AErosol RAdiation and CLOuds in Southern Africa

The representation of clouds, aerosols and cloud-aerosol-radiation interaction remain the largest uncertainties in climate change, limiting our ability to accurately reconstruct and predict future climate change. The South East Atlantic is a region where high atmospheric aerosol loadings (from biomass burning, mineral dust, marine origin) and semi-permanent stratocumulus cloud are co-located. Aside the fundamental knowledge that can be gained from the study of this environment, these perturbations of the radiative systems occurring in the South East Atlantic have a significant impact, not just locally but also via global teleconnections on wider changes in climate. The area is a unique natural laboratory for studying the full range of aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions and their perturbations of the Earth’s radiation budget.