Comparison of Aerosol Properties Within and Above the ABL at the ARM Program's SGP Site

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is to determine under what conditions, if any, measurements of aerosol properties made at the Earth's surface are representative of aerosol properties within the column of air above the surface. This thesis will use data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) site at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) which is the only location in the world where ground-based and in situ airborne measurements are made on a routine basis. All flight legs in the one-year period from March 2000-March 2001 were categorized as either within or above the atmospheric boundary layer using an objective mixing height determination technique. The correlations between the aerosol properties measured at the surface and the measured within and above the ABL were then computed. The conclusion of this comparison is that the aerosol extensive and intensive properties measured at the surface are representative of values within the ABL, but not within the free atmosphere.