Abstract
The first aerosol indirect effect (1AIE) is investigated using a combination of in situ and remotely-sensed aircraft (NCAR C-130) observations acquired during VOCALS-REx over the Southeast Pacific stratocumulus cloud regime. Satellite analyses have previously identified a high albedo susceptibitility to changes in cloud microphysics and aerosols over this region. The 1AIE was broken down into the product of two independently-estimated terms: the cloud aerosol interaction metric ACIτ =dln τ/dln Na|LWP, and the relative albedo (A) susceptibility SR-τ = dA/3dln τ|LWP, with τ and Na denoting retrieved cloud optical thickness and in-situ aerosol concentration, respectively and calculated for fixed intervals of liquid water path (LWP). ACIτ was estimated by combining in-situ Na sampled below the cloud, with τ and LWP derived from, respectively, simultaneous upward-looking broadband irradiance and narrow field-of-view millimeter-wave radiometer measurements, collected at 1 Hz during four eight-hour daytime flights by the C-130 aircraft. ACIτ values were typically large, close to the physical upper limit (0.33), increasing with LWP. The high ACIτ values were in agreement with other in-situ airborne studies in pristine marine stratocumulus and reflect the imposition of a LWP constraint and simultaneity of aerosol and cloud measurements. SR-τ increased with LWP and τ, reached a maximum SR-τ (0.086) for LWP (τ) of 58 g m−2 (13–14), decreasing slightly thereafter. The net first aerosol indirect effect thus increased over the LWP range of 30–80 g m−2. These values were consistent with satellite estimates derived from instantaneous, collocated CERES albedo and MODIS-retrieved droplet number concentrations at 50 km resolution. The consistency of the airborne and satellite estimates (for airborne remotely sensed Nd < 1100 cm−3), despite their independent approaches, differences in observational scales, and retrieval assumptions, is hypothesized to reflect the robust remote sensing conditions for these homogeneous clouds. We recommend the Southeast Pacific for a regional assessment of the first aerosol indirect effect in climate models on this basis.