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Airborne measurements of the UTLS aerosol chemical composition over Germany using particle mass spectrometry
Aerosol particles affect the Earth’s radiation budget by interacting with solar and terrestrial radiation but they can also act as cloud or ice nuclei both of which depend on physical characteristics and chemical composition of the particles. In addition to natural aerosols, commercial aircraft is a significant anthropogenic source of aerosol particles in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). Yet, the knowledge of UTLS aerosol particles and the contribution of aircraft exhaust on the formation e.g. of cirrus and contrails is limited although these cloud types have a strong impact on radiative forcing. This study focuses on the occurrence of individual particle types in UTLS ambient air as well as cirrus and compares them with phases of aircraft exhaust plumes and contrails. The hybrid mass spectrometer ERICA was deployed for airborne measurements of aerosol chemical composition in a size range of 174 nm and 3.2 μm. A standard aerosol inlet and counterflow virtual impactor were used to sample interstitial particles (56058) and cloud residuals (3408) in the wintertime UTLS region over Northern Germany. The particle analysis is based on fuzzy c-means clustering and complementary measurements of trace gases and cloud properties as well as synoptical analysis and simulations of air mass history. This study revealed that biomass burning (BB ) and carbon-containing particles dominated the winter UTLS region over Northern Germany. Of the cloud residuals, sea spray, mineral dust, and BB were the most abundant. Westerlies largely influenced the particle occurrence: sea spray was attributed to Atlantic air masses and BB particles were assigned to North American wild fires. Meteoric material was detected above and inside the tropopause layer. In addition, laboratory measurements of ammonium sulphate provided a potential source of cation sulphur signals in ambient particle mass spectra. Further, the nitrate-rich particle type detected during the ND-MAX campaign was not attributed to a ...
Airborne measurements of the UTLS aerosol chemical composition over Germany using particle mass spectrometry
Aerosol particles affect the Earth’s radiation budget by interacting with solar and terrestrial radiation but they can also act as cloud or ice nuclei both of which depend on physical characteristics and chemical composition of the particles. In addition to natural aerosols, commercial aircraft is a significant anthropogenic source of aerosol particles in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). Yet, the knowledge of UTLS aerosol particles and the contribution of aircraft exhaust on the formation e.g. of cirrus and contrails is limited although these cloud types have a strong impact on radiative forcing. This study focuses on the occurrence of individual particle types in UTLS ambient air as well as cirrus and compares them with phases of aircraft exhaust plumes and contrails. The hybrid mass spectrometer ERICA was deployed for airborne measurements of aerosol chemical composition in a size range of 174 nm and 3.2 μm. A standard aerosol inlet and counterflow virtual impactor were used to sample interstitial particles (56058) and cloud residuals (3408) in the wintertime UTLS region over Northern Germany. The particle analysis is based on fuzzy c-means clustering and complementary measurements of trace gases and cloud properties as well as synoptical analysis and simulations of air mass history. This study revealed that biomass burning (BB ) and carbon-containing particles dominated the winter UTLS region over Northern Germany. Of the cloud residuals, sea spray, mineral dust, and BB were the most abundant. Westerlies largely influenced the particle occurrence: sea spray was attributed to Atlantic air masses and BB particles were assigned to North American wild fires. Meteoric material was detected above and inside the tropopause layer. In addition, laboratory measurements of ammonium sulphate provided a potential source of cation sulphur signals in ambient particle mass spectra. Further, the nitrate-rich particle type detected during the ND-MAX campaign was not attributed to a ...
Airborne measurements of the UTLS aerosol chemical composition over Germany using particle mass spectrometry
Brauner, Philipp (author)
2024-01-01
Theses
Electronic Resource
English
| Elsevier | 2025