Skip to main content
European Commission logo
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-04-19

Airborne measurements of aerosols and related trace gases

Objective

AARGA aims towards an understanding of the key role of aerosols in stratospheric ozone destruction through balloon-borne in situ measurements of aerosols and related trace gases.


AARGA will carry out coordinated balloon-borne measurements of aerosols and related trace gases in the winter polar stratosphere, including measurements of:
- aerosol size
- aerosol number densities
- aerosol composition (H2SO4, SO2, HNO3, NH3)
- condensable gases (H2SO4, HNO3, H2O)
- optical properties of aerosols (depolarization, index of refraction,shape)
- aerosol back scattering ratio

The AARGA measurements will, within the framework of SESAME, be closely coordinated with air-borne and ground-based measurements of stratospheric species. In particular, close coordination with ground-based LIDAR measurements will be possible. Furthermore, AARGA measurements will be coordinated with satellite observations, particularly of aerosol properties.

Measurements of the properties of aerosols (composition, size, number densities, optical properties) condensed trace gases (H2SO4, HNO3, H20), and related trace gases (HNO3, HCI), affected by aerosol-catalyzed reactions will be performed using various instruments and methods.

A. BAMAS (Balloon-borne Mass Spectrometer)
- BAMAS-CIMS (Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry): Mass spectrometer measurements of trace gases.
- BAMAS-VACA (Volatile Aerosol Composition Analyses): Mass spectrometer measurements of compounds of volatile aerosols.
- BAMAS-IOMAS (Ion Mass Spectrometer): Mass spectrometer measurements of ambient ions. Concentration of gaseous H2SO4 can be inferred from ion composition measurements.

B. ELHYSA (Etude de l'Hygrométrie Stratosphérique et des Aérosols)
ELHYSA is a combined water vapour and aerosol instrument. H20 is measured by a frost-point hygrometer. Particle size and concentration of aerosols are measured by a laser diode particle counter.

Topic(s)

Data not available

Call for proposal

Data not available

Coordinator

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN E.V.
EU contribution
No data
Address
Saupfeicheckweg 1
69117 HEIDELBERG
Germany

See on map

Total cost
No data

Participants (4)