On the Influence of Air Mass Origin on Low‐Cloud Properties in the Southeast Atlantic

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of air mass origin and dynamics on cloud property changes in the Southeast Atlantic (SEA) during the biomass burning season. The understanding of clouds and their determinants at different scales is important for constraining the Earth's radiative budget and thus prominent in climate system research. In this study, the thermodynamically stable SEA stratocumulus cover is observed not only as the result of local environmental conditions but also as connected to large‐scale meteorology by the often neglected but important role of spatial origins of air masses entering this region. In order to assess to what extent cloud properties are impacted by aerosol concentration, air mass history, and meteorology, a Hybrid Single‐Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory cluster analysis is conducted linking satellite observations of cloud properties (Spinning‐Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager), information on aerosol species (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate), and meteorological context (ERA‐Interim reanalysis) to air mass clusters. It is found that a characteristic pattern of air mass origins connected to distinct synoptical conditions leads to marked cloud property changes in the southern part of the study area. Long‐distance air masses are related to midlatitude weather disturbances that affect the cloud microphysics, especially in the southwestern subdomain of the study area. Changes in cloud effective radius are consistent with a boundary layer deepening and changes in lower tropospheric stability (LTS). In the southeastern subdomain cloud cover is controlled by a generally higher LTS, while air mass origin plays a minor role. This study leads to a better understanding of the dynamical drivers behind observed stratocumulus cloud properties in the SEA and frames potentially interesting conditions for aerosol‐cloud interactions.