0000000000125792
AUTHOR
Christopher Pöhlker
Fluorescent biological aerosol particle measurements at a tropical high-altitude site in southern India during the southwest monsoon season
An ultraviolet aerodynamic particle sizer (UV-APS) was continuously operated for the first time during two seasons to sample the contrasting winds during monsoon and winter to characterize the properties of fluorescent biological aerosol particles (FBAPs), at a high-altitude site in India. Averaged over the entire monsoon campaign (1 June–21 August 2014), the arithmetic mean number and mass concentrations of coarse-mode (> 1 µm) FBAPs were 0.02 cm−3 and 0.24 µg m−3, respectively, which corresponded to ∼ 2 and 6 % of total aerosol loading, respectively. Average FBAP number size distribution exhibited a peak at ∼ 3 µm, which is attributed to the fungal spores, as supported by scanning …
The ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign: Studying tropical deep convective clouds and precipitation over Amazonia using the new German research aircraft HALO
Abstract Between 1 September and 4 October 2014, a combined airborne and ground-based measurement campaign was conducted to study tropical deep convective clouds over the Brazilian Amazon rain forest. The new German research aircraft, High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO), a modified Gulfstream G550, and extensive ground-based instrumentation were deployed in and near Manaus (State of Amazonas). The campaign was part of the German–Brazilian Aerosol, Cloud, Precipitation, and Radiation Interactions and Dynamics of Convective Cloud Systems–Cloud Processes of the Main Precipitation Systems in Brazil: A Contribution to Cloud Resolving Modeling and to the GPM (Global Precipitatio…
Microanalytical methods for in-situ high-resolution analysis of rock varnish at the micrometer to nanometer scale
Abstract A wide range of analytical techniques were used to investigate rock varnish from different locations (Negev, Israel; Knersvlakte, South Africa; Death Valley and Mojave Desert, California): a 200 nm-femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS), an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA), focused ion beam (FIB) slicing, and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy–near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (STXM–NEXAFS). This combination enables comprehensive high-spatial-resolution analysis of rock varnish. Femtosecond LA-ICP-MS and EPMA were used for quantitative determination of element concentrations. In-situ measurements were conducte…
Radical Formation by Fine Particulate Matter Associated with Highly Oxygenated Molecules
Highly oxygenated molecules (HOMs) play an important role in the formation and evolution of secondary organic aerosols (SOA). However, the abundance of HOMs in different environments and their relation to the oxidative potential of fine particulate matter (PM) are largely unknown. Here, we investigated the relative HOM abundance and radical yield of laboratory-generated SOA and fine PM in ambient air ranging from remote forest areas to highly polluted megacities. By electron paramagnetic resonance and mass spectrometric investigations, we found that the relative abundance of HOMs, especially the dimeric and low-volatility types, in ambient fine PM was positively correlated with the formatio…
Observed and Simulated Variability of Droplet Spectral Dispersion in Convective Clouds Over the Amazon
In this study, the variability of the spectral dispersion of droplet size distributions (DSDs) in convective clouds is investigated. Analyses are based on aircraft measurements of growing cumuli near the Amazon basin, and on numerical simulations of an idealized ice‐free cumulus. In cleaner clouds, the relative dispersion ϵ, defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean value of the droplet diameter, is negatively correlated with the ratio of the cloud water content (qc) to the adiabatic liquid water content (qa), while no strong correlation between ϵ and qc/qa is seen in polluted clouds. Bin microphysics numerical simulations suggest that these contrasting behaviors are associ…
Comparing calculated microphysical properties of tropical convective clouds at cloud base with measurements during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign
Abstract. Reliable aircraft measurements of cloud microphysical properties are essential for understanding liquid convective cloud formation. In September 2014, the properties of convective clouds were measured with a Cloud Combination Probe (CCP), a Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer (CAS-DPOL), and a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) counter on board the HALO (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft) aircraft during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign over the Amazon region. An intercomparison of the cloud drop size distributions (DSDs) and the cloud water content derived from the different instruments generally shows good agreement within the instrumental uncertainties. The objective of this s…
Overview: On the transport and transformation of pollutants in the outflow of major population centres - Observational data from the EMeRGe European intensive operational period in summer 2017
Megacities and other major population centres (MPCs) worldwide are major sources of air pollution, both locally as well as downwind. The overall assessment and prediction of the impact of MPC pollution on tropospheric chemistry are challenging. The present work provides an overview of the highlights of a major new contribution to the understanding of this issue based on the data and analysis of the EMeRGe (Effect of Megacities on the transport and transformation of pollutants on the Regional to Global scales) international project. EMeRGe focuses on atmospheric chemistry, dynamics, and transport of local and regional pollution originating in MPCs. Airborne measurements, taking advantage of …
Comparing parameterized versus measured microphysical properties of tropical convective cloud bases during the ACRIDICON–CHUVA campaign
The objective of this study is to validate parameterizations that were recently developed for satellite retrievals of cloud condensation nuclei supersaturation spectra, NCCN(S), at cloud base alongside more traditional parameterizations connecting NCCN(S) with cloud base updrafts and drop concentrations. This was based on the HALO aircraft measurements during the ACRIDICON–CHUVA campaign over the Amazon region, which took place in September 2014. The properties of convective clouds were measured with a cloud combination probe (CCP), a cloud and aerosol spectrometer (CAS-DPOL), and a CCN counter onboard the HALO aircraft. An intercomparison of the cloud drop size distributions (DSDs) and the…
Cloud droplet number closure for tropical convective clouds during the ACRIDICON–CHUVA campaign
The main objective of the ACRIDICON-CHUVA (Aerosol, Cloud, Precipitation, and Radiation Interactions and Dynamics of Convective Cloud Systems–Cloud Processes of the Main Precipitation Systems in Brazil: A Contribution to Cloud Resolving Modeling and to the Global Precipitation measurements) campaign in September 2014 was the investigation of aerosol-cloud-interactions in the Amazon Basin. Cloud properties near cloud base of growing convective cumuli were characterized by cloud droplet size distribution measurements using a cloud combination probe (CCP) and a cloud and aerosol spectrometer (CAS-DPOL). In the current study, an adiabatic parcel model was used to perform cloud droplet number (N…
The challenge of simulating the sensitivity of the Amazonian clouds microstructure to cloud condensation nuclei number concentrations
The realistic representation of cloud-aerosol interactions is of primary importance for accurate climate model projections. The investigation of these interactions in strongly contrasting clean and polluted atmospheric conditions in the Amazon area has been one of the motivations for several field observations, including the airborne Aerosol, Cloud, Precipitation, and Radiation Interactions and DynamIcs of CONvective cloud systems – Cloud Processes of the Main Precipitation Systems in Brazil: A Contribution to Cloud Resolving Modeling and to the GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) (ACRIDICON-CHUVA) campaign based in Manaus, Brazil in September 2014. In this work we combine in situ …
Substantial convection and precipitation enhancements by ultrafine aerosol particles
Up with ultrafine aerosol particles Ultrafine aerosol particles (smaller than 50 nanometers in diameter) have been thought to be too small to affect cloud formation. Fan et al. show that this is not the case. They studied the effect of urban pollution transported into the otherwise nearly pristine atmosphere of the Amazon. Condensational growth of water droplets around the tiny particles releases latent heat, thereby intensifying atmospheric convection. Thus, anthropogenic ultrafine aerosol particles may exert a more important influence on cloud formation processes than previously believed. Science , this issue p. 411
Bioaerosols in the Earth system: Climate, health, and ecosystem interactions
Abstract Aerosols of biological origin play a vital role in the Earth system, particularly in the interactions between atmosphere, biosphere, climate, and public health. Airborne bacteria, fungal spores, pollen, and other bioparticles are essential for the reproduction and spread of organisms across various ecosystems, and they can cause or enhance human, animal, and plant diseases. Moreover, they can serve as nuclei for cloud droplets, ice crystals, and precipitation, thus influencing the hydrological cycle and climate. The sources, abundance, composition, and effects of biological aerosols and the atmospheric microbiome are, however, not yet well characterized and constitute a large gap i…
Cloud droplet formation at the base of tropical convective clouds: closure between modeling and measurement results of ACRIDICON–CHUVA
Aerosol–cloud interactions contribute to the large uncertainties in current estimates of climate forcing. We investigated the effect of aerosol particles on cloud droplet formation by model calculations and aircraft measurements over the Amazon and over the western tropical Atlantic during the ACRIDICON–CHUVA campaign in September 2014. On the HALO (High Altitude Long Range Research) research aircraft, cloud droplet number concentrations (Nd) were measured near the base of clean and polluted growing convective cumuli using a cloud combination probe (CCP) and a cloud and aerosol spectrometer (CAS-DPOL). An adiabatic parcel model was used to perform cloud droplet number closure studies for fl…
Varying chiral ratio of Pinic acid enantiomers above the Amazon rainforest
Chiral chemodiversity plays a crucial role in biochemical processes such as insect and plant communication. However, the vast majority of organic aerosol studies do not distinguish between enantiomeric compounds in the particle phase. Here we report chirally specified measurements of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) at different altitudes during three measurement campaigns at different seasons. Analysis of filter samples by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has shown that the chiral ratio of pinic acid (C9H14O4) varies with increasing height above the canopy. A similar trend was recently observed for the gas-phase precursor…
Characterization and differentiation of rock varnish types from different environments by microanalytical techniques
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. We investigated rock varnishes collected from several locations and environments worldwide by a broad range of microanalytical techniques. These techniques were selected to address the challenges posed by the chemical and structural complexity within the micrometer- to nanometer-sized structures in these geological materials. Femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (fs LA-ICP-MS), scanning transmission X-ray microscopy-near edge X-ray adsorption fine structure spectroscopy (STXM-NEXAFS) in combination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of focused ion beam (FIB) ultra-thin (100–200 nm) sections, conventional and polarization microscop…