Abstract
Aerosols present in the Earth?s atmosphere play a crucial role in global meteorological conditions. If there is a larger concentration of aerosols then there may be a resulting variance in the weather and climate. One particular aerosol, which was measured and observed for this study, is black carbon. The presence of black carbon concentrations could result in a variance of certain weather variables at any given location. Black carbon aerosols absorb incoming solar radiation, which can impact the vertical temperature profile. A comparison of results can be made between weather and climate conditions in which a significant amount of black carbon is present, and other conditions with minimal amounts of black carbon in the troposphere. The observed data analyzed is from the Lake Wheeler site, a semi-urban location near the threshold of the piedmont and coastal plain zones of central North Carolina. The period for evaluation is June 2003 through May 2004. The weather variables that were closely examined include air temperature, dewpoint temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. In addition, radiation data was collected and analyzed including solar radiation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), net irradiance, diffuse radiation and direct radiation. Aerosol optical depths (AOD), which are the measurement of light attenuation at specified wavelengths, were also collected and evaluated in both the ultraviolet and visible light spectrums. This was done in order to determine any relationships between black carbon concentrations and AODs at certain wavelengths. After examining the year?s worth of data a site characterization involving the black carbon concentrations and meteorological variables for the Raleigh, NC location was devised.
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