Thermodynamic correction of particle concentrations measured by underwing probes on fast-flying aircraft

2016

Particle concentration measurements with underwing probes on aircraft are impacted by air compression upstream of the instrument body as a function of flight velocity. In particular, for fast-flying aircraft the necessity arises to account for compression of the air sample volume. Hence, a correction procedure is needed to invert measured particle number concentrations to ambient conditions that is commonly applicable to different instruments to gain comparable results. In the compression region where the detection of particles occurs (i.e. under factual measurement conditions), pressure and temperature of the air sample are increased compared to ambient (undisturbed) conditions in certain …