Articles | Volume 18, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5103-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5103-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Oct 2025
Research article |
| 07 Oct 2025
| 07 Oct 2025
CARIBIC-AMS: a fully automated aerosol mass spectrometer for operation on routine passenger flights (IAGOS-CARIBIC) – instrument description and first flight application
Johannes Schneider
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Christiane Schulz
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, 04318, Germany
now at: Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung, Müncheberg, 15374, Germany
Florian Rubach
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, 04318, Germany
now at: Climate Geochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Anna Ludwig
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Jonas Wilsch
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Philipp Joppe
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Institute for Physics of the Atmosphere, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Christian Gurk
Instrument Development Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Sergej Molleker
Instrument Development Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Laurent Poulain
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, 04318, Germany
Florian Obersteiner
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344, Germany
Torsten Gehrlein
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344, Germany
Harald Bönisch
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344, Germany
Andreas Zahn
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344, Germany
Peter Hoor
Institute for Physics of the Atmosphere, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Nicolas Emig
Institute for Physics of the Atmosphere, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Heiko Bozem
Institute for Physics of the Atmosphere, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Stephan Borrmann
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Institute for Physics of the Atmosphere, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Markus Hermann
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, 04318, Germany
Data sets
TPEx 2024 observational data and model data along flight path - Merged Hans-Christoph Lachnitt https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15371527
IAGOS-CARIBIC MS files collection (v2025.07.11) Andreas Zahn et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12755530
Short summary
An instrumented container laboratory is operated on regular commercial passenger flights to obtain a long-term representative dataset on the composition of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Here we report on the development of a fully automated aerosol mass spectrometer for this project. We present technical specifications, necessary modifications for the automation, instrument calibration and comparisons, detection limits, and the first in-flight data.
An instrumented container laboratory is operated on regular commercial passenger flights to...
