Search results for "OPOS"
showing 10 items of 744 documents
Aerosol layers from the 2008 eruptions of Mount Okmok and Mount Kasatochi: In situ upper troposphere and lower stratosphere measurements of sulfate a…
2010
In 2008 Mount Okmok and Mount Kasatochi started erupting on 12 July and 7 August, respectively, in the Aleutians, depositing emissions of trace gases and aerosols as high as 15.2 km into the atmosphere. During an aircraft campaign, conducted over Europe in between 27 October and 2 November 2008, the volcanic aerosol was measured by an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer, capable of particle chemical composition measurements covering a size diameter range between 40 nm and 1 mm. In the volcanic aerosol layer enhanced submicron particulate sulfate concentrations of up to 2.0 mg mâÂÂ3 standard temperature and pressure (STP) were observed between 8 and 12 km altitude, while background values …
Desert dust aerosol air mass mapping in the western Sahara, using particle properties derived from space-based multi-angle imaging
2009
Coincident observations made over the Moroccan desert during the Sahara mineral dust experiment (SAMUM) 2006 field campaign are used both to validate aerosol amount and type retrieved from multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) observations, and to place the suborbital aerosol measurements into the satellite's larger regional context. On three moderately dusty days during which coincident observations were made, MISR mid-visible aerosol optical thickness (AOT) agrees with field measurements point-by-point to within 0.05–0.1. This is about as well as can be expected given spatial sampling differences; the space-based observations capture AOT trends and variability over an extended regi…
Observed versus simulated mountain waves over Scandinavia – improvement of vertical winds, energy and momentum fluxes by enhanced model resolut…
2017
Abstract. Two mountain wave events, which occurred over northern Scandinavia in December 2013 are analysed by means of airborne observations and global and mesoscale numerical simulations with horizontal mesh sizes of 16, 7.2, 2.4 and 0.8 km. During both events westerly cross-mountain flow induced upward-propagating mountain waves with different wave characteristics due to differing atmospheric background conditions. While wave breaking occurred at altitudes between 25 and 30 km during the first event due to weak stratospheric winds, waves propagated to altitudes above 30 km and interfacial waves formed in the troposphere at a stratospheric intrusion layer during the second event. Global an…
In-situ observations and modeling of small nitric acid-containing ice crystals
2007
Measurements in nascent ice forming regions are very rare and help understand cirrus cloud formation and the interactions of trace gases with ice crystals. A tenuous cirrus cloud has been probed with in-situ and remote sensing instruments onboard the high altitude research aircraft Geophysica M55 in the tropical upper troposphere. Besides microphysical and optical particle properties, water (H<sub>2</sub>O) and reactive nitrogen species (NO<sub>y</sub>) have been measured. In slightly ice supersaturated air between 14.2 and 14.9 km altitude, an unusually low ice water content of 0.031 mg m<sup>&minus;3</sup> and small ice crystals with mean radii of 5…
The airborne mass spectrometer AIMS – Part 2: Measurements of trace gases with stratospheric or tropospheric origin in the UTLS
2016
Understanding the role of climate-sensitive trace gas variabilities in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere region (UTLS) and their impact on its radiative budget requires accurate measurements. The composition of the UTLS is governed by transport and chemistry of stratospheric and tropospheric constituents, such as chlorine, nitrogen oxide and sulfur compounds. The Atmospheric chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer AIMS has been developed to accurately measure a set of these constituents on aircraft by means of chemical ionization. Here we present a setup using SF5− reagent ions for the simultaneous measurement of trace gas concentrations of HCl, HNO3 and SO2 in the pptv to ppmv (1…
The realization of autonomous, aircraft-based, real-time aerosol mass spectrometry in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere
2022
Abstract. We report on the developments that enabled the field deployment of a fully-automated aerosol mass spectrometer, specially designed for high-altitude measurements on unpressurised aircraft. The merits of the two main categories of real-time aerosol mass spectrometry, i.e. (a) single particle laser desorption and ionization, and (b) continuous thermal desorption / electron impact ionization of aerosols, have been integrated into one compact apparatus with the aim to perform in-situ real-time analysis of aerosol chemical composition. The demonstrated instrument, named ERICA (European Research council Instrument for the Chemical composition of Aerosols), operated successfully aboard t…
Influence of clouds on the spectral actinic flux density in the lower troposphere (INSPECTRO): overview of the field campaigns
2008
Ultraviolet radiation is the key factor driving tropospheric photochemistry. It is strongly modulated by clouds and aerosols. A quantitative understanding of the radiation field and its effect on photochemistry is thus only possible with a detailed knowledge of the interaction between clouds and radiation. The overall objective of the project INSPECTRO was the characterization of the three-dimensional actinic radiation field under cloudy conditions. This was achieved during two measurement campaigns in Norfolk (East Anglia, UK) and Lower Bavaria (Germany) combining space-based, aircraft and ground-based measurements as well as simulations with the one-dimensional radiation transfer model UV…
Lidar characterization of the Arctic atmosphere during ASTAR 2007: Four cases studies of boundary layer, mixed-phase and multi-layer clouds
2010
During the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR), which was conducted in Svalbard in March and April 2007, tropospheric Arctic clouds were observed with two ground-based backscatter lidar systems (micro pulse lidar and Raman lidar) and with an airborne elastic lidar. In the time period of the ASTAR 2007 campaign, an increase in low-level cloud cover (cloud tops below 2.5 km) from 51% to 65% was observed above Ny-Ålesund. Four different case studies of lidar cloud observations are analyzed: With the ground-based Raman lidar, a layer of spherical particles was observed at an altitude of 2 km after the dissolution of a cloud. The layer probably consisted of small h…
Aerosol columnar properties retrieved from CIMEL radiometers during VELETA 2002
2008
During the 2002 summer, the VELETA 2002 field campaign has been carried out at the Sierra Nevada Massif, close to Granada in South-Eastern Spain. During the campaign, CIMEL CE-318 robotic radiometer has been one of the key instruments in the characterization of the atmospheric aerosol columnar properties. This kind of radiometers have been operated at Motril, a coastal location at sea level, Pitres (1200 m a.s.l.), located in the South slope of Sierra Nevada Massif, Las Sabinas (2200m a.s.l.), located on the north slope of the mountain range, and Armilla (680m a.s.l.), located in the valley. The principal feature of the locations is that they provide a strong altitudinal gradient. This work…
A machine learning examination of hydroxyl radical differences among model simulations for CCMI-1
2020
The hydroxyl radical (OH) plays critical roles within the troposphere, such as determining the lifetime of methane (CH4), yet is challenging to model due to its fast cycling and dependence on a multitude of sources and sinks. As a result, the reasons for variations in OH and the resulting methane lifetime (τCH4), both between models and in time, are difficult to diagnose. We apply a neural network (NN) approach to address this issue within a group of models that participated in the Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (CCMI). Analysis of the historical specified dynamics simulations performed for CCMI indicates that the primary drivers of τCH4 differences among 10 models are the flux of UV li…