SGER: A Pilot Field Experiment on Heat and Aerosol Transport by Dry Convection and Dust Devils

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This is a Small Grant for Exploratory Research to enable additional observations and analysis during the NASA-sponsored "Matador" project of the University of Arizona. Planned for May-July at a site in the Arizona desert, the purpose of Matador is to document the characteristics of dust devils, as measured by remote and in-situ sensors. Vortex circulations in the atmospheric boundary layer, of which dust devils are a visible example, carry heat and particulate matter (aerosols) from the earth's surface into the atmosphere, though the physics of these circulations and the contribution they make to the overall vertical transport of heat and mass are not understood. This grant enables the deployment of additional instruments for flux measurements and provides for data analysis by Dr. Renno, students, and collaborators. Outcomes of the research will be quantitative estimates of the heat and mass transport by vortices in the boundary layer and the data needed to test theoretical models of dust devils. This supplement to the Matador project is a sufficient incentive to entrain the collaboration of boundary-layer researchers from academic and research institutions in Mexico and The Netherlands.