MRI: Development of a Real-Time Instrument for Measurement of Aerosol Hygroscopicity Growth Factors from Aircraft Platforms

我们对有关云-气溶胶相互作用的认识有限，特别是作为云凝结核的大气气溶胶的作用及其对穿过地球大气层的太阳和红外辐射的最终影响，仍然是预测全球气候长期趋势的一个重要不确定性来源。这项研究将有助于设计和开发一种仪器，使之能够实时测量适合在研究飞机上运行的气溶胶吸湿生长因子。这台名为实时吸湿差分迁移率光谱仪(RH-DMS)的仪器将允许在观测到的颗粒直径范围内对云系统内外的气溶胶进行准确的大小测定和表征。这项工作的智力优势集中在努力将云与短波(可见光)和长波(红外)辐射相互作用的不确定性降至最低，并将采用创新的部件，包括用于对云中气溶胶进行无伪影采样的间隙入口，用于明确量化颗粒尺寸的高分辨率差分迁移率分析仪，并与高分辨率光学粒子仪和电子迁移率光谱仪相结合，以评估在广泛的气溶胶尺寸范围(10-500 nm)上的吸湿性增长潜力。更广泛的影响将来自于增强研究飞机上的测量能力，以及在与地球气候变化相关的自然和人为气溶胶的背景下，更好地了解云的局部行为和全球影响。相关的教育福利将包括研究生教育，并与首席调查员现有的K-12外联活动相结合。

Limits in our understanding of concerning cloud-aerosol interactions, and particularly the role of atmospheric aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei and their ultimate influence on solar and infrared radiation passing through earth's atmosphere, remain a significant source of uncertainty in the prediction of long-term global climate trends. This research will serve to design and develop an instrument to enable real-time measurement of aerosol hygroscopic growth factors suitable for operation aboard research aircraft. This instrument, called the Real-time Hygroscopic Differential Mobility Spectrometer (RH-DMS), will permit accurate sizing and characterization of aerosols both within and outside cloud systems over a diameter range of observed particle diameters.The intellectual merit of this effort centers on efforts to minimize uncertainties in cloud interactions with both short- (visible) and long-wave (infrared) radiation, and will employ innovative components including an interstitial inlet for artifact-free sampling of aerosol within clouds, a high-resolution differential mobility analyzer to distinctly quantify particle sizes, and coupling with a high-resolution optical particle sizer and electrical mobility spectrometer to assess the hygroscopic growth potential over a wide range of aerosol sizes (10-500 nm). Broader impacts will come through enhanced measurement capabilities aboard a research aircraft, and improved understanding of both the local behavior and global impacts of clouds in the context of both naturally-occurring and anthropogenic aerosols relevant to earth's changing climate. Related educational benefits will include graduate student education and be integrated with the lead investigator's existing K-12 outreach activities.