Dimethylamine and ammonia measurements with ion chromatography during the CLOUD4 campaign

Abstract. The CLOUD project investigates the influence of galactic cosmic rays on the nucleation of new particles in an environmental chamber at CERN. Dimethylamine (DMA) was injected intentionally into the CLOUD chamber to reach atmospherically relevant levels away from sources (up to 100 pptv) in order to study its effect on nucleation with sulphuric acid and water at 278 K. Quantification of DMA and also background ammonia (NH₃) was performed with ion chromatography (IC). The IC method used together with the sampling line developed for CLOUD in order to measure NH₃ and DMA at low pptv levels is described; the overall sampling efficiency of the method is discussed; and, finally, mixing ratios of NH₃ and DMA measured during CLOUD4 are reported.