Atmospheric Aerosols Research in the Caribbean
The Caribbean basin, encompassing tropical islands and continental coasts and with ca. 44 million people, is impacted by a wide range of meteorological and climate phenomena. During much of the year, it lies in the trade wind regime and in the path of tropical storms and hurricanes, and it is frequently impacted by the long-range transport of African dust. As a consequence, the region is of great importance for tropical and global climate, and highly vulnerable to the Earth’s changing climate. Interactions among aerosols, clouds, and precipitation are key aspects of climate research in the tropics yet lack of data has limited our understanding of processes occurring in these pristine regions of the world, especially for the Caribbean.
Since 2004, our research group has been performing aerosol measurements in the tropics, with focus on the Caribbean. Our research is directed towards understanding the variability of atmospheric aerosols and their impact on clouds, precipitation, climate, air quality, and ecosystems. We have particular interest on the chemical, physical, and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols and their sources (African dust, biomass burning, marine, urban, biogenic); carbonaceous aerosols with special interest in black carbon; aerosols-cloud-precipitation interactions; and urban and local air pollution. A general description of our main sampling stations (Cape San Juan Atmospheric Observatory and the Pico del Este cloud forest station) and a brief overview of our activities will be presented with focus on four of our projects, the Puerto Rico African Dust and Clouds Study (PRADACS), the Air Quality Monitoring After Hurricane Impact (AQMAHI), the Caribbean Air-quality aLert and Management Assistance System – Public Health (CALIMA-PH), and the Aerosol and Cloud Analysis System (ACAS).
