The Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Study (SAIL) was designed as a two-year deployment of advanced instrumentation for observations of multiple variables impacting the East River Watershed near Crested Butte, Colorado. These included precipitation, clouds, winds, snowpack – and atmospheric particles. How can particulate matter in the air exert an influence on water resources in the Rocky Mountains?
Sonia M. Kreidenweis,
Colorado State University
This presentation will review the physical, chemical and optical properties of aerosols that result in impacts on surface radiation and precipitation formation, and will present recent findings from our group on the factors influencing the annual cycle of aerosols in SAIL. A particular focus is on ice nucleating particles (INPs), the subset of atmospheric particles that are capable of nucleating ice at conditions that would not typically support the transition from liquid to solid.
Sonia M. Kreidenweis joined Colorado State University in 1991 to initiate the program in Atmospheric Chemistry in the Department of Atmospheric Science that has since grown to five faculty members. Her primary research theme is the study of the physics, chemistry, and optics of atmospheric particulate matter, and in particular, the nucleation and growth of liquid water and ice by atmospheric aerosols and the subsequent impacts on formation of clouds and precipitation. With the Visibility Group of the National Park Service, she participated in the design and execution of a number of special studies aimed at improved understanding of the links between particle size, composition, water uptake, and light extinction. She has also worked extensively in the study of emissions from open biomass burning, including wildfires, and their impacts on warm and cold clouds. Most recently, she is serving as PI and Director of the NSF Biology Integration Institute awarded to CSU (BROADN), focused on the role of biological aerosols in ecology and climate. She and her research group have published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles on these topics. Kreidenweis is a past President and Fellow of the American Association for Aerosol Research, a past member of the Executive Committee and a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, and a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and recipient of the AGU Yoram Kaufman Outstanding Research and Unselfish Cooperation Award. She was named a CSU University Distinguished Professor in 2014 and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in
2024.