Observed Correlation between Aerosol and Cloud Base Height for Low Clouds at Baltimore and New York, United States

The correlation between aerosol particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μ m (PM2.5) and cloud base height (CBH) of low clouds (CBH lower than 1.5 km a.g.l.) at Baltimore and New York, United States, for an 8 year period (2007–2014) was investigated using information from the Automa...

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Main Authors: Sium Gebremariam, Siwei Li, Mengsteab Weldegaber
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-04-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/9/4/143
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author Sium Gebremariam
Siwei Li
Mengsteab Weldegaber
author_facet Sium Gebremariam
Siwei Li
Mengsteab Weldegaber
author_sort Sium Gebremariam
collection DOAJ
description The correlation between aerosol particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μ m (PM2.5) and cloud base height (CBH) of low clouds (CBH lower than 1.5 km a.g.l.) at Baltimore and New York, United States, for an 8 year period (2007–2014) was investigated using information from the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) observations and collocated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) observations. The lifting condensation level (LCL) heights were calculated and compared with the CBH. The monthly average observations show that PM2.5 decreases from 2007 to 2014 while there is no significant trend found for CBH and LCL. The variability of the LCL height agrees well with CBH but LCL height is systematically lower than CBH (~180 m lower). There was a significant negative correlation found between CBH–LCL and PM2.5. All of the cloud cases were separated into polluted and clean conditions based on the distribution of PM2.5 values. The distributions of CBH–LCL in the two groups show more cloud cases with smaller CBH–LCL in polluted conditions than in clean conditions.
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spelling doaj.art-14b834a37e114b7985f79f06854aa87f2022-12-22T03:46:01ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332018-04-019414310.3390/atmos9040143atmos9040143Observed Correlation between Aerosol and Cloud Base Height for Low Clouds at Baltimore and New York, United StatesSium Gebremariam0Siwei Li1Mengsteab Weldegaber2NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USANOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USAThe correlation between aerosol particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μ m (PM2.5) and cloud base height (CBH) of low clouds (CBH lower than 1.5 km a.g.l.) at Baltimore and New York, United States, for an 8 year period (2007–2014) was investigated using information from the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) observations and collocated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) observations. The lifting condensation level (LCL) heights were calculated and compared with the CBH. The monthly average observations show that PM2.5 decreases from 2007 to 2014 while there is no significant trend found for CBH and LCL. The variability of the LCL height agrees well with CBH but LCL height is systematically lower than CBH (~180 m lower). There was a significant negative correlation found between CBH–LCL and PM2.5. All of the cloud cases were separated into polluted and clean conditions based on the distribution of PM2.5 values. The distributions of CBH–LCL in the two groups show more cloud cases with smaller CBH–LCL in polluted conditions than in clean conditions.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/9/4/143aerosolcloudcloud-base heightaerosol-cloud interactionPM2.5
spellingShingle Sium Gebremariam
Siwei Li
Mengsteab Weldegaber
Observed Correlation between Aerosol and Cloud Base Height for Low Clouds at Baltimore and New York, United States
Atmosphere
aerosol
cloud
cloud-base height
aerosol-cloud interaction
PM2.5
title Observed Correlation between Aerosol and Cloud Base Height for Low Clouds at Baltimore and New York, United States
title_full Observed Correlation between Aerosol and Cloud Base Height for Low Clouds at Baltimore and New York, United States
title_fullStr Observed Correlation between Aerosol and Cloud Base Height for Low Clouds at Baltimore and New York, United States
title_full_unstemmed Observed Correlation between Aerosol and Cloud Base Height for Low Clouds at Baltimore and New York, United States
title_short Observed Correlation between Aerosol and Cloud Base Height for Low Clouds at Baltimore and New York, United States
title_sort observed correlation between aerosol and cloud base height for low clouds at baltimore and new york united states
topic aerosol
cloud
cloud-base height
aerosol-cloud interaction
PM2.5
url http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/9/4/143
work_keys_str_mv AT siumgebremariam observedcorrelationbetweenaerosolandcloudbaseheightforlowcloudsatbaltimoreandnewyorkunitedstates
AT siweili observedcorrelationbetweenaerosolandcloudbaseheightforlowcloudsatbaltimoreandnewyorkunitedstates
AT mengsteabweldegaber observedcorrelationbetweenaerosolandcloudbaseheightforlowcloudsatbaltimoreandnewyorkunitedstates