Case Study
Impacts of pollution on clouds and rain
#1
Working with the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry in China, Brechtel scientists helped to deploy a GCVI to monitor the properties of individual cloud nucleating particles from evaporated cloud droplets. Using a single-particle laser-ablation monitoring system, our customer discovered that up to 70% of the cloud residue particles contained soot during times when there was a strong urban pollution influence at their sampling site in Guangzhou. They also found enriched levels of potassium, dust, and metals in the residues, indicating that dust particles acted significantly as cloud condensation nuclei
#2
Working with the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune, India, our team deployed our ACCESS line of portable instruments on-board a King Air research aircraft to sample aerosol in and around clouds that were simultaneously probed with ground-based radar. The goal of the project is to improve understanding of monsoon trends, including forecasting intense precipitation events and long-term changes in precipitation patterns.