋岛屿上观测天气。加强对大气中海盐含量的估计和额外的实时天气信息将改善全球的天气和气候预测。此外，使用高质量、低成本、手工制作的仪器可以使这项工作以一种独特的方式对学生进行访问和参与，强调从头到尾的好奇心、解决问题的能力和实践方法的作用。这项工作的目的是研究沿海环境在确定沿海海洋边界层内原位测量的海盐气溶胶颗粒（SSA）的大小分布中的作用。ssa特别重要，因为它们在直接和间接辐射效应中发挥作用，包括气溶胶与云的相互作用，这是未来气候情景中最大的不确定性之一。众所周知，测量大的粗模SSA（3微米）是非常困难的，因此，这个尺寸范围的观测很少存在。使用便携式，低成本，3d打印和Arduino控制的仪器，本研究将定期测量各种环境条件下和多个地点的粗模SSA尺寸分布，以便提供热带沿海环境中SSA生产的一致，可量化和气体学理解。此外，3d打印自动气象站（3D-PAWS）将由奥胡岛地区学校的本科生建造和安装，并将在另外两个太平洋岛屿上提供培训讲习班，以启动网络基础设施，并建立太平洋偏远岛屿的大气监测能力。这些努力将为学习和实施适用科学提供基础，从而降低障碍并创造机会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This study will investigate the role of wind, waves, and other atmospheric and oceanic properties that influence the production of sea salt aerosol in coastal environments of three Pacific islands. Sea salt aerosol are natural particles suspended in the atmosphere, formed at the ocean surface from breaking waves and bursting bubbles. Despite their small size, they are important in the marine atmosphere as they directly and indirectly impact phenomena including solar radiation and cloud formation. However, due to scientists’ incomplete understanding of the sizes and number of particles produced by breaking waves, especially in coastal regions, it is difficult to assess their impacts. This study will use low-cost, 3D-printed instrumentation both for sampling sea salt aerosol, and for observing weather on multiple Pacific islands. Enhanced estimation of the amount of sea salt in the atmosphere and additional real time weather information will improve weather and climate predictions worldwide. Also, using high-quality, low-cost, hand-made instrumentation allows for this work to be accessible and engaging for students in a unique way, highlighting the role of curiosity, problem solving, and hands-on methodology from start to finish.The goal of this work is to investigate the role of the coastal environment in determining the size distribution of sea salt aerosol particles (SSA) measured in-situ within the coastal marine boundary layer. SSAs are especially important due to their role in direct and indirect radiative effects, including aerosol-cloud interactions, providing one of the largest uncertainties in future climate scenarios. It is notoriously difficult to measure large coarse mode SSA ( 3 microns), and as such, few observations of this size range exist. Using portable, low-cost, 3D-printed and Arduino controlled instrumentation, this study will regularly measure coarse mode SSA size distributions under a wide variety of environmental conditions and in multiple locations in order to provide a consistent, quantifiable, and climatological understanding of SSA production in tropical coastal environments. In addition, 3D-Printed Automatic Weather Stations (3D-PAWS) will be built and installed by undergraduate students in area schools on Oʻahu and training workshops will be provided on two additional Pacific Islands to jumpstart cyberinfrastructure and build capacity for atmospheric monitoring on remote Pacific islands. These efforts will lower barriers and create opportunities by providing the foundation for learning and implementing applicable science.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.