CPSA (Condensation Particle Size Analyzer) / Thermodenuder
Purpose of Participation
- determine number concentration of the tropospheric fine particle aerosol (in situ measurement), determine lateral and vertical aerosol distribution in the Arctic troposphere
- differentiate between natural background and pollution situations
- contribute to characterization of Arctic aerosol in terms of physical properties, temporal aerosol evolution, origin and transport pathways
Instrument description
Species Number concentration of ultrafine and fine aerosol particles (total / non-volatile), in situ
| Species | Aerosols and trace gases |
| Method | condensation particle counter principle, operating with Butanol, 4 independent modules, each with selectable lower cut-off size in the range 4-20 nm (particle diameter); optional inlets: two thermodenuder (heated) inlets at 125-350 °C, one diffusion screen inlet (increasing lower cut-off size up to 100 nm) |
| Quantity primary | Number concentration of aerosol particles (particles/cm³) in the Aitken plus accumulation mode (approx. 10-1000 nm) and in the nucleation mode (approx. 4-10 nm) |
| Quantity secondary | non-volatile particle fraction |
| Measurement range | |
| Altitude range | altitude range of the aircraft (in general: all troposphere and lower stratosphere) |
| Vertical resolution | depends on climb/descend rate of the aircraft, typically >5 m |
| Temporal resolution | 1 second |
| Operation | operated continuously during flight, works also in-cloud if aerosol inlet samples back- or sideward |
| Precision | ±5% at operating range 1-20000 particles/cm ³ ambient |
| Preliminary data | Quicklooks and preliminary data 30 min after flight |
| Final data | 1-3 months |
Specific remarks
- This instrument forms part of an extensive aerosol payload on-board the Polar 4 aircraft, which is dedicated to a comprehensive physical aerosol characterization (including complete size distribution). See elsewhere: DMA system, aerosol spectrometer probes (PCASP-100X, FSSP-300).
References
Stein, C., F. Schröder, and A. Petzold, The Condensation Particle Size Analyzer: a new instrument for the measurement of ultrafine aerosol size distributions, J. Aerosol Sci., 32, S381-S382, 2001. Top of Page Top of Page