Articles | Volume 25, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-383-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-383-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Measurement report
| 
13 Jan 2025
Measurement report |
| 13 Jan 2025
| 13 Jan 2025
Measurement report: Rocket-borne measurements of large ions in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere – detection of meteor smoke particles
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Division of Space and Plasma Physics, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden
Heinfried Aufmhoff
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Hans Schlager
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Markus Rapp
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Atmospheric Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), Munich, Germany
Carsten Baumann
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Frank Arnold
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK), Heidelberg, Germany
Boris Strelnikov
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Kühlungsborn, Germany
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Silke Groß, Florian Ewald, Bjorn Stevens, Martin Wirth, Georgios Dekoutsidis, André Ehrlich, Dimitra Kouklaki, Konstantin Krüger, Sophie Rosenburg, Lea Volkmer, Jonas von Bismark, Lutz Hirsch, Anna E. Luebke, Eleni Marinou, Bernhard Mayer, Montserrat Pinol Sole, Manfred Wendisch, Julia Windmiller, Vassilis Amiridis, Rob Koopman, Takuji Kubota, and Markus Rapp
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-112, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-112, 2026
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In May 2024 the joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) EarthCARE was launched. A similar payload as deployed on the satellite was set up on the German research aircraft HALO, and deployed during an extensive measurement campaign out of three locations to validated the satellite. In this manuscript we present our instrumentation, the measurements, and its potential for the validation of EarthCARE. We also show first results.
Alina Fiehn, Maximilian Eckl, Magdalena Pühl, Tiziana Bräuer, Klaus-Dirk Gottschaldt, Heinfried Aufmhoff, Lisa Eirenschmalz, Gregor Neumann, Felicitas Sakellariou, Daniel Sauer, Robert Baumann, Guilherme De Aguiar Ventura, Winne Nayole Cadete, Dário Luciano Zua, Manuel Xavier, Paulo Correia, and Anke Roiger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 15009–15031, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15009-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15009-2025, 2025
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In September 2022, an aircraft campaign measured methane emissions from all 57 Angolan offshore oil and gas facilities. Total CH₄ emissions were 16.9 ± 5.3 t h−1, dominated by older, shallow-water platforms. Emissions were lower than inventories but 2 times larger than operator reports. Trace gas data suggest venting and fugitives as main CH₄ sources. The carbon intensity was 3.4 ± 0.8 g CO₂ eq MJ−1, with older platforms CH₄-dominated and newer deep-water sites CO₂-dominated.
Phuc Thi Minh Ha, Yugo Kanaya, Kazuyo Yamaji, Syuichi Itahashi, Satoru Chatani, Takashi Sekiya, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, John Philip Burrows, Hans Schlager, Michael Lichtenstern, Mira Poehlker, and Bruna Holanda
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 13429–13452, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13429-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13429-2025, 2025
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Black carbon and CO are important to climate change. EMeRGe airborne observation can identify the suitability of emission inventories used in the CMAQv5.0.2 model for Asian polluted regions. GFEDv4.1s is suitable for fire emissions. Anthropogenic BC and CO emissions from the Philippines (REASv2.1) are insufficient. The estimated Chinese emissions in 2018 are 0.65±0.25 TgBC, 166±65 TgCO, and 12.4±4.8 PgCO2, suggesting a reduction and increment for China's BC and CO emissions in the HTAPv2.2z inventory.
Birte Klug, Ralf Weigel, Konrad Kandler, Markus Rapp, Manuel Baumgartner, Thomas Böttger, Klaus Dieter Wilhelm, Harald Rott, Thomas Kenntner, Oliver Drescher, and Anna Hundertmark
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-510, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-510, 2025
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The nuclei onto which noctilucent clouds (NLC) form are largely unknown. We investigated the development of an inertia-based particle collector allowing for sampling NLC particles during a sounding rocket flight for off-line single particle physico-chemical analyzes. Computational fluid dynamics simulations (for Mach numbers 1.31 and 1.75) support the design and development process in reference to a basic mechanical concept of particle sampling and sample storage, which is also presented here.
Natalie Kaifler, Bernd Kaifler, Markus Rapp, Guiping Liu, Diego Janches, Gerd Baumgarten, and Jose-Luis Hormaechea
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14029–14044, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14029-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14029-2024, 2024
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Noctilucent clouds (NLCs) are silvery clouds that can be viewed during twilight and indicate atmospheric conditions like temperature and water vapor in the upper mesosphere. High-resolution measurements from a remote sensing laser instrument provide NLC height, brightness, and occurrence rate since 2017. Most observations occur in the morning hours, likely caused by strong tidal winds, and NLC ice particles are thus transported from elsewhere to the observing location in the Southern Hemisphere.
Theresa Harlass, Rebecca Dischl, Stefan Kaufmann, Raphael Märkl, Daniel Sauer, Monika Scheibe, Paul Stock, Tiziana Bräuer, Andreas Dörnbrack, Anke Roiger, Hans Schlager, Ulrich Schumann, Magdalena Pühl, Tobias Schripp, Tobias Grein, Linda Bondorf, Charles Renard, Maxime Gauthier, Mark Johnson, Darren Luff, Paul Madden, Peter Swann, Denise Ahrens, Reetu Sallinen, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11807–11822, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11807-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11807-2024, 2024
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Emissions from aircraft have a direct impact on our climate. Here, we present airborne and ground-based measurement data of nitrogen oxides that were collected in the exhaust of an Airbus aircraft. We study the impact of burning fossil and sustainable aviation fuel on nitrogen oxide emissions at different engine settings related to combustor temperature, pressure and fuel flow. Further, we compare observations with engine emission models.
Philipp Joppe, Johannes Schneider, Katharina Kaiser, Horst Fischer, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Andreas Marsing, Lenard Röder, Hans Schlager, Laura Tomsche, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Zahn, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7499–7522, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7499-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7499-2024, 2024
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From aircraft measurements in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere, we find a correlation between the ozone and particulate sulfate in the lower stratosphere. The correlation exhibits some variability over the measurement period exceeding the background sulfate-to-ozone correlation. From our analysis, we conclude that gas-to-particle conversion of volcanic sulfur dioxide leads to observed enhanced sulfate aerosol mixing ratios.
Bjorn Stevens, Stefan Adami, Tariq Ali, Hartwig Anzt, Zafer Aslan, Sabine Attinger, Jaana Bäck, Johanna Baehr, Peter Bauer, Natacha Bernier, Bob Bishop, Hendryk Bockelmann, Sandrine Bony, Guy Brasseur, David N. Bresch, Sean Breyer, Gilbert Brunet, Pier Luigi Buttigieg, Junji Cao, Christelle Castet, Yafang Cheng, Ayantika Dey Choudhury, Deborah Coen, Susanne Crewell, Atish Dabholkar, Qing Dai, Francisco Doblas-Reyes, Dale Durran, Ayoub El Gaidi, Charlie Ewen, Eleftheria Exarchou, Veronika Eyring, Florencia Falkinhoff, David Farrell, Piers M. Forster, Ariane Frassoni, Claudia Frauen, Oliver Fuhrer, Shahzad Gani, Edwin Gerber, Debra Goldfarb, Jens Grieger, Nicolas Gruber, Wilco Hazeleger, Rolf Herken, Chris Hewitt, Torsten Hoefler, Huang-Hsiung Hsu, Daniela Jacob, Alexandra Jahn, Christian Jakob, Thomas Jung, Christopher Kadow, In-Sik Kang, Sarah Kang, Karthik Kashinath, Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw, Daniel Klocke, Uta Kloenne, Milan Klöwer, Chihiro Kodama, Stefan Kollet, Tobias Kölling, Jenni Kontkanen, Steve Kopp, Michal Koran, Markku Kulmala, Hanna Lappalainen, Fakhria Latifi, Bryan Lawrence, June Yi Lee, Quentin Lejeun, Christian Lessig, Chao Li, Thomas Lippert, Jürg Luterbacher, Pekka Manninen, Jochem Marotzke, Satoshi Matsouoka, Charlotte Merchant, Peter Messmer, Gero Michel, Kristel Michielsen, Tomoki Miyakawa, Jens Müller, Ramsha Munir, Sandeep Narayanasetti, Ousmane Ndiaye, Carlos Nobre, Achim Oberg, Riko Oki, Tuba Özkan-Haller, Tim Palmer, Stan Posey, Andreas Prein, Odessa Primus, Mike Pritchard, Julie Pullen, Dian Putrasahan, Johannes Quaas, Krishnan Raghavan, Venkatachalam Ramaswamy, Markus Rapp, Florian Rauser, Markus Reichstein, Aromar Revi, Sonakshi Saluja, Masaki Satoh, Vera Schemann, Sebastian Schemm, Christina Schnadt Poberaj, Thomas Schulthess, Cath Senior, Jagadish Shukla, Manmeet Singh, Julia Slingo, Adam Sobel, Silvina Solman, Jenna Spitzer, Philip Stier, Thomas Stocker, Sarah Strock, Hang Su, Petteri Taalas, John Taylor, Susann Tegtmeier, Georg Teutsch, Adrian Tompkins, Uwe Ulbrich, Pier-Luigi Vidale, Chien-Ming Wu, Hao Xu, Najibullah Zaki, Laure Zanna, Tianjun Zhou, and Florian Ziemen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2113–2122, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2113-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2113-2024, 2024
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To manage Earth in the Anthropocene, new tools, new institutions, and new forms of international cooperation will be required. Earth Virtualization Engines is proposed as an international federation of centers of excellence to empower all people to respond to the immense and urgent challenges posed by climate change.
Adrien Deroubaix, Marco Vountas, Benjamin Gaubert, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, Stephan Borrmann, Guy Brasseur, Bruna Holanda, Yugo Kanaya, Katharina Kaiser, Flora Kluge, Ovid Oktavian Krüger, Inga Labuhn, Michael Lichtenstern, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Mira Pöhlker, Hans Schlager, Johannes Schneider, Guillaume Siour, Basudev Swain, Paolo Tuccella, Kameswara S. Vinjamuri, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Benjamin Weyland, and John P. Burrows
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-516, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-516, 2024
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This study assesses atmospheric composition using air quality models during aircraft campaigns in Europe and Asia, focusing on carbonaceous aerosols and trace gases. While carbon monoxide is well modeled, other pollutants have moderate to weak agreement with observations. Wind speed modeling is reliable for identifying pollution plumes, where models tend to overestimate concentrations. This highlights challenges in accurately modeling aerosol and trace gas composition, particularly in cities.
Adrien Deroubaix, Marco Vountas, Benjamin Gaubert, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, Stephan Borrmann, Guy Brasseur, Bruna Holanda, Yugo Kanaya, Katharina Kaiser, Flora Kluge, Ovid Oktavian Krüger, Inga Labuhn, Michael Lichtenstern, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Mira Pöhlker, Hans Schlager, Johannes Schneider, Guillaume Siour, Basudev Swain, Paolo Tuccella, Kameswara S. Vinjamuri, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Benjamin Weyland, and John P. Burrows
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-521, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-521, 2024
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This study explores the proportional relationships between carbonaceous aerosols (black and organic carbon) and trace gases using airborne measurements from two campaigns in Europe and East Asia. Differences between regions were found, but air quality models struggled to reproduce them accurately. We show that these proportional relationships can help to constrain models and can be used to infer aerosol concentrations from satellite observations of trace gases, especially in urban areas.
Valerian Hahn, Ralf Meerkötter, Christiane Voigt, Sonja Gisinger, Daniel Sauer, Valéry Catoire, Volker Dreiling, Hugh Coe, Cyrille Flamant, Stefan Kaufmann, Jonas Kleine, Peter Knippertz, Manuel Moser, Philip Rosenberg, Hans Schlager, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, and Jonathan Taylor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8515–8530, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8515-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8515-2023, 2023
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During the DACCIWA campaign in West Africa, we found a 35 % increase in the cloud droplet concentration that formed in a polluted compared with a less polluted environment and a decrease of 17 % in effective droplet diameter. Radiative transfer simulations, based on the measured cloud properties, reveal that these low-level polluted clouds radiate only 2.6 % more energy back to space, compared with a less polluted cloud. The corresponding additional decrease in temperature is rather small.
Midhun George, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, Vladyslav Nenakhov, Yangzhuoran Liu, John Philip Burrows, Birger Bohn, Eric Förster, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Theresa Harlaß, Helmut Ziereis, Hans Schlager, Benjamin Schreiner, Flora Kluge, Katja Bigge, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7799–7822, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7799-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7799-2023, 2023
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The applicability of photostationary steady-state (PSS) assumptions to estimate the amount of the sum of peroxy radicals (RO2*) during the EMeRGe airborne observations from the known radical chemistry and onboard measurements of RO2* precursors, photolysis frequencies, and other trace gases such as NOx and O3 was investigated. The comparison of the calculated RO2* with the actual measurements provides an insight into the main processes controlling their concentration in the air masses measured.
Benjamin Witschas, Sonja Gisinger, Stephan Rahm, Andreas Dörnbrack, David C. Fritts, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1087–1101, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1087-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1087-2023, 2023
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In this paper, a novel scan technique is applied to an airborne coherent Doppler wind lidar, enabling us to measure the vertical wind speed and the horizontal wind speed along flight direction simultaneously with a horizontal resolution of about 800 m and a vertical resolution of 100 m. The performed observations are valuable for gravity wave characterization as they allow us to calculate the leg-averaged momentum flux profile and, with that, the propagation direction of excited gravity waves.
Chuan-Yao Lin, Wan-Chin Chen, Yi-Yun Chien, Charles C. K. Chou, Chian-Yi Liu, Helmut Ziereis, Hans Schlager, Eric Förster, Florian Obersteiner, Ovid O. Krüger, Bruna A. Holanda, Mira L. Pöhlker, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Birger Bohn, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Benjamin Weyland, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2627–2647, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2627-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2627-2023, 2023
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During the EMeRGe campaign in Asia, atmospheric pollutants were measured on board the HALO aircraft. The WRF-Chem model was employed to evaluate the biomass burning (BB) plume transported from Indochina and its impact on the downstream areas. The combination of BB aerosol enhancement with cloud water resulted in a reduction in incoming shortwave radiation at the surface in southern China and the East China Sea, which potentially has significant regional climate implications.
Natalie Kaifler, Bernd Kaifler, Markus Rapp, and David C. Fritts
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 949–961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-949-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-949-2023, 2023
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We used a lidar to measure polar mesospheric clouds from a balloon floating in the upper stratosphere. The thin-layered ice clouds at 83 km altitude are perturbed by waves. The high-resolution lidar soundings reveal small-scale structures induced by the breaking of those waves. We study these patterns and find that they occur very often. We show their morphology and discuss associated dynamical physical processes, which help to interpret case studies and to guide modelling.
Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Martina Bramberger, Andreas Dörnbrack, Stefan Müller, Philipp Reutter, Andreas Giez, Thorsten Kaluza, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 355–373, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-355-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-355-2023, 2023
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We present an analysis of high-resolution airborne measurements during a flight of the DEEPWAVE 2014 campaign in New Zealand. The focus of this flight was to study the effects of enhanced mountain wave activity over the Southern Alps. We discuss changes in the upstream and downstream distributions of N2O and CO and show that these changes are related to turbulence-induced trace gas fluxes which have persistent effects on the trace gas composition in the lower stratosphere.
Laura Tomsche, Andreas Marsing, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Johannes Lucke, Stefan Kaufmann, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Monika Scheibe, Hans Schlager, Lenard Röder, Horst Fischer, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Martin Zöger, Jos Lelieveld, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15135–15151, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15135-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15135-2022, 2022
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The detection of sulfur compounds in the upper troposphere (UT) and lower stratosphere (LS) is a challenge. In-flight measurements of SO2 and sulfate aerosol were performed during the BLUESKY mission in spring 2020 under exceptional atmospheric conditions. Reduced sinks in the dry UTLS and lower but still significant air traffic influenced the enhanced SO2 in the UT, and aged volcanic plumes enhanced the LS sulfate aerosol impacting the atmospheric radiation budget and global climate.
Natalie Kaifler, Bernd Kaifler, Markus Rapp, and David C. Fritts
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4923–4934, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4923-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4923-2022, 2022
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We measured polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs), our Earth’s highest clouds at the edge of space, with a Rayleigh lidar from a stratospheric balloon. We describe how we derive the cloud’s brightness and discuss the stability of the gondola pointing and the sensitivity of our measurements. We present our high-resolution PMC dataset that is used to study dynamical processes in the upper mesosphere, e.g. regarding gravity waves, mesospheric bores, vortex rings, and Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities.
Oliver Appel, Franziska Köllner, Antonis Dragoneas, Andreas Hünig, Sergej Molleker, Hans Schlager, Christoph Mahnke, Ralf Weigel, Max Port, Christiane Schulz, Frank Drewnick, Bärbel Vogel, Fred Stroh, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13607–13630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13607-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13607-2022, 2022
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This paper clarifies the chemical composition of the Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL) by means of airborne in situ aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS). Ammonium nitrate and organics are found to significantly contribute to the particle layer, while sulfate does not show a layered structure. An analysis of the single-particle mass spectra suggests that secondary particle formation and subsequent growth dominate the particle composition, rather than condensation on pre-existing primary particles.
Simon F. Reifenberg, Anna Martin, Matthias Kohl, Sara Bacer, Zaneta Hamryszczak, Ivan Tadic, Lenard Röder, Daniel J. Crowley, Horst Fischer, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Raphael Dörich, John N. Crowley, Laura Tomsche, Andreas Marsing, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Zahn, Christopher Pöhlker, Bruna A. Holanda, Ovid Krüger, Ulrich Pöschl, Mira Pöhlker, Patrick Jöckel, Marcel Dorf, Ulrich Schumann, Jonathan Williams, Birger Bohn, Joachim Curtius, Hardwig Harder, Hans Schlager, Jos Lelieveld, and Andrea Pozzer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10901–10917, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10901-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10901-2022, 2022
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In this work we use a combination of observational data from an aircraft campaign and model results to investigate the effect of the European lockdown due to COVID-19 in spring 2020. Using model results, we show that the largest relative changes to the atmospheric composition caused by the reduced emissions are located in the upper troposphere around aircraft cruise altitude, while the largest absolute changes are present at the surface.
Carsten Baumann, Antti Kero, Shikha Raizada, Markus Rapp, Michael P. Sulzer, Pekka T. Verronen, and Juha Vierinen
Ann. Geophys., 40, 519–530, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-519-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-519-2022, 2022
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The Arecibo radar was used to probe free electrons of the ionized atmosphere between 70 and 100 km altitude. This is also the altitude region were meteors evaporate and form secondary particulate matter, the so-called meteor smoke particles (MSPs). Free electrons attach to these MSPs when the sun is below the horizon and cause a drop in the number of free electrons, which are the subject of these measurements. We also identified a different number of free electrons during sunset and sunrise.
M. Dolores Andrés Hernández, Andreas Hilboll, Helmut Ziereis, Eric Förster, Ovid O. Krüger, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Francesca Barnaba, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Jörg Schmidt, Heidi Huntrieser, Anne-Marlene Blechschmidt, Midhun George, Vladyslav Nenakhov, Theresa Harlass, Bruna A. Holanda, Jennifer Wolf, Lisa Eirenschmalz, Marc Krebsbach, Mira L. Pöhlker, Anna B. Kalisz Hedegaard, Linlu Mei, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Yangzhuoran Liu, Ralf Koppmann, Hans Schlager, Birger Bohn, Ulrich Schumann, Andreas Richter, Benjamin Schreiner, Daniel Sauer, Robert Baumann, Mariano Mertens, Patrick Jöckel, Markus Kilian, Greta Stratmann, Christopher Pöhlker, Monica Campanelli, Marco Pandolfi, Michael Sicard, José L. Gómez-Amo, Manuel Pujadas, Katja Bigge, Flora Kluge, Anja Schwarz, Nikos Daskalakis, David Walter, Andreas Zahn, Ulrich Pöschl, Harald Bönisch, Stephan Borrmann, Ulrich Platt, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5877–5924, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5877-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5877-2022, 2022
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EMeRGe provides a unique set of in situ and remote sensing airborne measurements of trace gases and aerosol particles along selected flight routes in the lower troposphere over Europe. The interpretation uses also complementary collocated ground-based and satellite measurements. The collected data help to improve the current understanding of the complex spatial distribution of trace gases and aerosol particles resulting from mixing, transport, and transformation of pollution plumes over Europe.
Stefanie Knobloch, Bernd Kaifler, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2021-310, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2021-310, 2022
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The study tests the quality of temperature measurements from the airborne Rayleigh lidar ALIMA. The ALIMA system was first used during the SouthTRAC campaign in September 2019 in the vicinity of the Southern Andes, Drake Passage and Antarctic Peninsula. The raw lidar measurements are additionally simulated based on reanalysis data for one research flight. Different types of uncertainty influencing the accuracy of the temperature measurements are studied, e.g. atmospheric and technical sources.
Margaretha Myrvang, Carsten Baumann, and Ingrid Mann
Ann. Geophys., 39, 1055–1068, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-39-1055-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-39-1055-2021, 2021
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Our model calculations indicate that meteoric smoke particles (MSPs) influence both the magnitude and shape of the electron temperature during artificial heating. Others have found that current theoretical models most likely overestimate heating in the D-region compared to observations. In a future study, we will compare our results to observations of the electron temperature during heating to investigate if the presence of MSPs can explain the discrepancy between model and observations.
Paul D. Hamer, Virginie Marécal, Ryan Hossaini, Michel Pirre, Gisèle Krysztofiak, Franziska Ziska, Andreas Engel, Stephan Sala, Timo Keber, Harald Bönisch, Elliot Atlas, Kirstin Krüger, Martyn Chipperfield, Valery Catoire, Azizan A. Samah, Marcel Dorf, Phang Siew Moi, Hans Schlager, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16955–16984, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16955-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16955-2021, 2021
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Bromoform is a stratospheric ozone-depleting gas released by seaweed and plankton transported to the stratosphere via convection in the tropics. We study the chemical interactions of bromoform and its derivatives within convective clouds using a cloud-scale model and observations. Our findings are that soluble bromine gases are efficiently washed out and removed within the convective clouds and that most bromine is transported vertically to the upper troposphere in the form of bromoform.
Tiziana Bräuer, Christiane Voigt, Daniel Sauer, Stefan Kaufmann, Valerian Hahn, Monika Scheibe, Hans Schlager, Felix Huber, Patrick Le Clercq, Richard H. Moore, and Bruce E. Anderson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16817–16826, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16817-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16817-2021, 2021
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Over half of aviation climate impact is caused by contrails. Biofuels can reduce the ice crystal numbers in contrails and mitigate the climate impact. The experiment ECLIF II/NDMAX in 2018 assessed the effects of biofuels on contrails and aviation emissions. The NASA DC-8 aircraft performed measurements inside the contrail of the DLR A320. One reference fuel and two blends of the biofuel HEFA and kerosene are analysed. We find a max reduction of contrail ice numbers through biofuel use of 40 %.
Yu-Wen Chen, Yi-Chun Chen, Charles C.-K. Chou, Hui-Ming Hung, Shih-Yu Chang, Lisa Eirenschmalz, Michael Lichtenstern, Helmut Ziereis, Hans Schlager, Greta Stratmann, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Stephan Borrmann, Florian Obersteiner, Eric Förster, Andreas Zahn, Wei-Nai Chen, Po-Hsiung Lin, Shuenn-Chin Chang, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, Pao-Kuan Wang, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-788, 2021
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By presenting an approach using EMeRGe-Asia airborne field measurements and surface observations, this study shows that the fraction of OH reactivity due to SO2-OH reaction has a significant correlation with the sulfate concentration. Approximately 30 % of sulfate is produced by SO2-OH reaction. Our results underline the importance of SO2-OH gas-phase oxidation in sulfate formation, and demonstrate that the method can be applied to other regions and under different meteorological conditions.
Maxi Boettcher, Andreas Schäfler, Michael Sprenger, Harald Sodemann, Stefan Kaufmann, Christiane Voigt, Hans Schlager, Donato Summa, Paolo Di Girolamo, Daniele Nerini, Urs Germann, and Heini Wernli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5477–5498, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5477-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5477-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are important airstreams in extratropical cyclones, often leading to the formation of intense precipitation. We present a case study that involves aircraft, lidar and radar observations of water and clouds in a WCB ascending from western Europe across the Alps towards the Baltic Sea during the field campaigns HyMeX and T-NAWDEX-Falcon in October 2012. A probabilistic trajectory measure and an airborne tracer experiment were used to confirm the long pathway of the WCB.
Mareike Heckl, Andreas Fix, Matthias Jirousek, Franz Schreier, Jian Xu, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1689–1713, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1689-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1689-2021, 2021
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Short summary
We used a mass spectrometer on a rocket to analyze natural ions at altitudes between 60 and 120 km. Our instrument was launched in 2018 and 2021 from Norway. The heaviest particles were detected around 80 km, while medium particles could be found even above 100 km. Our measurements show that different particles are formed and not just one predominating compound. The most likely compounds that form meteor smoke particles in our measurements are made up of oxides of iron, magnesium and silicon.
We used a mass spectrometer on a rocket to analyze natural ions at altitudes between 60 and 120...
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