Porto Velho, Brazil - 140 flying hours

Aim: To investigate the properties of biomass burning aerosols over South America. The main biomass burning season occurs during Sept/Oct when deforestation fires and agricultural burning are prolific, particularly over central and south eastern parts of Brazil. These contribute to high loadings of biomass burning aerosol over much of South America with aerosol optical depths frequently exceeding 1 in many central parts of the continent.

1. Measurement of the physical and optical properties of South American biomass burning aerosol.
2. Measurements of the direct effects of the aerosol on solar radiation and the radioactive budget of the region
3. Investigation of the transport and vertical mixing of aerosols over South America using the new Lidar systems.
4. Investigation of the impact of biomass burning aerosol on cloud microphysics This would involve assessing relationships between aerosol properties, the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei, cloud droplet concentration and size spectra, and possible suppression of precipitation in shallow cumulus.
5. Investigation of the chemical composition and mixing state of biomass. burning aerosol using the Aerosol Mass Spectrometer and SP2 instruments.
6. Intensive measurements of aerosol properties and solar radiation in conjunction with ground based measurements from the CLARE/LBA project.  This will be aimed at building comprehensive case studies of aerosol-radiative effects and cross-validation of instrumentation and theoretical models used to deduce radiative effects.

• Detachment Manager - Mo Smith (FAAM)
• Logistics - Doug Anderson & Jamie Trembath (FAAM)
• Project Pilot - Ian Ramsay-Rae (DFL)
• PI - Ben Johnson (Met Office)
• PI - Hugh Coe (NCAS, University of Manchester)