Between June 3 and June 30, 2007, the NASA Langley Research Center High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) team will participate in the Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study (CHAPS), which is sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Science Program (ASP). This field experiment will be conducted in the vicinity of Oklahoma City, OK.

CHAPS is designed to examine the influence of anthropogenic aerosols from a mid-size urban area on the microphysics of cumuliform clouds and the effects these clouds have on urban aerosols that pass through fields of fair weather cumulus (FWC). The resulting observations will be used to address a number of basic scientific processes associated with the effects of aerosols on clouds and radiation. CHAPS measurements will also be used to assess the ability of climate models to accurately represent cumulus cloud/aerosol processes.

State-of-the art instruments on board the DOE Gulfstream-1 aircraft will acquire in situ cloud and aerosol measurements. The airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) on board the NASA B200 King Air will fly above the G-1 and provide simultaneous measurements of aerosol and cloud profiles.

The CHAPS campaign is being conducted jointly with the Cloud and Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC), which is sponsored by the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program. CLASIC is a cross-disciplinary interagency research effort designed to advance the understanding of how land surface processes influence cumulus convection. CLASIC will be conducted in the vicinity of the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) Climate Research Facility (CRF) during the summer of 2007.

Funding for the deployment of the NASA King Air was provided by NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Science Program. The information contained herein is provided as a public service, with the understanding that NASA, DOE and the CHAPS project collaborators make no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability of the information. Do not quote or cite without permission. Permission for use of these data and additional information may be obtained from the investigating scientists: Chris Hostetler, Richard Ferrare, or John Hair. The data are preliminary and subject to change.