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

我们对云-气溶胶相互作用的理解有限，特别是大气气溶胶作为云凝结核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，仍然是长期全球气候趋势预测中不确定性的一个重要来源。 这项研究将有助于设计和开发一种仪器，使气溶胶吸湿生长因子的实时测量适用于研究飞机上的操作。 这一仪器被称为实时吸湿差分迁移率光谱仪（RH-DMS），它将允许在观测到的粒子直径范围内对云系统内外的气溶胶进行精确的大小测定和表征，这项工作的智力价值集中在努力最大限度地减少云与短波（可见光）和长波相互作用的不确定性。（红外）辐射，并将采用创新的组件，包括一个间隙入口，用于对云层内的气溶胶进行无人为因素的采样，一个高分辨率差分迁移率分析仪，以明确量化颗粒大小，并与高分辨率光学粒度分析仪和电迁移率光谱仪耦合，以评估在宽范围的气溶胶尺寸（10-500 nm）上的吸湿生长潜力。 更广泛的影响将来自于研究飞机上增强的测量能力，以及在与地球气候变化相关的自然发生和人为气溶胶的背景下，提高对云的局部行为和全球影响的理解。 相关的教育福利将包括研究生教育，并与首席研究员现有的K-12外展活动相结合。

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.