Chemical, Physical, Optical and Radiative Measurements of Biomass Burning Aerosol and Related Pollutants in Boreal Spring Southeast Asia: Results of 2010–2013 7-SEAS Campaigns

The Seven South East Asian Studies (7SEAS) is a grass-root program and seeks to perform interdisciplinary research in the field of aerosol-meteorology and climate interaction in the Southeast Asian region, particularly for the impact of biomass burning on cloud, atmospheric radiation, hydrological cycle, and regional climate. Participating countries include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and USA (NASA and NRL). Field experiments have been conducted in boreal springtime SE Asian region: Dongsha Experiment in 2010, Son La Campaigns in 2011 and 2012, and BASELInE (Biomass burning Aerosols & Stratocumulus Environment: Lifecycles and Interactions Experiment) in 2013, respectively. The main goals of Dongsha Experiment are (1) to develop the Dongsha Island (about 2 km2, 20°42'52" N, 116°43'51" E) in the South China Sea as an atmospheric observing platform of atmospheric chemistry, radiation and meteorological parameters, and (2) to characterize the chemical and physical properties of biomass burning aerosols in the northern SE Asian region. A monitoring network for ground-based measurements includes the Lulin Atmospheric Background Station (LABS, 2,862 m MSL) in central Taiwan, Hen-Chun (coastal) in the very southern tip of Taiwan, Dongsha Island in South China Sea, Da Nang (near coastal region) in central Vietnam, and Chiang Mai (about 1,400 m MSL) in northern Thailand. This experiment provides a relatively complete dataset of aerosol chemistry and physical observations conducted in the source/sink region for below marine boundary layer and lower free troposphere of biomass burning/air pollutants in the northern SE Asia. The Son La Campaigns were conducted in Son La meteorological station (21.33 °N, 103.9 °E; 675m MSL) in northern Vietnam for characterizing characterize the chemical and physical properties of biomass burning aerosols in northern Vietnam. For BASELInE, in conjunction with satellite overpasses, the strategic deployments of ground-based supersites (e.g., four supersites in northern Thailand, northern Vietnam and Taiwan, and NASA SMARTLabs mobile laboratories) combined with distributed networks (e.g., NASA AERONET/MPLNET) and regional contributing measurements near/downwind of aerosol source regions and along transport pathways, offer a synergistic approach for further exploring many key atmospheric processes (e.g., complex aerosol-cloud interactions) and impacts of biomass burning on the surface-atmosphere energy budgets during lifecycles from source to receptor areas. Our recent 7-SEAS deployments and major scientific findings of regional biomass-burning studies that advance the current fundamental understanding with regards to dynamical, chemical, optical, microphysical, and radiative characteristics of aerosol and clouds over northern SEA. This presentation will give an overview of 2010-2013 7-SEAS field studies and their results, particularly for the characterization of biomass burning aerosol at source regions in northern Thailand and northern Vietnam, and receptor station in Taiwan, which is rarely studied.