Dimethylsulfide/cloud condensation nuclei/climate system: Relevant size-resolved measurements of the chemical and physical properties of atmospheric aerosol particles

1993 ◽  
Vol 98 (D6) ◽  
pp. 10411 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Quinn ◽  
D. S. Covert ◽  
T. S. Bates ◽  
V. N. Kapustin ◽  
D. C. Ramsey-Bell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Climate System ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol Particles

scholarly journals Calibration of LACIS as a CCN detector and its use in measuring activation and hygroscopic growth of atmospheric aerosol particles

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 4519-4527 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Wex ◽  
A. Kiselev ◽  
M. Ziese ◽  
F. Stratmann
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Chloride ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Urban Aerosol ◽  
Hygroscopic Growth ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol Particles ◽  
Droplet Activation

Abstract. A calibration for LACIS (Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator) for its use as a CCN (cloud condensation nuclei) detector has been developed. For this purpose, sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate particles of known sizes were generated and their grown sizes were detected at the LACIS outlet. From these signals, the effective critical super-saturation was derived as a function of the LACIS wall temperature. With this, LACIS is calibrated for its use as a CCN detector. The applicability of LACIS for measurements of the droplet activation, and also of the hygroscopic growth of atmospheric aerosol particles was tested. The activation of the urban aerosol particles used in the measurements was found to occur at a critical super-saturation of 0.46% for particles with a dry diameter of 75 nm, and at 0.42% for 85 nm, respectively. Hygroscopic growth was measured for atmospheric aerosol particles with dry diameters of 150, 300 and 350 nm at relative humidities of 98 and 99%, and it was found that the larger dry particles contained a larger soluble volume fraction of about 0.85, compared to about 0.6 for the 150 nm particles.

scholarly journals Versatile Aerosol Concentration Enrichment System (VACES) operating as a Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) concentrator. Development and laboratory characterization

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Dameto de España ◽  
Gerhard Steiner ◽  
Harald Schuh ◽  
Constantinos Sioutas ◽  
Regina Hitzenberger
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Continuous Flow ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Laboratory Characterization ◽  
Condenser Temperature ◽  
Original Size

Abstract. The ability of atmospheric aerosol particles to act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) depends on many factors, including particle size, chemical composition, and meteorological conditions. To expand our knowledge on CCN, it is essential to understand the factors leading to CCN activation. For this purpose a versatile aerosol concentrator enrichment system (VACES) has been modified to select CCN at different supersaturations. The VACES enables to sample CCN particles without altering their chemical and physical properties. The redesigned VACES enriches CCN particles by first passing the aerosol flow to a new saturator and then to a condenser. The activated particles are concentrated by an inertial virtual impactor, and then can be returned to their original size by diffusion-drying. For the calibration, the saturator temperature was fixed at 52 °C and the condenser temperature range was altered from 5 °C to 25 °C to obtain activation curves for NaCl particles of different sizes. Critical water vapour supersaturations can be calculated using the 50 % cutpoint of these curves. Calibration results have also shown that CCN concentrations can be enriched by a factor of approx. 17, which is in agreement with the experimentally determined enrichment factor of the original VACES. The advantage of the re-designed VACES over conventional CCN counters (both static and continuous flow instruments) lies in the substantial enrichment of activated CCN which facilitates further chemical analysis.

scholarly journals Versatile aerosol concentration enrichment system (VACES) operating as a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrator: development and laboratory characterization

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 4733-4744
Author(s):  
Carmen Dameto de España ◽  
Gerhard Steiner ◽  
Harald Schuh ◽  
Constantinos Sioutas ◽  
Regina Hitzenberger
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Continuous Flow ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Laboratory Characterization ◽  
Condenser Temperature ◽  
Original Size

Abstract. The ability of atmospheric aerosol particles to act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) depends on many factors, including particle size, chemical composition and meteorological conditions. To expand our knowledge of CCN, it is essential to understand the factors leading to CCN activation. For this purpose, a versatile aerosol concentrator enrichment system (VACES) has been modified to select CCN at different supersaturations. The VACES enables sampling non-volatile CCN particles without altering their chemical and physical properties. The redesigned VACES enriches CCN particles by first passing the aerosol flow to a new saturator and then to a condenser. The activated particles are concentrated by an inertial virtual impactor and then can be returned to their original size by diffusion drying. For the calibration, the saturator temperature was fixed at 52 ∘C and the condenser temperature range was altered from 5 to 25 ∘C to obtain activation curves for NaCl particles of different sizes. Critical water vapour supersaturations can be calculated using the 50 % cut point of these curves. Calibration results have also shown that CCN concentrations can be enriched by a factor of approx. 17, which is in agreement with the experimentally determined enrichment factor of the original VACES. The advantage of the redesigned VACES over conventional CCN counters (both static and continuous flow instruments) lies in the substantial enrichment of activated CCN, which facilitates further chemical analysis.

scholarly journals Cloud condensation nuclei in pristine tropical rainforest air of Amazonia: size-resolved measurements and modeling of atmospheric aerosol composition and CCN activity

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 3811-3870 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Gunthe ◽  
S. M. King ◽  
D. Rose ◽  
Q. Chen ◽  
P. Roldin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Particle Number ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Accumulation Mode ◽  
Measurement Results ◽  
Aitken Mode

Abstract. Atmospheric aerosol particles serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are key elements of the hydrological cycle and climate. We have measured and characterized CCN at water vapor supersaturations in the range of S=0.10–0.82% in pristine tropical rainforest air during the AMAZE-08 campaign in central Amazonia. The effective hygroscopicity parameters describing the influence of chemical composition on the CCN activity of aerosol particles varied in the range of κ=0.05–0.45. The overall median value of κ≈0.15 was only half of the value typically observed for continental aerosols in other regions of the world. Aitken mode particles were less hygroscopic than accumulation mode particles (κ≈0.1 at D≈50 nm; κ≈0.2 at D≈200 nm). The CCN measurement results were fully consistent with aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) data, which showed that the organic mass fraction (Xm,org) was on average as high as ~90% in the Aitken mode (D≤100 nm) and decreased with increasing particle diameter in the accumulation mode (~80% at D≈200 nm). The κ values exhibited a close linear correlation with Xm,org and extrapolation yielded the following effective hygroscopicity parameters for organic and inorganic particle components: κorg≈0.1 which is consistent with laboratory measurements of secondary organic aerosols and κinorg≈0.6 which is characteristic for ammonium sulfate and related salts. Both the size-dependence and the temporal variability of effective particle hygroscopicity could be parameterized as a function of AMS-based organic and inorganic mass fractions (κp=0.1 Xm,org+0.6 Xm,inorg), and the CCN number concentrations predicted with κp were in fair agreement with the measurement results. The median CCN number concentrations at S=0.1–0.82% ranged from NCCN,0.10≈30 cm−3 to NCCN,0.82≈150 cm−3, the median concentration of aerosol particles larger than 30 nm was NCN,30≈180 cm−3, and the corresponding integral CCN efficiencies were in the range of NCCN,0.10/NCN,30≈0.1 to NCCN,0.82/NCN,30≈0.8. Although the number concentrations and hygroscopicity parameters were much lower, the integral CCN efficiencies observed in pristine rainforest air were similar to those in highly polluted mega-city air. Moreover, model calculations of NCCN,S with a global average value of κ=0.3 led to systematic overpredictions, but the relative deviations exceeded ~50% only at low water vapor supersaturation (0.1%) and low particle number concentrations (≤100 cm−3). These findings confirm earlier studies suggesting that aerosol particle number and size are the major predictors for the variability of the CCN concentration in continental boundary layer air, followed by particle composition and hygroscopicity as relatively minor modulators. Depending on the required and applicable level of detail, the information and parameterizations presented in this paper should enable efficient description of the CCN properties of pristine tropical rainforest aerosols in detailed process models as well as in large-scale atmospheric and climate models.

scholarly journals Calibration of LACIS as a CCN detector and its use in measuring activation and hygroscopic growth of atmospheric aerosol particles

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 5877-5904
Author(s):  
H. Wex ◽  
A. Kiselev ◽  
M. Ziese ◽  
F. Stratmann
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Chloride ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Urban Aerosol ◽  
Hygroscopic Growth ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol Particles ◽  
Droplet Activation

Abstract. A calibration for LACIS (Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator) for its use as a CCN (cloud condensation nuclei) detector has been developed. For this purpose, sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate particles of known sizes were generated and their grown sizes were detected at the LACIS outlet. From these signals, the effective critical super-saturation was derived as a function of the LACIS wall temperature. With this, LACIS is calibrated for its use as a CCN detector. The applicability of LACIS for measurements of the droplet activation, and also of the hygroscopic growth of atmospheric aerosol particles was tested. The activation of the urban aerosol particles used in the measurements was found to occur at a critical super-saturation of 0.46% for particles with a dry diameter of 75 nm, and at 0.42% for 85 nm, respectively. Hygroscopic growth was measured for atmospheric aerosol particles with dry diameters of 150, 300 and 350 nm at relative humidities of 98 and 99%, and it was found that the larger dry particles contained a larger soluble volume fraction of about 0.85, compared to about 0.6 for the 150 nm particles.

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