Calibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (BS2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity

<p>For understanding and assessing aerosol–cloud interactions and their impact on climate, reliable measurement data on aerosol particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity are required. The CCN activity of aerosol particles can be determined by scanning particle size a...

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Autores principales: N. Kim, Y. Cheng, N. Ma, M. L. Pöhlker, T. Klimach, T. F. Mentel, O. O. Krüger, U. Pöschl, H. Su
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Publicado: Copernicus Publications 2021
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id oai:doaj.org-article:f674095d1c3e4c6cbc5edbe1183e9c25
record_format dspace
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Environmental engineering
TA170-171
Earthwork. Foundations
TA715-787
spellingShingle Environmental engineering
TA170-171
Earthwork. Foundations
TA715-787
N. Kim
Y. Cheng
N. Ma
M. L. Pöhlker
T. Klimach
T. F. Mentel
O. O. Krüger
U. Pöschl
H. Su
Calibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (BS2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity
description <p>For understanding and assessing aerosol–cloud interactions and their impact on climate, reliable measurement data on aerosol particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity are required. The CCN activity of aerosol particles can be determined by scanning particle size and supersaturation (<span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i></span>) in CCN measurements. Compared to an existing differential mobility analyzer (DMA) with CCN activity measurement, a broad supersaturation scanning CCN (BS2-CCN) system, in which particles are exposed to a range of <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i></span> simultaneously, can measure the CCN activity with a high time resolution. Based on a monotonic relation between the activation supersaturation of aerosol particles (<span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i><sub>aerosol</sub></span>) and the activated fraction (<span class="inline-formula"><i>F</i><sub>act</sub></span>) of the BS2-CCN measurement, we can derive <span class="inline-formula"><i>κ</i></span>, a single hygroscopicity parameter, directly. Here, we describe how the BS2-CCN system can be effectively calibrated and which factors can affect the calibration curve (<span class="inline-formula"><i>F</i><sub>act</sub>−<i>S</i><sub>aerosol</sub></span>). For calibration, size-resolved CCN measurements with ammonium sulfate and sodium chloride particles are performed under three different thermal gradient (<span class="inline-formula">d<i>T</i></span>) conditions (<span class="inline-formula">d<i>T</i>=6</span>, 8, and 10 K). We point out key processes that can affect the calibration curve and thereby need to be considered as follows: first, the shape of the calibration curve is primarily influenced by <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i><sub>max</sub></span>, the maximum <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i></span> in the activation tube. We need to determine appropriate <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i><sub>max</sub></span> depending on the particle size and <span class="inline-formula"><i>κ</i></span> to be investigated. To minimize the effect of multiply charged particles, a small geometric mean diameter (<span class="inline-formula"><i>D</i><sub>g</sub></span>) and geometric standard deviation (<span class="inline-formula"><i>σ</i><sub>g</sub></span>) in number size distribution are recommended when generating the calibration aerosols. Last, <span class="inline-formula"><i>F</i><sub>act</sub></span> is affected by particle number concentration and has a decreasing rate of 0.02 per <span class="inline-formula">100 cm<sup>−3</sup></span> due to the water consumption in the activation tube. For evaluating the BS2-CCN system, intercomparison experiments between typical DMA-CCN and BS2-CCN measurements were performed with a laboratory-generated aerosol mixture and ambient aerosols. Good agreement of <span class="inline-formula"><i>κ</i></span> values between DMA-CCN and BS2-CCN measurements for both experiments shows that the BS2-CCN system can measure CCN activity well compared to the existing measurement method and can measure a broad range of hygroscopicity distributions with a high time resolution (<span class="inline-formula">∼1</span> s vs. a few minutes for a standard CCN activity measurement). As the hygroscopicity can be used as a proxy for the chemical composition, our method can also serve as a complementary approach for fast and size-resolved detection and estimation of aerosol chemical composition.</p>
format article
author N. Kim
Y. Cheng
N. Ma
M. L. Pöhlker
T. Klimach
T. F. Mentel
O. O. Krüger
U. Pöschl
H. Su
author_facet N. Kim
Y. Cheng
N. Ma
M. L. Pöhlker
T. Klimach
T. F. Mentel
O. O. Krüger
U. Pöschl
H. Su
author_sort N. Kim
title Calibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (BS2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity
title_short Calibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (BS2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity
title_full Calibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (BS2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity
title_fullStr Calibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (BS2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity
title_full_unstemmed Calibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (BS2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity
title_sort calibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (bs2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (ccn) activity
publisher Copernicus Publications
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/f674095d1c3e4c6cbc5edbe1183e9c25
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:f674095d1c3e4c6cbc5edbe1183e9c252021-11-05T08:07:15ZCalibration and evaluation of a broad supersaturation scanning (BS2) cloud condensation nuclei counter for rapid measurement of particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity10.5194/amt-14-6991-20211867-13811867-8548https://doaj.org/article/f674095d1c3e4c6cbc5edbe1183e9c252021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://amt.copernicus.org/articles/14/6991/2021/amt-14-6991-2021.pdfhttps://doaj.org/toc/1867-1381https://doaj.org/toc/1867-8548<p>For understanding and assessing aerosol–cloud interactions and their impact on climate, reliable measurement data on aerosol particle hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity are required. The CCN activity of aerosol particles can be determined by scanning particle size and supersaturation (<span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i></span>) in CCN measurements. Compared to an existing differential mobility analyzer (DMA) with CCN activity measurement, a broad supersaturation scanning CCN (BS2-CCN) system, in which particles are exposed to a range of <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i></span> simultaneously, can measure the CCN activity with a high time resolution. Based on a monotonic relation between the activation supersaturation of aerosol particles (<span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i><sub>aerosol</sub></span>) and the activated fraction (<span class="inline-formula"><i>F</i><sub>act</sub></span>) of the BS2-CCN measurement, we can derive <span class="inline-formula"><i>κ</i></span>, a single hygroscopicity parameter, directly. Here, we describe how the BS2-CCN system can be effectively calibrated and which factors can affect the calibration curve (<span class="inline-formula"><i>F</i><sub>act</sub>−<i>S</i><sub>aerosol</sub></span>). For calibration, size-resolved CCN measurements with ammonium sulfate and sodium chloride particles are performed under three different thermal gradient (<span class="inline-formula">d<i>T</i></span>) conditions (<span class="inline-formula">d<i>T</i>=6</span>, 8, and 10 K). We point out key processes that can affect the calibration curve and thereby need to be considered as follows: first, the shape of the calibration curve is primarily influenced by <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i><sub>max</sub></span>, the maximum <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i></span> in the activation tube. We need to determine appropriate <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i><sub>max</sub></span> depending on the particle size and <span class="inline-formula"><i>κ</i></span> to be investigated. To minimize the effect of multiply charged particles, a small geometric mean diameter (<span class="inline-formula"><i>D</i><sub>g</sub></span>) and geometric standard deviation (<span class="inline-formula"><i>σ</i><sub>g</sub></span>) in number size distribution are recommended when generating the calibration aerosols. Last, <span class="inline-formula"><i>F</i><sub>act</sub></span> is affected by particle number concentration and has a decreasing rate of 0.02 per <span class="inline-formula">100 cm<sup>−3</sup></span> due to the water consumption in the activation tube. For evaluating the BS2-CCN system, intercomparison experiments between typical DMA-CCN and BS2-CCN measurements were performed with a laboratory-generated aerosol mixture and ambient aerosols. Good agreement of <span class="inline-formula"><i>κ</i></span> values between DMA-CCN and BS2-CCN measurements for both experiments shows that the BS2-CCN system can measure CCN activity well compared to the existing measurement method and can measure a broad range of hygroscopicity distributions with a high time resolution (<span class="inline-formula">∼1</span> s vs. a few minutes for a standard CCN activity measurement). As the hygroscopicity can be used as a proxy for the chemical composition, our method can also serve as a complementary approach for fast and size-resolved detection and estimation of aerosol chemical composition.</p>N. KimY. ChengN. MaM. L. PöhlkerT. KlimachT. F. MentelO. O. KrügerU. PöschlH. SuCopernicus PublicationsarticleEnvironmental engineeringTA170-171Earthwork. FoundationsTA715-787ENAtmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol 14, Pp 6991-7005 (2021)