0000000000460679
AUTHOR
Silke S. Hings
Size Matters More Than Chemistry for Cloud-Nucleating Ability of Aerosol Particles
Size-resolved cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) spectra measured for various aerosol types at a non-urban site in Germany showed that CCN concentrations are mainly determined by the aerosol number size distribution. Distinct variations of CCN activation with particle chemical composition were observed but played a secondary role. When the temporal variation of chemical effects on CCN activation is neglected, variation in the size distribution alone explains 84 to 96% of the variation in CCN concentrations. Understanding that particles' ability to act as CCN is largely controlled by aerosol size rather than composition greatly facilitates the treatment of aerosol effects on cloud physics in re…
Aircraft-based operation of an aerosol mass spectrometer: Measurements of tropospheric aerosol composition
The Aerodyne quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometer was deployed on the Falcon twin jet research aircraft operated by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). This was the first deployment of an AMS in a jet aircraft. Aerosol mass concentration measurements in the troposphere up to altitudes of about 11 km were performed within two measurement flights on 12 and 14 May 2003 over southern Germany. Background aerosol data were gained up to 6 km, while aircraft exhaust aerosol was be sampled at higher altitudes on 14 May, indicating the presence of sulfuric acid and unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust particles. The boundary layer aerosol on 12 May was found to be composed of 49% organic…