Cloud brightness enlightens effects of pollution
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Category: ResearchType: News
Source: PNNL
Date: Thursday, April 27th, 2017
News Brief
April 27, 2017 
RICHLAND, Wash. - Small particles of pollution and dust make clouds brighter, and now scientists have figured out a way to better use data to enhance our understanding of how this process affects the planet's climate.
Reporting this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have developed a way to use satellite data about today's clouds to better understand what happened in preindustrial times and to strengthen their computer models of what will happen in the future.
The scientists developed a new way to calculate the brightness of clouds that are created when water droplets form on small particles. The particles can come from many sources, including blowing dust, particles produced from power plants or cars and trucks, and ash thrown up into the sky from volcanoes.
The clouds that form around such particles are brighter compared to other clouds and reflect more sunlight, a factor for scientists as they model what will happen in the future.
Steve Ghan, Hailong Wang and Kai Zhang of the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab are among the authors of the study, which was led by Edward Gryspeerdt of Imperial College. More details about the work are accessible in a news story from Imperial College.
Tags: Environment, Fundamental Science, Climate Science, Atmospheric Science, Aerosols
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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