Articles | Volume 14, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7329-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7329-2021
Research article
 | 
23 Nov 2021
Research article |  | 23 Nov 2021

Simulation-aided characterization of a versatile water-based condensation particle counter for atmospheric airborne research

Fan Mei, Steven Spielman, Susanne Hering, Jian Wang, Mikhail S. Pekour, Gregory Lewis, Beat Schmid, Jason Tomlinson, and Maynard Havlicek

Related authors

Dependence of CCN Closure Relationship with Organic Fraction from Two Airborne Field Campaigns over Mid-Latitude Land and Ocean
Guangxin Ai, Shuaiqi Tang, Hailong Wang, Fan Mei, and Minghuai Wang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-32,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-32, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Measurement report: Vertically resolved atmospheric properties observed over the Southern Great Plains with the ArcticShark uncrewed aerial system
Fan Mei, Qi Zhang, Damao Zhang, Jerome D. Fast, Gourihar Kulkarni, Mikhail S. Pekour, Christopher R. Niedek, Susanne Glienke, Israel Silber, Beat Schmid, Jason M. Tomlinson, Hardeep S. Mehta, Xena Mansoura, Zezhen Cheng, Gregory W. Vandergrift, Nurun Nahar Lata, Swarup China, and Zihua Zhu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3425–3444, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3425-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3425-2025, 2025
Short summary
Large spatiotemporal variability in aerosol properties over central Argentina during the CACTI field campaign
Jerome D. Fast, Adam C. Varble, Fan Mei, Mikhail Pekour, Jason Tomlinson, Alla Zelenyuk, Art J. Sedlacek III, Maria Zawadowicz, and Louisa Emmons
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13477–13502, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13477-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13477-2024, 2024
Short summary
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) airborne field campaign data products between 2013 and 2018
Fan Mei, Jennifer M. Comstock, Mikhail S. Pekour, Jerome D. Fast, Krista L. Gaustad, Beat Schmid, Shuaiqi Tang, Damao Zhang, John E. Shilling, Jason M. Tomlinson, Adam C. Varble, Jian Wang, L. Ruby Leung, Lawrence Kleinman, Scot Martin, Sebastien C. Biraud, Brian D. Ermold, and Kenneth W. Burk
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 5429–5448, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5429-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5429-2024, 2024
Short summary
Examining the vertical heterogeneity of aerosols over the Southern Great Plains
Yang Wang, Chanakya Bagya Ramesh, Scott E. Giangrande, Jerome Fast, Xianda Gong, Jiaoshi Zhang, Ahmet Tolga Odabasi, Marcus Vinicius Batista Oliveira, Alyssa Matthews, Fan Mei, John E. Shilling, Jason Tomlinson, Die Wang, and Jian Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15671–15691, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15671-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15671-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Anderson, E. L., Turnham, P., Griffin, J. R., and Clarke, C. C.: Consideration of the aerosol transmission for COVID-19 and public health, Risk Anal., 40, 902–907, 2020. 
Bian, J. J., Gui, H. Q., Xie, Z. B., Yu, T. Z., Wei, X. L., Wang, W. Y., and Liu, J. G.: Simulation of three-stage operating temperature for supersaturation water-based condensational growth tube, J. Environ. Sci., 90, 275–285, 2020. 
Biswas, S., Fine, P. M., Geller, M. D., Hering, S. V., and Sioutas, C.: Performance evaluation of a recently developed water-based condensation particle counter, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 39, 419–427, 2005. 
Brock, C. A., Williamson, C., Kupc, A., Froyd, K. D., Erdesz, F., Wagner, N., Richardson, M., Schwarz, J. P., Gao, R.-S., Katich, J. M., Campuzano-Jost, P., Nault, B. A., Schroder, J. C., Jimenez, J. L., Weinzierl, B., Dollner, M., Bui, T., and Murphy, D. M.: Aerosol size distributions during the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom): methods, uncertainties, and data products, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3081–3099, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3081-2019, 2019. 
Curtius, J.: Nucleation of atmospheric aerosol particles, Cr. Phys., 7, 1027–1045, 2006. 
Download
Short summary
This study focuses on understanding a versatile water-based condensation particle counter (vWCPC 3789) performance under various ambient pressure conditions (500–1000 hPa). A vWCPC has the advantage of avoiding health and safety concerns. However, its performance characterization under low pressure is rare but crucial for ensuring successful airborne deployment. This paper provides advanced knowledge of operating a vWCPC 3789 to capture the spatial variations of atmospheric aerosols.
Share