Journal article
The Bioaerosols and Convective Storms (BACS) Field Campaigns: Variability in Cold Pool Characteristics and Aerosol Responses
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol.107(6), pp.E1470-E1487
06/2026
DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-25-0105.1
Abstract
Bioaerosols have important impacts on human health and potentially on weather and climate through aerosol–cloud interactions. Reciprocally, weather systems can have a large impact on bioaerosols both indirectly through ecosystem-level influences and by playing a more direct role in bioaerosol emission, deposition, and transport. In this work, we discuss the design and initial findings of the Bioaerosols and Convective Storms (BACS) field campaigns, a project targeting the interplay of these two effects. Two BACS field campaigns were conducted in the springs of 2022 and 2023, examining the dynamics of speciated and cloud-relevant aerosol and, especially, bioaerosol observations surrounding precipitation events and cold pool outflows from convective storms. A multifaceted deployment strategy was used, leveraging a combination of online and offline measurements of aerosol and bioaerosol distributions, cloud-relevant properties, and chemical tracers in the context of atmospheric state measurements. The observational strategy included measurements at ground level, a 9-m flux tower, and simultaneous stacked column and profiling multirotor drone measurements and radiosonde launches. Aerosol and bioaerosol responses to precipitation and cold pool events are examined within this manuscript through several case studies highlighting that similar events can produce very different aerosol responses. Reasons for this variability are hypothesized and discussed in the context of our campaign data, and targets for future investigations are suggested.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Bioaerosols and Convective Storms (BACS) Field Campaigns: Variability in Cold Pool Characteristics and Aerosol Responses
- Creators
- R. J. Perkins - Colorado State UniversityB. Ascher - Colorado State UniversityT. W. Barbero - Colorado State UniversityN. Bryan - Colorado State UniversityC. M. Davis - Colorado State UniversityP. J. DeMott - Colorado State UniversityJ. Escobedo - Colorado State UniversityN. M. Falk - Colorado State UniversityJ. C Fernando - University of IowaT. K. Feldman - University of IowaS. W Freeman - University of Alabama in HuntsvilleB. Heffernan - Colorado State UniversityT. C. J. Hill - Colorado State UniversityD. Juergensen - Colorado State UniversityS. M. Kreidenweis - Colorado State UniversityG. Leung - Colorado State UniversityC. B. A. Mampage - University of IowaA. C. Mazurek - Colorado State UniversityC. Mignani - Colorado State UniversityC. A. Neumaier - Colorado State UniversityM. Nieto-Caballero - Colorado State UniversityE. A. Sherman - Colorado State UniversityS. C. van den Heever - Colorado State UniversityD. Veloso-Aguila - Colorado State UniversityL. D. Grant - Colorado State UniversityE. A. Stone - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol.107(6), pp.E1470-E1487
- DOI
- 10.1175/BAMS-D-25-0105.1
- ISSN
- 0003-0007
- eISSN
- 1520-0477
- Publisher
- AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC
- Grant note
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Agency of Agricultural Research Services National Science Foundation National Science Foundation through the NEON Program NSF: AGS-2105938, AGS-2106370 NSF Biology Integration Institutes Program: 2120117 Swiss National Science Foundation for the Postdoc Mobility Grant: P500PN_206661
We would like to acknowledge support for this project from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agency of Agricultural Research Services by providing site access at the Central Plains Experimental Range. The National Ecological Observatory Network is a program sponsored by the National Science Foundation and operated under cooperative agreement by Battelle. This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the NEON Program. Data collected/used in this research were obtained through the NEON Assignable Assets program. Special thanks to Amy Bibbey and Troy Bauder and other staff at the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station for help in supporting and scheduling facilities at the Semi-Arid Grasslands Research Center. We thank Russ Schumacher and Peter Goble at the Colorado Climate Center for creation of precipita-tion maps during field campaign periods (Fig. 1) . Support for the BACS campaigns was provided by NSF AGS-2105938 and AGS-2106370. We gratefully acknowledge support for BROADN from the NSF Biology Integration Institutes Program under Award 2120117. We thank the CSU One Health Institute for contributions to and support of BROADN research. C. Mignani acknowledges the Swiss National Science Foundation for the Postdoc Mobility Grant P500PN_206661.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/2026
- Academic Unit
- Chemistry; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9985179095502771
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