Aerosol transport and associated boundary layer thermodynamics under contrasting synoptic conditions over a semiarid site
Abstract
Understanding the kinematics of aerosol horizontal transport and vertical mixing near the surface, within the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), and in the overlying free troposphere (FT) is critical for various applications, including air quality and weather forecasting, aviation, road safety, and dispersion modeling. Empirical evidence of aerosol mixing processes within the ABL during synoptic-scale events over arid and semiarid regions (i.e., drylands) remains sparse. We explored how synoptic-scale weather systems impact aerosol mixing processes within the daytime ABL over a site located in a dryland. We used ground-based Doppler lidar measurements collected during three events: a cold-front passage, a fair-weather day, and a dryline passage over Lubbock, Texas. The measurements of backscatter and vertical velocity fields were obtained with temporal and vertical resolutions of 1 s and 60 m, respectively. Here, we documented observations of aerosol transport and mixing within the ABL and found that frontal passages are crucial for understanding ABL features and aerosol mixing processes. For example, our findings suggest that during a dryline passage yielding a water vapor mixing ratio drop of 10 g kg-1, the boundary layer characteristics transition from being shallow and stratified throughout a stable, pre-dryline ABL aerosol regime (300 m deep) to a deep and well-mixed structure within the post-dryline ABL (2200 m deep) confirming a higher ABL depth growth rate (∼300 mh-1)…
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