Aerosols around Hawaii
Abstract
Two types of aerosol are frequently present around the Hawaiian Islands: sea-salt aerosol, and volcanic aerosol. These two aerosol types are incredibly different in their size, their composition, and even their impacts on precipitation processes. This presentation will discuss two separate projects where these two aerosol types are investigated. The first half will describe how sea-salt aerosol are measured in-situ along the windward coastline using a new kite-borne instrument called the mini-GNI. The surprising results show that sea-salt aerosol presence in the coastal atmosphere is more strongly dependent on wave height than wind speed. The second half will discuss volcanic aerosol impacts on island rainfall using both historic observational datasets and the WRF model. The results confirm the influence of Kilauea emissions on a reduction of downstream rainfall, something that has been observed by the Hawaiian people over decades if not centuries. This presentation has something for everyone: observations, modeling, cloud microphysics, mountain meteorology, and even appealing imagery and photography.
