EAGER: A Closure Experiment for Radiative Boundary Layers

高纬度地区，如阿拉斯加，在冬季有独特的气象条件，这是由于缺乏阳光。 这些高纬度地区的大气结构通常包含逆温层，这是温度随高度增加的大气层。 逆温可以有效地“捕获”空气，使其变得停滞，空气质量下降。 在这个项目中，研究人员将在阿拉斯加地区的费尔班克斯部署一些仪器来研究这些反演。 这项工作的社会影响涉及改善天气状况的模型表示的长期目标，这对于理解和预测空气污染事件是重要的，空气污染事件是一种重大的健康危害。 该奖项旨在表彰开发一种新的实验方法来表征极端高纬度冬季条件下大气边界层结构的动力、辐射和湍流方面。 该项目的重点是在反气旋天气条件下的浅层地面温度逆温（SBI）的建立和破裂，以及SBI和高温逆温层（EI）之间的辐射耦合和反馈过程。 该实验将于2022年初与阿拉斯加分层污染和化学分析（ALPACA）实地活动相结合。 研究人员将在费尔班克斯地区部署微波辐射计和激光雷达剖面仪、无人驾驶飞机系统和风速计，以提供数据，这些数据将用于提高模拟大气边界层物理特性的能力，这些物理特性对于评估停滞状态下气体和颗粒物的化学转化至关重要，该奖项反映了NSF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。

High latitude regions, such as Alaska, have unique meteorological conditions in the winter which are driven by the lack of sunlight. The atmospheric structure in these high latitude regions often contain inversions, which are layers of the atmosphere where the temperature increases with height. Inversions can effectively “trap” air, allowing it to become stagnant with decreased air quality. In this project, the researchers will deploy a number of instruments in the Fairbanks, Alaska region to study these inversions. The societal impact of the work relates to the long-term goal of improving model representation of weather conditions that are important to understanding and forecasting air pollution events, a significant health hazard. This award is for the development of a new experimental approach to characterizing the dynamic, radiative, and turbulent aspects of the atmospheric boundary layer structure in extreme high-latitude winter conditions. The project focuses on the buildup and breakup of shallow-stratified surface-based temperature inversions (SBIs) during anticyclone synoptic conditions and the radiative coupling and feedback processes between SBI and elevated temperature inversion layers (EI). The experiment will be integrated with the Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) field campaign in early 2022. The researchers will deploy microwave radiometer and lidar profilers, unmanned aircraft systems, and scintillometers in the Fairbanks area to provide data that will be used to advance capabilities to model atmospheric boundary layer physical properties critical to assessing the chemical transformation of gases and particulate matter under stagnant, winter conditions in Alaska.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.