Abstract Over the past two decades, the National Science Foundation’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS) has funded nearly 200 atmospheric science–related field campaigns that have included deployment of AGS-sponsored observing facilities. These projects have spanned the range from modest, single-investigator experiments to massive, multi-investigator, multiagency campaigns. They have occurred both domestically and abroad, on every continent and over most oceans. In this article, we present an analysis of some of the details about these campaigns, including such elements as deployment location and cost of the campaign, and of statistics related to the principal investigators (e.g., type and location of institution, gender, years since degree). In addition, we assess trends in field campaign cost. These results provide a retrospective view of atmospheric science field work that has been supported since 1992.

The radiative role of ice clouds in the atmosphere is known to be important, but uncertainties remain concerning the magnitude and net effects. However, through measurements of the microphysical properties of cirrus clouds, we can better characterize them, which can ultimately allow for their radiative properties to be more accurately ascertained. Recently, two types of cirrus clouds differing by formation mechanism and microphysical properties have been classified – in situ and liquid origin cirrus. In this study, we present observational evidence to show that two distinct types of cirrus do exist. Airborne, in situ measurements of cloud ice water content (IWC), ice crystal concentration (Nice), and ice crystal size from the 2014 ML-CIRRUS campaign provide cloud samples that have been divided according to their origin type. The key features that set liquid origin cirrus apart from the in situ origin cirrus are higher frequencies of high IWC ( > 100 ppmv), higher Nice values, and larger ice crystals. A vertical distribution of Nice shows that the in situ origin cirrus clouds exhibit a median value of around 0.1 cm−3, while the liquid origin concentrations are slightly, but notably higher. The median sizes of the crystals contributing the most mass are less than 200 µm for in situ origin cirrus, with some of the largest crystals reaching 550 µm in size. The liquid origin cirrus, on the other hand, were observed to have median diameters greater than 200 µm, and crystals that were up to 750 µm. An examination of these characteristics in relation to each other and their relationship to temperature provides strong evidence that these differences arise from the dynamics and conditions in which the ice crystals formed. Additionally, the existence of these two groups in cirrus cloud populations may explain why a bimodal distribution in the IWC-temperature relationship has been observed. We hypothesize that the low IWC mode is the result of in situ origin cirrus and the high IWC mode is the result of liquid origin cirrus.

The microphysical and radiative properties of cirrus clouds continue to be beyond understanding and thus still represent one of the largest uncertainties in the prediction of the Earth's climate (IPCC, 2013). Our study aims to provide a guide to cirrus microphysics, which is compiled from an extensive set of model simulations, covering the broad range of atmospheric conditions for cirrus formation and evolution. The model results are portrayed in the same parameter space as field measurements, i.e., in the Ice Water Content-Temperature (IWC-T) parameter space. We validate this cirrus analysis approach by evaluating cirrus data sets from 17 aircraft campaigns, conducted in the last 15 years, spending about 94 h in cirrus over Europe, Australia, Brazil as well as South and North America. Altogether, the approach of this study is to track cirrus IWC development with temperature by means of model simulations, compare with observations and then assign, to a certain degree, cirrus microphysics to the observations. Indeed, the field observations show characteristics expected from the simulated Cirrus Guide. For example, high (low) IWCs are found together with high (low) ice crystal concentrations Nice. An important finding from our study is the classification of two types of cirrus with differing formation mechanisms and microphysical properties: the first cirrus type forms directly as ice (in situ origin cirrus) and splits in two subclasses, depending on the prevailing strength of the updraft: in slow updrafts these cirrus are rather thin with lower IWCs, while in fast updrafts thicker cirrus with higher IWCs can form. The second type consists predominantly of thick cirrus originating from mixed phase clouds (i.e., via freezing of liquid droplets – liquid origin cirrus), which are completely glaciated while lifting to the cirrus formation temperature region (< 235 K). In the European field campaigns, slow updraft in situ origin cirrus occur frequently in low- and high-pressure systems, while fast updraft in situ cirrus appear in conjunction with jet streams or gravity waves. Also, liquid origin cirrus mostly related to warm conveyor belts are found. In the US and tropical campaigns, thick liquid origin cirrus which are formed in large convective systems are detected more frequently.

Atmospheric Science Collaborations and Enriching NeTworks (ASCENT) was a workshop series designed to bring together female scientists in the field of atmospheric science and related disciplines. ASCENT was a multifaceted approach to retaining female junior scientists through the challenges in their research and teaching career paths. During the workshop, invited successful senior women scientists discussed their career and life paths. They also led seminars on tools, resources, and methods that can help early career scientists to be successful. Networking was a significant aspect of ASCENT, and many opportunities for both formal and informal interactions among the participants (of both personal and professional nature) were blended in the schedule. The workshops were held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, home of a high-altitude atmospheric science laboratory, Storm Peak Laboratory, which also allowed for tours with scientific engagement and a pleasant environment for participants. Near the conclusion of each workshop, junior and senior scientists were matched in mentee-mentor ratios of two junior scientists per senior scientist. An external evaluation of the workshop participants concluded that the workshops have been successful in establishing and expanding personal and research-related networks, and that seminars have been useful in creating confidence and sharing resources for such things as preparing promotion and tenure packages, interviewing and negotiating job offers, and writing successful grant proposals.

We present in situ observations of convectively injected water vapor in the lower stratosphere from instruments aboard two aircraft operated during the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry experiment. Water vapor mixing ratios in the injected air are observed to be 60-225 ppmv at altitudes 1-2 km above the tropopause (350-370 K potential temperature), well above observed background mixing ratios of 5-10 ppmv in the lower stratosphere. Radar observations of the responsible convective systems show deep overshooting at altitudes up to 4 km above the lapse rate tropopause and above the flight ceilings of the aircraft. Backward trajectories from the in situ observations show that convectively injected water vapor is observed from three distinct types of systems: isolated convection, a convective line, and a leading line-trailing stratiform mesoscale convective system. Significant transport of additional tropospheric or boundary layer trace gases is observed only for the leading line-trailing stratiform case. In addition, all observations of convective injection are found to occur within large-scale double-tropopause events from poleward Rossby wave breaking. Based on this relationship, we present a hypothesis on the role of the large-scale lower stratosphere during convective overshooting. In particular, the reduced lower stratosphere stability associated with double-tropopause environments may facilitate deeper levels of overshooting and convective injection.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Florence Rabier, Météo France, 42 avenue Gaspard Coriolis, 31057 Toulouse, France, E-mail: florence.rabier@meteo.fr

The MACPEX mission permitted observation of aerosol size distributions, cloud particles and water vapor in and around clouds in the mid-latitude upper troposphere. The NMASS consists of 5 condensation particle counters (CPCs) operating in parallel. The 5 CPCs have 50% lower size detection efficiency diameter of 5.3 nm, 8.4 nm, 15 nm, 30 nm and 53 nm. The mixing ratio of particles between 4 to 8 nm is an indicator of newly formed particles. Regions of new particle formation were observed inside and near clouds in the altitude range from 10 to 14 km. In this abstract we describe the methodology used to identify new particle formation events in and around clouds and examine the intensity and spatial coverage of these newly formed particles in relation to cloud.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Linnea Avallone, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, 600 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0600, E-mail: linnea.avallone@lasp.colorado.edu

Trace gases, submicron particle size distributions, and bulk filterable halogen content were measured on Ross Island, Antarctica, in austral spring 2007. During several surface level, partial ozone depletion events, enhanced submicron particle concentrations, and changes in filterable halogens were observed. These events were characterized by ozone depletions of 5-15ppbv for durations between 6 and 48h and associated with threefold-to-fourfold increases in submicron particle mass (PM1.0) over backgrounds of approximately 100ngm(-3). Peak particle number densities were centered on a mode at 500-600nm in diameter, which is consistent with wintertime sea-salt aerosol size distributions. Filterable chloride also increased during these events, consistent with aerosol being of oceanic origin. Ozone depletion and particle enhancement events were accompanied by increasing temperatures and winds, suggesting that halogen-containing aerosol is generated from windblown snow and brine from the snow pack or sea ice near the ice edge.

A meeting of 31 international experts on in situ measurements from aircraft was held to identify unresolved questions concerning ice formation and evolution in ice clouds, assess the current state of instrumentation that can address these problems, introduce emerging technology that may overcome current measurement issues and recommend future courses of action that can improve our understanding of ice cloud microphysical processes and their impact on the environment. The meeting proceedings and outcome has been described in detail in a manuscript submitted to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) on March 24, 2011. This paper is currently under review. The remainder of this summary, in the following pages, is the text of the BAMS article. A technical note that will be published by the National Center for Atmospheric Research is currently underway and is expected to be published before the end of the year.

The Concordiasi project is making innovative observations of the atmosphere above Antarctica. The most important goals of the Concordiasi are as follows: To enhance the accuracy of weather prediction and climate records in Antarctica through the assimilation of in situ and satellite data, with an emphasis on data provided by hyperspectral infrared sounders. The focus is on clouds, precipitation, and the mass budget of the ice sheets. The improvements in dynamical model analyses and forecasts will be used in chemical-transport models that describe the links between the polar vortex dynamics and ozone depletion, and to advance the under understanding of the Earth system by examining the interactions between Antarctica and lower latitudes. To improve our understanding of microphysical and dynamical processes controlling the polar ozone, by providing the first quasi-Lagrangian observations of stratospheric ozone and particles, in addition to an improved characterization of the 3D polar vortex dynamics. Techni...

During the Storm Peak Lab Cloud Property Validation Experiment (STORMVEX), a substantial correlative data set of remote sensing observations and direct in situ measurements from fixed and airborne platforms will be created in a winter season, mountainous environment. This will be accomplished by combining mountaintop observations at Storm Peak Laboratory and the airborne National Science Foundation-supported Colorado Airborne Multi-Phase Cloud Study campaign with collocated measurements from the second ARM Mobile Facility (AMF2). We describe in this document the operational plans and motivating science for this experiment, which includes deployment of AMF2 to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The intensive STORMVEX field phase will begin nominally on 1 November 2010 and extend to approximately early April 2011.

During the Midlatitude Cirrus Experiment (MidCiX), in situ measurements of cirrus cloud microphysical properties were made from aboard the NASA WB‐57F aircraft in conjunction with Terra and Aqua satellite overpasses. These in situ data are directly compared to retrievals of cirrus visible optical thickness (τ), effective size (De), and ice water path (IWP) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments aboard Terra and Aqua. The MODIS data considered here include both the operational retrieval (MOD06) and visible optical thickness retrieved from the 1.38‐μm channel. Instruments aboard the WB‐57F included three bulk probes for measuring ice water content (IWC), a cloud integrating nephelometer for measuring the visible extinction coefficient (β), and four optical particle probe instruments from which β and De are inferred. In situ β (IWC) data taken during vertical spiral profiles through cirrus are integrated to get τ (IWP) for comparison with MODIS values, and a methodology for comparing satellite and aircraft data is developed and illustrated using several case studies from MidCiX. It is found that the presence of cirrus overlapping low cloud layers significantly biases the MODIS operational τ to high values. For single‐layer cirrus cases, the in situ IWP agree with MODIS values to within 20%, on average. The in situ τ/De differ from MODIS values in a manner that is roughly consistent with previous claims of particle shattering on aircraft inlets, although the magnitude of the differences is less than expected, and biases in the MODIS retrievals cannot be ruled out.

Aircraft emissions impact the atmosphere in a variety of ways, including enhancing greenhouse gases, especially water vapor and carbon dioxide, in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, forming persistent contrails, and altering the distributions of reactive chemical species, which change the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere. This paper summarizes some recent findings related to the impacts of aircraft exhaust on the chemistry of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). Of particular note are the improvements in our understanding of production of nitrogen oxides (NOx ~ NO + NO2) by lightning and of the influence of long-range transport on background abundances of reactive species. Studies have also identified gaps in our knowledge, including the behavior of HOx (OH and HO2) species at high NOx and discrepancies in measurements of water vapor in the relatively dry UTLS. Lack of detailed observations of species, such as the halogens chlorine and bromine, limits our ability to assess t...