Stable Isotopes in Water Vapor and its links with Aerosols and Atmospheric Convection

Deep convective clouds associated with thunderstorms are an important feature of our climate system. However, these clouds are difficult to represent in climate models, and researchers need improved constraints on the processes that drive the life cycles of these clouds. I am questioning how aerosols in the atmosphere affect the physics of these clouds and the water cycle. Aerosols serve as cloud condensation nuclei that can exert fundamental controls over deep convective clouds. To the extent that aerosols affect condensation processes in the clouds. Stable isotopes in atmospheric water vapor should reflect many of the important impacts of aerosols on precipitating convection.

We hypothesize that there is a correlation between water vapor isotopes and aerosols in the atmosphere.

Why is this important?

This project will help us understand the atmospheric water cycle in systems from the marine boundary layer through tropospheric mixing as well as the water cycle of the troposphere. We can use modern water vapor isotope data to understand past climate data on the hydrologic cycle. We are looking at these issues while keeping climate change in mind, learning about past climate to understand how our future will look with global warming and how the climate cycles will react. In this project, we are mainly looking at how aerosols behave in the Houston area. Aerosols generally have a negative connotation since they are mixed up with chlorofluorocarbons, harming the ozone layer. However, aerosols are naturally occurring and an essential factor in climate processes. They act as "seeds" to form precipitation. However high pollution concentrations may affect the processes and cycles and we want to see HOW natural aerosols and anthropogenic aerosols act and what this means for our future.

Aerosols

In Atmospheric Sciences these are defined as "fine solids or liquids" in our air.

I.e. urban haze, smoke particles, desert dust, sea spray, pollution

Deep convective clouds

These are clouds that are 6 km high and produce strong winds and thunderstorms.

Troposphere

This is the lowest layer of the atmosphere.

My Data

I am using data from the TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) that gives us data on aerosols in and around the Houston, TX area. This area is unique since it commonly experiences numerous isolated convective systems and a spectrum of aerosol conditions. These measurements help understand the variability of aerosols and meteorology between the urban and surrounding rural environments in the Houston area. Data on the isotopic composition of water vapor is collected with a Picarro L2130 Water Vapor Analyzer during the Summer of 2022 at the main TRACER site in La Porte, TX.