Eye of the Storm

Several Texas A&M University scientists from the Department of Atmospheric Sciences in the College of Geosciences are participating in atmospheric field research with the TRACER campaign, short for Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions Experiment.

Aerosols and other microscopic particles can affect the movement and severity of convective storm systems. Researchers from the U. S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility are using Houston as their focus of study since it experiences various meteorological conditions and varying levels of industrial pollution that spread aerosol particles across the city.

Using numerous instruments, weather balloons and a Texas A&M mobile van, professor Sarah Brooks and associate professors Anita Rapp ’00 and Christopher Nowotarski will lead a team of graduate and undergraduate researchers to collect aerosol and meteorological data throughout Houston. This data will then be analyzed for patterns reflecting aerosol-cloud interactions in storm systems.

“The sea breeze—which can help initiate storms—moves, so we need to be mobile to measure the meteorology and aerosol properties where the convection is developing,” Brooks said. “Houston experiences a wide range of meteorology and aerosol conditions, so the research results will be applicable beyond Houston to other major cities around the world.”