Publications (2)0 Total impact
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Article: Comparison of ambient aerosol extinction coefficients obtained from in-situ, MAX-DOAS and LIDAR measurements at Cabauw
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ABSTRACT: In the field, aerosol in-situ measurements are often performed under dry conditions (relative humidity RH<30–40%). Since ambient aerosol particles experience hygroscopic growth at enhanced RH, also their microphysical and optical properties – especially the aerosol light scattering – are strongly dependent on RH. The knowledge of this RH effect is of crucial importance for climate forcing calculations or for the comparison of remote sensing with in-situ measurements. Here, we will present results from a four-month campaign which took place in summer 2009 in Cabauw, The Netherlands. The aerosol scattering coefficient σsp(λ) was measured dry and at various, predefined RH conditions between 20 and 95% with a humidified nephelometer. The scattering enhancement factor f (RH,λ) is the key parameter to describe the effect of RH on σsp(λ) and is defined as σsp(RH,λ) measured at a certain RH divided by the dry σsp(dry,λ). The measurement of f (RH,λ) together with the dry absorption measurement (assumed not to change with RH) allows the determination of the actual extinction coefficient σep(RH,λ) at ambient RH. In addition, a wide range of other aerosol properties were measured in parallel. The measurements were used to characterize the effects of RH on the aerosol optical properties. A closure study showed the consistency of the aerosol in-situ measurements. Due to the large variability of air mass origin (and thus aerosol composition) a simple parameterization of f (RH,λ) could not be established. If f (RH,λ) needs to be predicted, the chemical composition and size distribution needs to be known. Measurements of four MAX-DOAS (multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy) instruments were used to retrieve vertical profiles of σep(λ). The values of the lowest layer were compared to the in-situ values after conversion of the latter to ambient RH. The comparison showed a good correlation of R 2=0.62–0.78, but the extinction coefficients were a factor of 1.5–3.4 larger than the in-situ values. Best agreement is achieved for a few cases characterized by low aerosol optical depths and low planetary boundary layer heights. Differences showed to be dependent on the applied MAX-DOAS retrieval algorithm. The comparison of the in-situ data to a Raman lidar (light detection and ranging) showed a good correlation and higher values measured by the lidar ( R 2=0.79, slope of 1.81) if the Raman retrieved profile was used to extrapolate the directly measured extinction coefficient to the ground. The comparison improved if only nighttime measurements were used in the comparison ( R 2=0.93, slope of 1.19).Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions. 01/2010; -
Article: Measurement of relative humidity dependent light scattering of aerosols
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ABSTRACT: Relative humidity (RH) influences the water content of aerosol particles and therefore has an important impact on the particles' ability to scatter visible light. The RH dependence of the particle light scattering coefficient (σsp) is therefore an important measure for climate forcing calculations. We built a humidification system for a nephelometer which allows the measurement of σsp at a defined RH in the range of 40–90%. This RH conditioner consists of a humidifier followed by a dryer, which enables us to measure the hysteresis behavior of deliquescent aerosol particles. In this paper we present the set-up of a new humidified nephelometer, a detailed characterization with well defined laboratory generated aerosols, and a first application in the field by comparing our instrument to another humidified nephelometer. Monodisperse ammonium sulfate and sodium chloride particles were measured at four different dry particle sizes. Agreement between measurement and prediction based on Mie theory was found for both σsp and f(RH)=σsp(RH)/σsp(dry) within the range of uncertainty. The two humidified nephelometers measuring at a rural site in the Black Forest (Germany) often detected different f(RH), probably caused by the aerosol hysteresis behavior: when the aerosol was metastable, therefore was scattering more light, only one instrument detected the higher f(RH).Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions. 01/2009;
