Date of Award

2014-01-01

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Computational Science

Advisor(s)

ROSA M. FITZGERALD

Abstract

Atmospheric aerosols play an important role in climate forcing, through scattering and absorption of the incoming solar radiation. The extinction of light by the presence of atmospheric aerosols was studied using two first-principle models, and corresponding computer codes. In the first model the extinction of light from irregularly shaped aerosol particles was analyzed. In the second model it was assumed that the irregularly shaped aerosol particles were covered by a film of water, and the hygroscopicity and the extinction of light by the aerosols was analyzed. These models were then applied to the Paso del Norte region and their light extinction results compared with a local extinctiometer. The inter-comparison of the models extinction results and the extinctiometer values were well correlated. It was observed that for high humidity days the model that used an aerosol particle covered with a water film correlated better with the experimental extinctiometer measurements. While these two models were validated in the Paso del Norte region, they are also applicable to any other region, under humid or dry atmospheric conditions.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

121 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Richard Medina Calderon

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