ALBERT

Description: Optical particle counters (OPCs) are used regularly for atmospheric research, measuring particle scattering cross sections to generate particle size distribution histograms. This manuscript presents two methods for calibrating OPCs with case studies based on a Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer Probe (PCASP) and a Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP), both of which are operated on the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements BAe-146 research aircraft. A method is also provided for modification of OPC bin boundaries when the scattering properties of measured particles are different to those of the calibration particles due to differences in refractive index or shape. This method provides mean diameters and widths for OPC bins based upon Mie-Lorenz theory or any other particle scattering theory, without the need for smoothing, despite the highly nonlinear and non-monotonic relationship between particle size and scattering cross section. By calibrating an OPC in terms of its scattering cross section the optical properties correction can be applied with minimal information loss and full propagation of uncertainty. Analysis of multiple calibrations has shown that for the PCASP the bin centres differ by up to 30% from the manufacturer's nominal values and can change by approximately 20% when routine maintenance is performed. The CDP has been found to differ from the manufacturer's specification by 15–64% and over the course of the Fennec project in the Sahara the variability of calibration was always less than the 2-σ calibration uncertainty or 10%. As would be expected from Mie-Lorenz theory the impact of the refractive index corrections has been found to be largest for absorbing materials and the impact on Saharan dust measurements made as part of the Fennec project has been found to be up to a factor of 3 for the largest particles which could be measured by CDP. Software tools have been developed as part of this work and are now made available as open source resources for the community via the SourceForge repository.

Description: A novel limb scanning mini-DOAS spectrometer for the detection of UV/vis absorbing radicals (e.g., O3, BrO, IO, HONO) was deployed on the DLR-Falcon (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) aircraft and tested during the ASTAR 2007 campaign (Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation) that took place at Svalbard (78° N) in spring 2007. Our main objectives during this campaign were to test the instrument, and to perform spectral and profile retrievals of tropospheric trace gases, with particular interest on investigating the distribution of halogen compounds (e.g., BrO) during the so-called ozone depletion events (ODEs). In the present work, a new method for the retrieval of vertical profiles of tropospheric trace gases from tropospheric DOAS limb observations is presented. Major challenges arise from modeling the radiative transfer in an aerosol and cloud particle loaded atmosphere, and from overcoming the lack of a priori knowledge of the targeted trace gas vertical distribution (e.g., unknown tropospheric BrO vertical distribution). Here, those challenges are tackled by a mathematical inversion of tropospheric trace gas profiles using a regularization approach constrained by a retrieved vertical profile of the aerosols extinction coefficient εM. The validity and limitations of the algorithm are tested with in situ measured εM, and with an absorber of known vertical profile (O4). The method is then used for retrieving vertical profiles of tropospheric BrO. Results indicate that, for aircraft ascent/descent observations, the limit for the BrO detection is roughly 1.5 pptv (pmol/mol), and the BrO profiles inferred from the boundary layer up to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere have around 10 degrees of freedom. For the ASTAR 2007 deployments during ODEs, the retrieved BrO vertical profiles consistently indicate high BrO mixing ratios (~15 pptv) within the boundary layer, low BrO mixing ratios (≤1.5 pptv) in the free troposphere, occasionally enhanced BrO mixing ratios (~1.5 pptv) in the upper troposphere, and increasing BrO mixing ratios with altitude in the lowermost stratosphere. These findings are well in agreement with satellite and balloon-borne soundings of total and partial BrO atmospheric column densities.

Description: 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 for 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 distance away from the aircraft. Conventional procedures for scaling the measured number densities to ambient conditions presume that the particle penetration speed through the instruments' detection area equals the aircraft speed (True Air Speed, TAS). However, particle imaging instruments equipped with pitot-tubes measuring the Probe Air Speed (PAS) of each underwing probe reveal PAS values systematically below those of the TAS. We conclude that the deviation between PAS and TAS is mainly caused by the compression of the probed air sample. From measurements during two missions in 2014 with the German Gulfstream G-550 (HALO – High Altitude LOng range) research aircraft we develop a procedure to correct the measured particle concentration to ambient conditions using a thermodynamic approach. With the provided equation the corresponding concentration correction factor ξ is applicable to the high frequency measurements of each underwing probe which is equipped with its own air speed sensor (e.g. a pitot-tube). ξ-values of 1 to 0.85 are calculated for air speeds (i.e. TAS) between 60 and 260 m s−1. From HALO data it is found that ξ does not significantly vary between the different deployed instruments. Thus, for the current HALO underwing probe configuration a parameterisation of ξ as a function of TAS is provided for instances if PAS measurements are lacking. The ξ-correction yields higher ambient particle concentration by about 15–25 % compared to conventional procedures – an improvement which can be considered as significant for many research applications. The calculated ξ-values are specifically related to the considered HALO underwing probe arrangement and may differ for other aircraft or instrument geometries. Moreover, the ξ-correction may not cover all impacts originating from high flight velocities and from interferences between the instruments and, e.g., the aircraft wings and/or fuselage. Consequently, it is important that PAS (as a function of TAS) is individually measured by each probe deployed underneath the wings of a fast-flying aircraft.