Outdoor Experiments
Reef Restoration and Adaptation Project (RRAP) MCB
As part of a broad effort to protect the Great Barrier Reef, Southern Cross University researchers have conducted experiments to test marine cloud brightening equipment and cloud responses since 2020.
Status
| Status | Ongoing |
| Start/End | 2020 / Ongoing |
| Location | Great Barrier Reef, Australia |
| Type | Marine Cloud Brightening |
| Experiment Type | Scientific, Engineering |
| Funded By | State of Queensland Government, Australian National Governement, Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program |
Description
Since 2020, scientists from Southern Cross University (Australia) have conducted annual campaigns to test spraying technology, delivering kilograms of tiny sea-salt particles to the lower atmosphere from the deck of a ship. In 2024, the group added an airborne platform with instrumentation capable of measuring how the aerosol particles affect low-level clouds.
Initial results showed that the clouds affected by the artificial sea-salt spray had more, smaller cloud droplets. This increased cloud brightness and suppressed rain, the main mechanisms necessary for successful marine cloud brightening.
The ongoing marine cloud brightening experiments are a subprogramme of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) a long-term, interdisciplinary research programme focused on identifying novel approaches to protecting the Great Barrier Reef. The Cooling and Shading Subprogram is currently scheduled to end in 2030.
RRAP is supported by the Australian National Government, the State of Queensland Government, and the Australian Reef Trust. RRAP has worked closely with the Traditional Owners of the Great Barrier Reef – Indigenous Australians – since its inception, and all work takes place within one of the most actively managed marine ecosystems in the world.
Key Papers
Hernandez-Jaramillo, D. C., Medcraft, C., Braga, R. C., Butcherine, P., Doss, A., Kelaher, B., et al. (2024). New airborne research facility observes sensitivity of cumulus cloud microphysical properties to aerosol regime over the great barrier reef. Environmental Science: Atmospheres, 4(8), 861–871. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ea00009a