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方案得以恢复。 皮科埃斯特云站位于热带山地云雾林，是世界上对气候变化最敏感和最脆弱的生态系统之一。该观测站经常位于云底之上，因此便于云的研究，而不需要飞机以及相关的复杂性和成本。 飓风玛丽亚是萨菲尔-辛普森风力等级中的四级飓风，整个空间站都因其而消失。 这场飓风于2017年9月20日经过波多黎各，对该岛及其居民造成了严重影响。自2004年以来，在埃斯特峰及其同伴卡贝萨斯圣胡安大气观测站进行的测量是波多黎各基于云的研究的基石，因为它们是连续和长期的，可以评估气溶胶和云特性的趋势，并为面向过程的短期实地活动提供背景。这两个站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尘埃气溶胶长期测量的站点，这些尘埃气溶胶可以与站点上方和顺风的云的化学和微物理特性联系起来。皮科埃斯特的研究活动主要集中在气溶胶、云和降水的研究上，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 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.