Characterisation of a self-sustained, water-based condensation particle counter for aircraft cruising pressure level operation
<p>Aerosol particle number concentration measurements are a crucial part of aerosol research. Vertical profile measurements and high-altitude/low-pressure performance of the respective instruments become more important for remote sensing validation and a vital tool for the observation of clima...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| Online Access: | https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/16/3505/2023/amt-16-3505-2023.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Aerosol particle number concentration measurements are a
crucial part of aerosol research. Vertical profile measurements and
high-altitude/low-pressure performance of the respective instruments become
more important for remote sensing validation and a vital tool for the
observation of climate variables. This study tests the new, commercially
available water condensation particle counter (MAGIC 210-LP) for the
deployment at aircraft cruising pressure levels that the European research
infrastructure IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System;
<span class="uri">http://www.iagos.org</span>, last access: 2 May 2023) is aiming for by operating measurement instrumentation onboard passenger aircraft. We conducted laboratory experiments for conditions
to simulate passenger aircraft flight altitude at operation pressure. We
demonstrate that this type of water condensation particle counter shows
excellent agreement with a butanol-based instrument used in parallel. A
Faraday cup aerosol electrometer serves as the reference instrument.
Experiments are performed with test aerosol ammonium sulfate and fresh
combustion soot at pressure levels ranging from 700 to 200 hPa. For soluble particles like ammonium sulfate, the 50 % detection efficiency cut-off diameter (<span class="inline-formula"><i>D</i><sub>50</sub></span>) is around 5 nm and does not differ significantly for all
performed experiments. For non-soluble fresh soot particles, the <span class="inline-formula"><i>D</i><sub>50</sub></span>
cut-off diameter of approximately 10 nm does not vary substantially as a
function of pressure, whereas the 90 % detection efficiency cut-off
diameter <span class="inline-formula"><i>D</i><sub>90</sub></span> increases from 19 nm at 700 hPa to 37 nm at 200 hPa. The overall counting efficiency for particles larger than 40 nm reaches 100 % for working pressures of 200 hPa and higher.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1867-1381 1867-8548 |