(447d) An Examination of How Biomass Burning Aerosols Affect Clouds off the Coast of Africa

A leading source of air pollution in the tropics is biomass burning as about 80% of remotely sensed fires have been shown to occur in this region. The majority of these fires occur in Africa, which contains two-thirds of the planet's savanna area; savanna ecosystems consume more dry biomass annually than fires in other ecosystems. As aerosol-cloud interactions represent the largest single source of uncertainty in current estimates of the total anthropogenic radiative forcing, it is critical to understand the nature of these interactions in regions characterized with high levels of biomass burning aerosols. This work examines physical links between biomass burning emissions and aerosol interactions with clouds off the coast of Africa. Results will be shown based on analyses of satellite remote sensing data and cloud model simulation output.