Brazil-UK Network for Investigation of Amazonian Atmospheric Composition and Impacts on Climate

The BUNIAACIC collaboration aims to develop a coherent strategy for UK studies of atmospheric composition and impacts in the Amazon.

A network of Brazilian and UK atmospheric researchers will be established to scope potential collaborative opportunities by exploiting and extending the infrastructural framework of the FAPESP AEROCLIMA Thematic Grant. An early secondment of CAS staff to São Paulo followed by a broad kick-off workshop will be used to initiate the scoping study. Potential UK activities at various stages of development will be drawn into a broader strategy of International collaboration and opportunities for further consortium scale activities will be developed. A UK office for collaboration on Amazonian atmospheric research will be established at the University of Manchester. The long-term particulate monitoring programme within AEROCLIMA will be expanded to include online aerosol composition measurements at the pristine rainforest site. Secondment of São Paulo staff to CAS will ensure adequate training is provided in the operation of the instrumentation, data analysis and quality control. A pump-priming pilot scale intensive deployment of the CAS container laboratory with additional particulate measurement instrumentation will be used to i) validate the long-term measurements, ii) quantitatively interpret the impacts of aerosol composition on physical properties of climate relevance in the context of the long-term variability, iii) act as a focal measurement suite around which a broader consortium-scale activity can be developed. A strategy for the medium and longer term collaborative efforts will be developed based on the initial scoping study and consultation throughout the UK research community. This strategy will be consolidated into a White Paper outlining the Brazil-UK collaborative opportunities and recommended participation of UK groups in Amazonian atmospheric research.

Two broad climatically relevant concerns related to activities in this proposal have important impacts on global change. The first is the quantification of the impacts of land use in Amazonia on atmospheric composition and processes. Deforestation rates in Brazil were reduced from 27,000 km^2 in 2004 to 6,500 km^2 in 2010 (Artaxo, 2010). This very substantial reduction will have an important impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Brazilian government have passed a law in congress to reduce deforestation by 80% in 2015 compared to 2004. It is almost certain to reach this target before 2015. It is important to develop atmospheric sciences in Amazonia in order to track the strong changes in emissions and the basin wide effects of these reductions, along with the direct changes in the influence of BB aerosol from reduction in burning associated with reduction in deforestation. A second important role that BUNIAACIC will address is the role of aerosols in cloud formation and development and hence in the radiation balance in pristine conditions such as found in Amazonia.
The Pathways to Impact of the BUNIAACIC programme are largely embedded throughout the programme. There is a substantial networking element that will directly bring together "sharp-end" researchers in atmospheric processes in the UK and Brazil at an early stage in the programme. This will directly involve the investigators and all partners with the majority of the networking effort being made by the CAS PDRA, Dr Whitehead. By capitalising on an existing Brazilian network and on formative efforts from the UK, BUNIAACIC has the potential to derive immediate added value. The Initial workshop, site visits and establishment of the UK office will all engage observational scientists and reach out to the UK atmospheric modelling community in coordination with Brazilian efforts. The early engagement of the Met Office will ensure that the scale-up modelling is directly integrated into the programme.
The impacts in terms of transfer of technology for atmospheric research is a key aspect of this proposal. CAS have very substantial experience and expertise in aerosol composition monitoring and will directly transfer this to the seconded operator of the ACSM instrument. It is important to adequately train scientists from Latin America on the frontiers of atmospheric sciences.
The Long-term and short-term deployments will both act as pump-priming activities for the development of further larger-scale collaborations, most likely through a consortium proposal. As the programme develops, it will become evident whether the short-term deployment in WP3 will be able to directly act as the core around which a consortium can be assembled, or whether it can most efficiently be used to provide preliminary results to build a consortium proposal around. The timing of the activities will be optimised to ensure that the deployment fulfils whichever role is determined to be most suitable.
One of the key deliverables of BUNIAACIC is the White Paper outlining the optimal strategy for UK atmospheric research in Amazonia. The engagement of all interested parties in the development and dissemination of the White Paper throughout the process is a key goal of the network. The network will be advertised broadly through the NERC and FAPESP communities and the final workshop opened up accordingly.

For more generalised dissemination and to raise the network profile, a website will be created and continuously updated, containing general information and highlights of the collaboration. This will be maintained by the PDRA and hosted on the CAS website to no cost to the project. In addition, members of the UoM group also produce a regular podcast on atmospheric science ('The Barometer', http://thebarometer.podbean.com/) and we will use this to present both an articulation of the drivers and reasoning for the BUNIAACIC network.