Aerosol characteristics observed in southeast Queensland and implications for cloud microphysics

In situ cloud microphysical measurements were also collected in many of these clouds. Brisbane is situated on the east coast of Australia and, depending on the synoptic weather conditions, can experience influences from inland or from the adjacent ocean.

In situ aerosol measurements were used to compile a climatology of the aerosol conditions in the region and a back trajectory model was run for 120 h from each measurement to determine the possible air mass influences on each measurement. The most influential factor on the measured aerosol concentrations was the time the trajectory spent over land beneath 2 km (a proxy for the boundary layer). Using this criterion, the measurements were divided into two regimes: maritime for those with minimal time histories over land and continental for the remainder.