BEACHON-RoMBAS

Shortcut to this page: http://tinyurl.com/BEACHON-RoMBAS

This page is a means of communication and repository of information for the upcoming biogenic aerosol field study at the Manitou Forest Observatory near Colorado Springs, CO, in Summer 2011.

Scientific Objectives

BEACHON-RoMBAS is a component of the overall BEACHON project and stands for "Bio-hydro-atmosphere interactions of Energy, Aerosols, Carbon, H2O, Organics & Nitrogen - Rocky Mountain Biogenic Aerosol Study." The scientific foci of the BEACHON-RoMBAS field experiment include the emissions of primary biological particles (PBAP) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursors, and their transformations and impacts in the atmosphere. An important angle is the evaluation of the importance of water availability in those emissions, transformations, and impacts.

Papers and Presentations from the Campaign

• ACP Special Issue on BEACHON-ROCS and -RoMBAS (ACPD special issue)

• H. Zhang, D.R. Worton, M. Lewandowski, J. Ortega, C.L. Rubitschun, K. Kristensen, P. Campuzano-Jost, D.A. Day, J.L. Jimenez, M. Jaoui, J.H. Offenberg, T.E. Kleindienst, J. Gilman, J. de Gouw, C.H. Park, G.W. Schade, A.A. Frossard, L. Russell, M. Glasius, A. Guenther, A.H. Goldstein, J.H. Seinfeld, A. Gold, R.M. Kamens, and J.D. Surratt. Organosulfate Formation from 2-Methyl-3-Buten-2-ol (MBO) as a Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) Tracer in the Atmosphere. Environmental Science & Technology, submitted, April 2012.

Papers from previous campaigns at this site

• DiGangi et al. Observations of glyoxal and formaldehyde as metrics for the anthropogenic impact on rural photochemistry, ACPD 2012.
• Levin et al. An annual cycle of size-resolved aerosol hygroscopicity at a forested site in Colorado, J. Geophys. Res. 2012.
• DiGangi et al. First direct measurements of formaldehyde flux via eddy covariance: implications for missing in-canopy formaldehyde sources, ACP 2011.
• Kim et al. Emissions and ambient distributions of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOC) in a ponderosa pine ecosystem: interpretation of PTR-MS mass spectra, ACP 2010.

Practical Organization

• An email list has been set up <BEACHON-RoMBAS@googlegroups.com>. You can add others from your group, remove yourself, change the address with which you are subscribed, etc. at http://groups.google.com/group/BEACHON-RoMBAS/.

• A List of Instrumentation including power and space needs has been compiled. (If you want to participate or add instrumentation which is not currently listed, please let us know). We have recently recruited two PBAP instruments from Europe as well as other collaborators on SOA and other measurements.
  • As a reference, the list of instrumentation for the BEACHON-ROCS-2010 field study is here.

• Final dates: Jul-15-Aug 30, 2011

• Pictures of setups and site during the campaign

Logistics During the Campaign

All logistical information is centralized on the BEACHON-RoMBAS Logistics Page.

Real-Time Data and Model Output

• Access recent met and gas data here.
  • The links "MET data" and "Chemistry Tower" go to real-time plots of the met data (from a small met station at the top of the tower and winds from the sonic anemometer) and some chemical species (O3, SO2, etc.) for the past few days. These are not "final" concentrations - they are just ones we calculated using some reasonable estimates of calibration coefficients (and some include calibration periods), but they give a good relative measure of what's happening.
• Information on historic met/gas observations including diurnal cycles and wind roses can be found on the logistics page (see link above).

• WRF/Chem model runs (by A. Hodzic):
  • Model setup; Model variables; Model output

Science Meetings in the Field

• Presentation from 1st Science Meeting Thursday 28-July 2011 3-5 pm at MFO lodge.
• Presentation from 2nd Science Meeting Thursday 4-Aug 2011 3-5 pm at MFO lodge.
• Presentation from 3rd Science Meeting: Thursday 11-Aug 11 am-1 pm at MFO lodge.
• Presentation from 4th Science Meeting: Thursday 18-Aug 11 am-1 pm at MFO lodge.
• Presentation from 5th Science meeting: Wednesday 24-Aug 11 am-1 pm at MFO lodge.
• Tentative conference call meeting in Nov. 2011
• Tentative data analysis meeting at NCAR in June 2012 (not the week of June 25th, which would conflict w/ Biogenic VOC Gordon Conference in Maine)

Time Series Plots

• Prepared by Michael Lechner using data from the server (measurements and WRF-Chem model)
• Meteorology : time series TS PXP // Diurnal Diurnal PXP
• Trace gases: time series TS PXP // Diurnal Diurnal PXP
• Aerosols (measurements & WRF/Chem model) PXP
• CO tracer of source regions (WRF/Chem model) PXP
• VOCs Anthroprogenic & various(measurements & WRF/Chem model) PXP
• VOCs Biogenic (measurements & WRF/Chem model) PXP
• Radicals and oxidized nitrogen species (measurements & WRF/Chem model) PXP

Links and Info

• If you want an account to be able to add information to this Wiki, just let Jose know. Unfortunately we have to keep the Wiki password-protected as people were using it to sell Viagra and Vicodin otherwise.

• Links:
  • BEACHON
  • Manitou Forest Observatory
  • ETBC Project News

• Acknowledgements: the BEACHON-RoMBAS campaign is partially supported by an ETBC grant to NCAR, the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and Penn State University (NSF ATM-0919189)