CIF: Single-Particle Measurements of Soot and Incandescing Aerosol

该社区仪器和设施（CIF）奖使克莱姆森大学的单粒子烟灰光度计（SP2）可用于更广泛的大气科学界。SP2可以用来测量悬浮在空气中的单个气溶胶颗粒中黑碳的质量。此外，SP2的先进功能允许在单粒子水平上直接测量黑碳混合状态，或者黑碳与其他非白炽化学物质混合的程度。该项目的资金将为SP2提供支持，使其处于用户就绪状态，用于实验室研究、空中现场研究和地面现场部署。SP2将应科学用户的要求，并提供支持，以充分利用烟尘光度计的数据。该项目还支持外展活动，以扩大科学界的覆盖面，提高公众对科学的兴趣，并增加科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）学科的多样性。黑碳或烟灰是大气中发现的一种重要的气溶胶类型，它几乎是由所有燃烧过程产生的，包括汽车发动机、工厂、森林或农业火灾。烟尘气溶胶对阳光的吸收量高，是了解局部供暖、微气象和长期性气候的重要组成部分。更广泛地使用SP2仪器有可能推进有关大气气溶胶粒子的若干主题的知识。该合同将通过大气和地球空间科学设施和仪器请求流程，增强更广泛的科学界使用克莱姆森大学SP2仪器的能力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Community Instruments and Facilities (CIF) award makes the single-particle soot photometer (SP2) at Clemson University available to the broader atmospheric science community. The SP2 can be used to measure the mass of black carbon in individual aerosol particles suspended in air. In addition, the advanced capabilities of the SP2 allow direct measurement of black carbon mixing state, or the degree to which black carbon is mixed with other, non-incandescing chemical species, on a single-particle level. Funds awarded for this project will provide support to keep the SP2 in a user-ready state for laboratory studies, airborne field studies, and ground-based field deployments. The SP2 will be requestable by the scientific user community and provided with support to make full use of the soot photometer data. This project also supports outreach activities to reach a broader scientific community, to garner public interest in science, and to increase diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines.Black carbon or soot is an important aerosol type found in the atmosphere which is generated from nearly every combustion process, including vehicle engines, factories, and forest or agricultural fires. Soot aerosol is highly absorbing of sunlight, which makes it an important component to understanding local heating, micrometeorology, and long-range, long-term climate. Broader access to the SP2 instrument has the potential to advance knowledge in several topics concerning atmospheric aerosol particles. This award will enhance the ability of the broader scientific community to use the SP2 instrument at Clemson University through the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences facility and instrument request process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.