HR: 10:35h
AN: P22B-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Springtime Dust Aerosols at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
AU: * Cahill, C F
EM: ffcfc@uaf.edu
AF: Geophysical Institute and Department of Chemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AU: Yee, Y
EM: yyee@arl.army.mil
AF: Atmospheric Effects Branch, Army Research Laboratory, White Sands Missile Range, WSMR, NM 88002 United States
AU: Gill, T E
EM: tegill@geo.utep.edu
AF: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 United States
AU: Ruiz, A
EM: ruiz@geo.utep.edu
AF: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 United States
AU: Emmert, S P
EM: emmert@geo.utep.edu
AF: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 United States
AU: Cahill, T A
EM: tacahill@ucdavis.edu
AF: Delta Group, Chemical Engineering and Material Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616 United States
AU: Wilson, F
EM: wilsonf@wsmr.army.mil
AF: Meteorology Branch, White Sands Missile Range, WSMR, NM 88002 United States
AU: Ellison, E
EM: ellisonee@wsmr.army.mil
AF: Meteorology Branch, White Sands Missile Range, WSMR, NM 88002 United States
AB: Windblown dust can reduce visibility and create a health hazard. Current dust models, such as CARMA, are used to predict the atmospheric dust aerosol loading during dust storms. However, size-fractionated aerosol measurements are needed to improve and validate the aerosol generation portions of the models. Therefore, from April 19 through May 23, 2005, two size-fractionated (8 size bins between 10 and 0.07 microns in aerodynamic diameter) drum aerosol impactors were deployed on and downwind of a playa at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to collect aerosol samples to help determine the size and amount of dust particles generated as a function of wind speed. The aerosol samplers were co-located with meteorological sensors and passive blowing dust/sand collectors. The meteorological data for the sampling period, including wind speed and direction, were provided by the Meteorological Division of the White Sands Missile Range. The mass, elemental composition and optical absorption of the aerosols collected during the study are correlated with wind speed and other meteorological parameters to determine the emission, as a function of size, of dust aerosols at different wind speeds. This data will be used to initialize and/or validate dust models, calculate the visibility degradation associated with a given aerosol loading, and help predict the effects of dust aerosols on humans.
DE: 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
DE: 0322 Constituent sources and sinks
DE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 1029 Composition of aerosols and dust particles
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005