Project C06:
The importance of upper troposphere aerosol
transport and processing for low- and mid-troposphere aerosol concentrations
Brief Summary
Several studies demonstrate the importance of free troposphere (FT) NPF for boundary layer aerosol and CCN concentrations. Yet a distinction between FT NPF involving sulphates and UT NPF of oxidated isoprene emissions and nitrogen oxides (NOx) has not yet been estimated. It also remains to be seen if anthropogenic NOx really does not contribute at all in the proposed UT NPF mechanism. This quantification would not only improve our understanding of the tropical continental CCN budget, but also has implications for changes in CCN concentrations for the pre-industrial, present-day, and conceivable future tropical atmosphere.
Overview schematic of involved processes: Our conceptual understanding throughout the tropics (a) and specifically in the Amazon basin (b).
Project Poster
Evaluation Poster Phase I in 2025
Members
Prof. Dr. Anna Possner
Principal Investigator
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Atmosphäre und Umwelt
apossner[at]iau.uni-frankfurt.de
Prof. Dr. Joachim Curtius
Principal Investigator
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Atmosphäre und Umwelt
curtius[at]iau.uni-frankfurt.de
Prof. Dr. Andrea Pozzer
Principal Investigator
Abteilung Atmosphärenchemie, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie
andrea.pozzer[at]mpic.de
Former Member Phase I:
Dr. Lianet Hernandez Pardo
Postdoc
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Atmosphäre und Umwelt
Publications
Hernández Pardo, L., H. Morrison, and A. Possner (2025): Dynamics of Downdrafts Around a Growing Convective Cloud: A Numerical Study. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 130 (22), e2025JD044236. doi: 10.1029/2025JD044236
Curtius, J., M. Heinritzi, L. J. Beck, M. L. Pöhlker, N. Tripathi, B. E. Krumm, P. Holzbeck, C. M. Nussbaumer, L. Hernández Pardo, T. Klimach, K. Barmpounis, S. T. Andersen, R. Bardakov, B. Bohn, M. A. Cecchini, J.-P. Chaboureau, T. Dauhut, D. Dienhart, R. Dörich, A. Edtbauer, A. Giez, A. Hartmann, B. A. Holanda, P. Joppe, K. Kaiser, T. Keber, H. Klebach, O. O. Krüger, A. Kürten, C. Mallaun, D. Marno, M. Martinez, C. Monteiro, C. Nelson, L. Ort, S. S. Raj, S. Richter, A. Ringsdorf, F. Rocha, M. Simon, S. Sreekumar, A. Tsokankunku, G. R. Unfer, I. D. Valenti, N. Wang, A. Zahn, M. Zauner-Wieczorek, R. I. Albrecht, M. O. Andreae, P. Artaxo, J. N. Crowley, H. Fischer, H. Harder, D. L. Herdies, L. A. T. Machado, C. Pöhlker, U. Pöschl, A. Possner, A. Pozzer, J. Schneider, J. Williams, and J. Lelieveld (2024): Isoprene nitrates drive new particle formation in Amazon’s upper troposphere. Nature 636, 124–130. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08192-4.