Climatic context of the First Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE 1): A meteorological and chemical overview

During the intensive field operations period (November 15 to December 14, 1995) of the First Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE 1) cold front activity was generally above average, resulting in below average temperatures, pressures, and rainfall. The principal cause was the presence for much of the experiment of a long wave trough. This trough was mobile, traversing the ACE area during the project, with some warm anomalies evident in the areas under the influence of the long wave ridges. There is evidence of greater convective activity than normal possibly leading to a slightly deeper than average mixing layer. A greater west to northwesterly component to the air flow than average during November appears to have led to higher than average concentrations of radon and particles in the clean, marine or "baseline" sector at Cape Grim (190 degrees to 280 degrees). This is likely to have resulted from inclusion of continental air from western parts of the Australian mainland in the baseline sector winds. Although aerosol-bound sulfur species were generally near their normal concentrations across the ACE 1 area, the overall pattern including atmospheric dimethylsulfide suggests slightly higher than usual sulfur species levels in the southern part of the region and lower concentrations in the northern part during November. This could be related to changes in marine biogenic productivity, air-sea exchange, or atmospheric removal. In December, the changing long wave pattern brought an increase in south and southwesterly flow over the entire region. The baseline sector became less affected by continental species, but it appears that the colder conditions brought by this pattern have led to lower than usual atmospheric concentrations of biogenic species, as the region went into one of the coldest summers on record.