Articles | Volume 15, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5719-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5719-2022
Research article
 | 
12 Oct 2022
Research article |  | 12 Oct 2022

The realization of autonomous, aircraft-based, real-time aerosol mass spectrometry in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

Antonis Dragoneas, Sergej Molleker, Oliver Appel, Andreas Hünig, Thomas Böttger, Markus Hermann, Frank Drewnick, Johannes Schneider, Ralf Weigel, and Stephan Borrmann

Related authors

Chemical analysis of the Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL) with emphasis on secondary aerosol particles using aircraft-based in situ aerosol mass spectrometry
Oliver Appel, Franziska Köllner, Antonis Dragoneas, Andreas Hünig, Sergej Molleker, Hans Schlager, Christoph Mahnke, Ralf Weigel, Max Port, Christiane Schulz, Frank Drewnick, Bärbel Vogel, Fred Stroh, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13607–13630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13607-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13607-2022, 2022
Short summary
Design, characterization, and first field deployment of a novel aircraft-based aerosol mass spectrometer combining the laser ablation and flash vaporization techniques
Andreas Hünig, Oliver Appel, Antonis Dragoneas, Sergej Molleker, Hans-Christian Clemen, Frank Helleis, Thomas Klimach, Franziska Köllner, Thomas Böttger, Frank Drewnick, Johannes Schneider, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2889–2921, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2889-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2889-2022, 2022
Short summary
In situ observation of new particle formation (NPF) in the tropical tropopause layer of the 2017 Asian monsoon anticyclone – Part 1: Summary of StratoClim results
Ralf Weigel, Christoph Mahnke, Manuel Baumgartner, Antonis Dragoneas, Bärbel Vogel, Felix Ploeger, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D'Amato, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Beiping Luo, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11689–11722, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11689-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11689-2021, 2021
Short summary
Aircraft-based observation of meteoric material in lower-stratospheric aerosol particles between 15 and 68° N
Johannes Schneider, Ralf Weigel, Thomas Klimach, Antonis Dragoneas, Oliver Appel, Andreas Hünig, Sergej Molleker, Franziska Köllner, Hans-Christian Clemen, Oliver Eppers, Peter Hoppe, Peter Hoor, Christoph Mahnke, Martina Krämer, Christian Rolf, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Andreas Zahn, Florian Obersteiner, Fabrizio Ravegnani, Alexey Ulanovsky, Hans Schlager, Monika Scheibe, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, John B. Nowak, Martin Zöger, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 989–1013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-989-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-989-2021, 2021
Short summary
Application of an O-ring pinch device as a constant-pressure inlet (CPI) for airborne sampling
Sergej Molleker, Frank Helleis, Thomas Klimach, Oliver Appel, Hans-Christian Clemen, Antonis Dragoneas, Christian Gurk, Andreas Hünig, Franziska Köllner, Florian Rubach, Christiane Schulz, Johannes Schneider, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3651–3660, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3651-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3651-2020, 2020
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
Development and characterization of the Portable Ice Nucleation Chamber 2 (PINCii)
Dimitri Castarède, Zoé Brasseur, Yusheng Wu, Zamin A. Kanji, Markus Hartmann, Lauri Ahonen, Merete Bilde, Markku Kulmala, Tuukka Petäjä, Jan B. C. Pettersson, Berko Sierau, Olaf Stetzer, Frank Stratmann, Birgitta Svenningsson, Erik Swietlicki, Quynh Thu Nguyen, Jonathan Duplissy, and Erik S. Thomson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3881–3899, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3881-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3881-2023, 2023
Short summary
The four-wavelength Photoacoustic Aerosol Absorption Spectrometer (PAAS-4λ)
Franz Martin Schnaiter, Claudia Linke, Eija Asmi, Henri Servomaa, Antti-Pekka Hyvärinen, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, and Emma Järvinen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2753–2769, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2753-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2753-2023, 2023
Short summary
Improved counting statistics of an ultrafine differential mobility particle size spectrometer system
Dominik Stolzenburg, Tiia Laurila, Pasi Aalto, Joonas Vanhanen, Tuukka Petäjä, and Juha Kangasluoma
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2471–2483, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2471-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2471-2023, 2023
Short summary
Performance evaluation of the Alphasense OPC-N3 and Plantower PMS5003 sensor in measuring dust events in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah
Kamaljeet Kaur and Kerry E. Kelly
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2455–2470, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2455-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2455-2023, 2023
Short summary
Next-generation ice nucleating particle sampling on aircraft: Characterization of the High-volume flow aERosol particle filter sAmpler (HERA)
Sarah Grawe, Conrad Jentzsch, Jonas Schaefer, Heike Wex, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-88,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-88, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary

Cited articles

Allan, J. D., Jimenez, J. L., Williams, P. I., Alfarra, M. R., Bower, K. N., Jayne, J. T., Coe, H., and Worsnop, D. R.: Quantitative sampling using an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer 1. Techniques of data interpretation and error analysis, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4090, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002358, 2003. 
Allen, J. O., Fergenson, D. P., Gard, E. E., Hughes, L. S., Morrical, B. D., Kleeman, M. J., Gross, D. S., Gälli, M. E., Prather, K. A., and Cass, G. R.: Particle Detection Efficiencies of Aerosol Time of Flight Mass Spectrometers under Ambient Sampling Conditions, Environ. Sci. Technol., 34, 211–217, https://doi.org/10.1021/es9904179, 2000. 
Appel, O., Köllner, F., Dragoneas, A., Hünig, A., Molleker, S., Schlager, H., Mahnke, C., Weigel, R., Port, M., Schulz, C., Drewnick, F., Vogel, B., Stroh, F., and Borrmann, S.: Chemical analysis of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL) with emphasis on secondary aerosol particles using aircraft based in situ aerosol mass spectrometry, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-92, in review, 2022. 
Borrmann, S.: High altitude atmospheric observation, in: McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology 2005, McGraw-Hill, New York, 137–139, ISBN: 0071445048, ISSN: 0076-2016, 2005. 
Borrmann, S., Kunkel, D., Weigel, R., Minikin, A., Deshler, T., Wilson, J. C., Curtius, J., Volk, C. M., Homan, C. D., Ulanovsky, A., Ravegnani, F., Viciani, S., Shur, G. N., Belyaev, G. V., Law, K. S., and Cairo, F.: Aerosols in the tropical and subtropical UT/LS: in-situ measurements of submicron particle abundance and volatility, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 5573–5592, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-5573-2010, 2010. 
Short summary
The ERICA is a specially designed aerosol particle mass spectrometer for in situ, real-time chemical composition analysis of aerosols. It can operate completely autonomously, in the absence of an instrument operator. Its design has enabled its operation under harsh conditions, like those experienced in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, aboard unpressurized high-altitude research aircraft. The instrument has successfully participated in several aircraft operations around the world.