The Clouds, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes-Philippines Experiment (CAMP²Ex)
is a NASA airborne mission objective is to characterize the role of anthropogenic and natural aerosol particles in modulating the frequency and amount of warm and mixed phase precipitation in the vicinity of the Philippines during the Southwest Monsoon. In partnership with Philippine research and operational weather communities, CAMP²Ex will provide a comprehensive 4-D observational view of the environment of the Philippines and its neighboring waters in terms of microphysical, hydrological, dynamical, thermodynamical and radiative properties of the environment, targeting the environment of shallow cumulus and cumulus congestus clouds.
Three core NASA focus areas are embedded within the project:
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1) Aerosol and cloud microphysics: To examine how aerosol particle concentration and
composition effect the optical and microphysical properties of shallow cumulous and
congests cloud, and how, ultimately, these effects relate to the transition from shallower
to deeper convection.
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2) Cloud and Aerosol Radiation: To study how spatially inhomogeneous and changing
aerosol and cloud fields impact three dimensional heating rates and fluxes, and determine
the extent to which 3 dimensional effects may feedback into the evolution of the aerosol,
cloud, and precipitation fields.
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3) Aerosol and cloud meteorology: Determine the meteorological features that are the most
influential in regulating the distribution of aerosol particles throughout the regional atmosphere and, ultimately, aerosol lifecycle, and ascertain the extent to which aerosol-cloud interactions studies are confounded and/or modulated by co-varying meteorology.
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