Articles | Volume 25, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8637-2025
© 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-25-8637-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Aug 2025
Research article |
| 07 Aug 2025
| 07 Aug 2025
Microphysical properties of refractory black carbon aerosols for different air masses at a central European background site
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Thomas Müller
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Laurent Poulain
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Samira Atabakhsh
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Bruna A. Holanda
Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology, 65203 Wiesbaden, Germany
Jens Voigtländer
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Shubhi Arora
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Mira L. Pöhlker
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Faculty of Physics and Earth System Sciences, Leipzig Institute for Meteorology, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Karam Mansour, Stefano Decesari, Darius Ceburnis, Jurgita Ovadnevaite, Lynn M. Russell, Marco Paglione, Laurent Poulain, Shan Huang, Colin O'Dowd, and Matteo Rinaldi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2717–2740, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2717-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2717-2024, 2024
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Gabriela R. Unfer, Luiz A. T. Machado, Paulo Artaxo, Marco A. Franco, Leslie A. Kremper, Mira L. Pöhlker, Ulrich Pöschl, and Christopher Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3869–3882, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3869-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3869-2024, 2024
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Anil Kumar Mandariya, Junteng Wu, Anne Monod, Paola Formenti, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, Mathieu Cazaunau, Stephan Mertes, Laurent Poulain, Antonin Berge, Edouard Pangui, Andreas Tilgner, Thomas Schaefer, Liang Wen, Hartmut Herrmann, and Jean-François Doussin
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Andrea Cuesta-Mosquera, Kristina Glojek, Griša Močnik, Luka Drinovec, Asta Gregorič, Martin Rigler, Matej Ogrin, Baseerat Romshoo, Kay Weinhold, Maik Merkel, Dominik van Pinxteren, Hartmut Herrmann, Alfred Wiedensohler, Mira Pöhlker, and Thomas Müller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2583–2605, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2583-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2583-2024, 2024
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Jean-Philippe Putaud, Enrico Pisoni, Alexander Mangold, Christoph Hueglin, Jean Sciare, Michael Pikridas, Chrysanthos Savvides, Jakub Ondracek, Saliou Mbengue, Alfred Wiedensohler, Kay Weinhold, Maik Merkel, Laurent Poulain, Dominik van Pinxteren, Hartmut Herrmann, Andreas Massling, Claus Nordstroem, Andrés Alastuey, Cristina Reche, Noemí Pérez, Sonia Castillo, Mar Sorribas, Jose Antonio Adame, Tuukka Petaja, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Jarkko Niemi, Véronique Riffault, Joel F. de Brito, Augustin Colette, Olivier Favez, Jean-Eudes Petit, Valérie Gros, Maria I. Gini, Stergios Vratolis, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Evangelia Diapouli, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Karl Espen Yttri, and Wenche Aas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10145–10161, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10145-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10145-2023, 2023
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Samira Atabakhsh, Laurent Poulain, Gang Chen, Francesco Canonaco, André S. H. Prévôt, Mira Pöhlker, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Hartmut Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6963–6988, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6963-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6963-2023, 2023
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The study focuses on the aerosol chemical variations found in the rural-background station of Melpitz based on ACSM and MAAP measurements. Source apportionment on both organic aerosol (OA) and black carbon (eBC) was performed, and source seasonality was also linked to air mass trajectories. Overall, three anthropogenic sources were identified in OA and eBC plus two additional aged OA. Our results demonstrate the influence of transported coal-combustion-related OA even during summer time.
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.
Haley M. Royer, Mira L. Pöhlker, Ovid Krüger, Edmund Blades, Peter Sealy, Nurun Nahar Lata, Zezhen Cheng, Swarup China, Andrew P. Ault, Patricia K. Quinn, Paquita Zuidema, Christopher Pöhlker, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat Andreae, and Cassandra J. Gaston
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 981–998, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-981-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-981-2023, 2023
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This paper presents atmospheric particle chemical composition and measurements of aerosol water uptake properties collected at Ragged Point, Barbados, during the winter of 2020. The result of this study indicates the importance of small African smoke particles for cloud droplet formation in the tropical North Atlantic and highlights the large spatial and temporal pervasiveness of smoke over the Atlantic Ocean.
Yunfan Liu, Hang Su, Siwen Wang, Chao Wei, Wei Tao, Mira L. Pöhlker, Christopher Pöhlker, Bruna A. Holanda, Ovid O. Krüger, Thorsten Hoffmann, Manfred Wendisch, Paulo Artaxo, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat O. Andreae, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 251–272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-251-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-251-2023, 2023
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The origins of the abundant cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the upper troposphere (UT) of the Amazon remain unclear. With model developments of new secondary organic aerosol schemes and constrained by observation, we show that strong aerosol nucleation and condensation in the UT is triggered by biogenic organics, and organic condensation is key for UT CCN production. This UT CCN-producing mechanism may prevail over broader vegetation canopies and deserves emphasis in aerosol–climate feedback.
Yuan Wang, Silvia Henning, Laurent Poulain, Chunsong Lu, Frank Stratmann, Yuying Wang, Shengjie Niu, Mira L. Pöhlker, Hartmut Herrmann, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15943–15962, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15943-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15943-2022, 2022
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Aerosol particle activation affects cloud, precipitation, radiation, and thus the global climate. Its long-term measurements are important but still scarce. In this study, more than 4 years of measurements at a central European station were analyzed. The overall characteristics and seasonal changes of aerosol particle activation are summarized. The power-law fit between particle hygroscopicity factor and diameter was recommended for predicting cloud
condensation nuclei number concentration.
Baseerat Romshoo, Mira Pöhlker, Alfred Wiedensohler, Sascha Pfeifer, Jorge Saturno, Andreas Nowak, Krzysztof Ciupek, Paul Quincey, Konstantina Vasilatou, Michaela N. Ess, Maria Gini, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Chris Robins, François Gaie-Levrel, and Thomas Müller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6965–6989, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6965-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6965-2022, 2022
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Black carbon (BC) is often assumed to be spherically shaped, causing uncertainties in its optical properties when modelled. This study investigates different modelling techniques for the optical properties of BC by comparing them to laboratory measurements. We provide experimental support for emphasizing the use of appropriate size representation (polydisperse size method) and morphological representation (aggregate morphology) for optical modelling and parameterization scheme development of BC.
Christian Pilz, Sebastian Düsing, Birgit Wehner, Thomas Müller, Holger Siebert, Jens Voigtländer, and Michael Lonardi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6889–6905, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6889-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6889-2022, 2022
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Tethered balloon observations are highly valuable for aerosol studies in the lowest part of the atmosphere. This study presents a newly developed platform called CAMP with four aerosol instruments for balloon-borne measurements in the Arctic. Laboratory characterizations and evaluations of the instruments and results of a first field deployment are shown. A case study highlights CAMP's capabilities and the importance of airborne aerosol studies for interpretation of ground-based observations.
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.
Alexander D. Harrison, Daniel O'Sullivan, Michael P. Adams, Grace C. E. Porter, Edmund Blades, Cherise Brathwaite, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Cassandra Gaston, Rachel Hawker, Ovid O. Krüger, Leslie Neve, Mira L. Pöhlker, Christopher Pöhlker, Ulrich Pöschl, Alberto Sanchez-Marroquin, Andrea Sealy, Peter Sealy, Mark D. Tarn, Shanice Whitehall, James B. McQuaid, Kenneth S. Carslaw, Joseph M. Prospero, and Benjamin J. Murray
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9663–9680, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9663-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9663-2022, 2022
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The formation of ice in clouds fundamentally alters cloud properties; hence it is important we understand the special aerosol particles that can nucleate ice when immersed in supercooled cloud droplets. In this paper we show that African desert dust that has travelled across the Atlantic to the Caribbean nucleates ice much less well than we might have expected.
Roland Vernooij, Patrik Winiger, Martin Wooster, Tercia Strydom, Laurent Poulain, Ulrike Dusek, Mark Grosvenor, Gareth J. Roberts, Nick Schutgens, and Guido R. van der Werf
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4271–4294, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4271-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4271-2022, 2022
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Landscape fires are a substantial emitter of greenhouse gases and aerosols. Previous studies have indicated savanna emission factors to be highly variable. Improving fire emission estimates, and understanding future climate- and human-induced changes in fire regimes, requires in situ measurements. We present a drone-based method that enables the collection of a large amount of high-quality emission factor measurements that do not have the biases of aircraft or surface measurements.
Jakub L. Nowak, Robert Grosz, Wiebke Frey, Dennis Niedermeier, Jędrzej Mijas, Szymon P. Malinowski, Linda Ort, Silvio Schmalfuß, Frank Stratmann, Jens Voigtländer, and Tadeusz Stacewicz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4075–4089, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4075-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4075-2022, 2022
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A high-resolution infrared hygrometer (FIRH) was adapted to measure humidity and its rapid fluctuations in turbulence inside a moist-air wind tunnel LACIS-T where two air streams of different temperature and humidity are mixed. The measurement was achieved from outside the tunnel through its glass windows and provided an agreement with a reference dew-point hygrometer placed inside. The characterization of humidity complements previous investigations of velocity and temperature fields.
Ovid O. Krüger, Bruna A. Holanda, Sourangsu Chowdhury, Andrea Pozzer, David Walter, Christopher Pöhlker, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, John P. Burrows, Christiane Voigt, Jos Lelieveld, Johannes Quaas, Ulrich Pöschl, and Mira L. Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8683–8699, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8683-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8683-2022, 2022
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The abrupt reduction in human activities during the first COVID-19 lockdown created unprecedented atmospheric conditions. We took the opportunity to quantify changes in black carbon (BC) as a major anthropogenic air pollutant. Therefore, we measured BC on board a research aircraft over Europe during the lockdown and compared the results to measurements from 2017. With model simulations we account for different weather conditions and find a lockdown-related decrease in BC of 41 %.
Simon Kirschler, Christiane Voigt, Bruce Anderson, Ramon Campos Braga, Gao Chen, Andrea F. Corral, Ewan Crosbie, Hossein Dadashazar, Richard A. Ferrare, Valerian Hahn, Johannes Hendricks, Stefan Kaufmann, Richard Moore, Mira L. Pöhlker, Claire Robinson, Amy J. Scarino, Dominik Schollmayer, Michael A. Shook, K. Lee Thornhill, Edward Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8299–8319, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8299-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8299-2022, 2022
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In this study we show that the vertical velocity dominantly impacts the cloud droplet number concentration (NC) of low-level clouds over the western North Atlantic in the winter and summer season, while the cloud condensation nuclei concentration, aerosol size distribution and chemical composition impact NC within a season. The observational data presented in this study can evaluate and improve the representation of aerosol–cloud interactions for a wide range of conditions.
Marilena Teri, Thomas Müller, Josef Gasteiger, Sara Valentini, Helmuth Horvath, Roberta Vecchi, Paulus Bauer, Adrian Walser, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3161–3187, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3161-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3161-2022, 2022
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We performed an extensive closure study including laboratory and simulated experiments to evaluate various angular corrections for the Aurora 4000 polar nephelometer, focusing on irregularly shaped aerosols such as mineral dust. We describe the impact of particle size, refractive index, and shape on the determination of the particle scattering coefficient and propose a guideline to establish the most appropriate angular correction depending on the aerosol type and the investigated size range.
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.
Kristina Glojek, Griša Močnik, Honey Dawn C. Alas, Andrea Cuesta-Mosquera, Luka Drinovec, Asta Gregorič, Matej Ogrin, Kay Weinhold, Irena Ježek, Thomas Müller, Martin Rigler, Maja Remškar, Dominik van Pinxteren, Hartmut Herrmann, Martina Ristorini, Maik Merkel, Miha Markelj, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5577–5601, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5577-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5577-2022, 2022
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A pilot study to determine the emissions of wood burning under
real-world laboratoryconditions was conducted. We found that measured black carbon (eBC) and particulate matter (PM) in rural shallow terrain depressions with residential wood burning could be much greater than predicted by models. The exceeding levels are a cause for concern since similar conditions can be expected in numerous hilly and mountainous regions across Europe, where approximately 20 % of the total population lives.
Xianda Gong, Heike Wex, Thomas Müller, Silvia Henning, Jens Voigtländer, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5175–5194, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5175-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5175-2022, 2022
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We conducted 10 yr measurements to characterize the atmospheric aerosol at Cabo Verde. An unsupervised machine learning algorithm, K-means, was implemented to study the aerosol types. Cloud condensation nuclei number concentrations during dust periods were 2.5 times higher than marine periods. The long-term data sets, together with the aerosol classification, can be used as a basis to improve understanding of annual cycles of aerosol, and aerosol-cloud interactions in the North Atlantic.
Marco A. Franco, Florian Ditas, Leslie A. Kremper, Luiz A. T. Machado, Meinrat O. Andreae, Alessandro Araújo, Henrique M. J. Barbosa, Joel F. de Brito, Samara Carbone, Bruna A. Holanda, Fernando G. Morais, Janaína P. Nascimento, Mira L. Pöhlker, Luciana V. Rizzo, Marta Sá, Jorge Saturno, David Walter, Stefan Wolff, Ulrich Pöschl, Paulo Artaxo, and Christopher Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3469–3492, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3469-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3469-2022, 2022
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In Central Amazonia, new particle formation in the planetary boundary layer is rare. Instead, there is the appearance of sub-50 nm aerosols with diameters larger than about 20 nm that eventually grow to cloud condensation nuclei size range. Here, 254 growth events were characterized which have higher predominance in the wet season. About 70 % of them showed direct relation to convective downdrafts, while 30 % occurred partly under clear-sky conditions, evidencing still unknown particle sources.
Nabil Deabji, Khanneh Wadinga Fomba, Souad El Hajjaji, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Laurent Poulain, Sebastian Zeppenfeld, and Hartmut Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18147–18174, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18147-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18147-2021, 2021
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Mountain and high-altitude sites provide representative data for the lower free troposphere, various pathways for aerosol interactions, and changing boundary layer heights useful in understanding atmospheric composition. However, only few studies exist in African regions despite diversity in both natural and anthropogenic emissions. This study provides detailed atmospheric studies in the northern African high-altitude region.
Luiz A. T. Machado, Marco A. Franco, Leslie A. Kremper, Florian Ditas, Meinrat O. Andreae, Paulo Artaxo, Micael A. Cecchini, Bruna A. Holanda, Mira L. Pöhlker, Ivan Saraiva, Stefan Wolff, Ulrich Pöschl, and Christopher Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18065–18086, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18065-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18065-2021, 2021
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Several studies evaluate aerosol–cloud interactions, but only a few attempted to describe how clouds modify aerosol properties. This study evaluates the effect of weather events on the particle size distribution at the ATTO, combining remote sensing and in situ data. Ultrafine, Aitken and accumulation particles modes have different behaviors for the diurnal cycle and for rainfall events. This study opens up new scientific questions that need to be pursued in detail in new field campaigns.
Ramon Campos Braga, Barbara Ervens, Daniel Rosenfeld, Meinrat O. Andreae, Jan-David Förster, Daniel Fütterer, Lianet Hernández Pardo, Bruna A. Holanda, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Ovid O. Krüger, Oliver Lauer, Luiz A. T. Machado, Christopher Pöhlker, Daniel Sauer, Christiane Voigt, Adrian Walser, Manfred Wendisch, Ulrich Pöschl, and Mira L. Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17513–17528, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17513-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17513-2021, 2021
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Interactions of aerosol particles with clouds represent a large uncertainty in estimates of climate change. Properties of aerosol particles control their ability to act as cloud condensation nuclei. Using aerosol measurements in the Amazon, we performed model studies to compare predicted and measured cloud droplet number concentrations at cloud bases. Our results confirm previous estimates of particle hygroscopicity in this region.
Sebastian Düsing, Albert Ansmann, Holger Baars, Joel C. Corbin, Cyrielle Denjean, Martin Gysel-Beer, Thomas Müller, Laurent Poulain, Holger Siebert, Gerald Spindler, Thomas Tuch, Birgit Wehner, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16745–16773, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16745-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16745-2021, 2021
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The work deals with optical properties of aerosol particles in dried and atmospheric states. Based on two measurement campaigns in the rural background of central Europe, different measurement approaches were compared with each other, such as modeling based on Mie theory and direct in situ or remote sensing measurements. Among others, it was shown that the aerosol extinction-to-backscatter ratio is relative humidity dependent, and refinement with respect to the model input parameters is needed.
Najin Kim, Yafang Cheng, Nan Ma, Mira L. Pöhlker, Thomas Klimach, Thomas F. Mentel, Ovid O. Krüger, Ulrich Pöschl, and Hang Su
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6991–7005, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6991-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6991-2021, 2021
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A broad supersaturation scanning CCN (BS2-CCN) system, in which particles are exposed to a range of supersaturation simultaneously, can measure a broad range of CCN activity distribution with a high time resolution. We describe how the BS2-CCN system can be effectively calibrated and which factors can affect the calibration curve. Intercomparison experiments between typical DMA-CCN and BS2-CCN measurements to evaluate the BS2-CCN system showed high correlation and good agreement.
Ramon Campos Braga, Daniel Rosenfeld, Ovid O. Krüger, Barbara Ervens, Bruna A. Holanda, Manfred Wendisch, Trismono Krisna, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat O. Andreae, Christiane Voigt, and Mira L. Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14079–14088, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14079-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14079-2021, 2021
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Quantifying the precipitation within clouds is crucial for our understanding of the Earth's hydrological cycle. Using in situ measurements of cloud and rain properties over the Amazon Basin and Atlantic Ocean, we show here a linear relationship between the effective radius (re) and precipitation water content near the tops of convective clouds for different pollution states and temperature levels. Our results emphasize the role of re to determine both initiation and amount of precipitation.
Baseerat Romshoo, Thomas Müller, Sascha Pfeifer, Jorge Saturno, Andreas Nowak, Krzysztof Ciupek, Paul Quincey, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12989–13010, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12989-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12989-2021, 2021
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Modifications in the optical properties of black carbon (BC) due to ageing are presented and quantified in this study using a state-of-the-art description scheme of BC fractal aggregates. It is shown that the relative change in BC radiative forcing can be larger than 50 % as a function of changing fractal dimension and organic content. A comprehensive parameterization scheme for coated BC optical properties is developed with applications for modelling, ambient, and laboratory-based BC studies.
Bjorn Stevens, Sandrine Bony, David Farrell, Felix Ament, Alan Blyth, Christopher Fairall, Johannes Karstensen, Patricia K. Quinn, Sabrina Speich, Claudia Acquistapace, Franziska Aemisegger, Anna Lea Albright, Hugo Bellenger, Eberhard Bodenschatz, Kathy-Ann Caesar, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Gijs de Boer, Julien Delanoë, Leif Denby, Florian Ewald, Benjamin Fildier, Marvin Forde, Geet George, Silke Gross, Martin Hagen, Andrea Hausold, Karen J. Heywood, Lutz Hirsch, Marek Jacob, Friedhelm Jansen, Stefan Kinne, Daniel Klocke, Tobias Kölling, Heike Konow, Marie Lothon, Wiebke Mohr, Ann Kristin Naumann, Louise Nuijens, Léa Olivier, Robert Pincus, Mira Pöhlker, Gilles Reverdin, Gregory Roberts, Sabrina Schnitt, Hauke Schulz, A. Pier Siebesma, Claudia Christine Stephan, Peter Sullivan, Ludovic Touzé-Peiffer, Jessica Vial, Raphaela Vogel, Paquita Zuidema, Nicola Alexander, Lyndon Alves, Sophian Arixi, Hamish Asmath, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Katharina Baier, Adriana Bailey, Dariusz Baranowski, Alexandre Baron, Sébastien Barrau, Paul A. Barrett, Frédéric Batier, Andreas Behrendt, Arne Bendinger, Florent Beucher, Sebastien Bigorre, Edmund Blades, Peter Blossey, Olivier Bock, Steven Böing, Pierre Bosser, Denis Bourras, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Keith Bower, Pierre Branellec, Hubert Branger, Michal Brennek, Alan Brewer, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Björn Brügmann, Stefan A. Buehler, Elmo Burke, Ralph Burton, Radiance Calmer, Jean-Christophe Canonici, Xavier Carton, Gregory Cato Jr., Jude Andre Charles, Patrick Chazette, Yanxu Chen, Michal T. Chilinski, Thomas Choularton, Patrick Chuang, Shamal Clarke, Hugh Coe, Céline Cornet, Pierre Coutris, Fleur Couvreux, Susanne Crewell, Timothy Cronin, Zhiqiang Cui, Yannis Cuypers, Alton Daley, Gillian M. Damerell, Thibaut Dauhut, Hartwig Deneke, Jean-Philippe Desbios, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Vincent Douet, Kyla Drushka, Marina Dütsch, André Ehrlich, Kerry Emanuel, Alexandros Emmanouilidis, Jean-Claude Etienne, Sheryl Etienne-Leblanc, Ghislain Faure, Graham Feingold, Luca Ferrero, Andreas Fix, Cyrille Flamant, Piotr Jacek Flatau, Gregory R. Foltz, Linda Forster, Iulian Furtuna, Alan Gadian, Joseph Galewsky, Martin Gallagher, Peter Gallimore, Cassandra Gaston, Chelle Gentemann, Nicolas Geyskens, Andreas Giez, John Gollop, Isabelle Gouirand, Christophe Gourbeyre, Dörte de Graaf, Geiske E. de Groot, Robert Grosz, Johannes Güttler, Manuel Gutleben, Kashawn Hall, George Harris, Kevin C. Helfer, Dean Henze, Calvert Herbert, Bruna Holanda, Antonio Ibanez-Landeta, Janet Intrieri, Suneil Iyer, Fabrice Julien, Heike Kalesse, Jan Kazil, Alexander Kellman, Abiel T. Kidane, Ulrike Kirchner, Marcus Klingebiel, Mareike Körner, Leslie Ann Kremper, Jan Kretzschmar, Ovid Krüger, Wojciech Kumala, Armin Kurz, Pierre L'Hégaret, Matthieu Labaste, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Arlene Laing, Peter Landschützer, Theresa Lang, Diego Lange, Ingo Lange, Clément Laplace, Gauke Lavik, Rémi Laxenaire, Caroline Le Bihan, Mason Leandro, Nathalie Lefevre, Marius Lena, Donald Lenschow, Qiang Li, Gary Lloyd, Sebastian Los, Niccolò Losi, Oscar Lovell, Christopher Luneau, Przemyslaw Makuch, Szymon Malinowski, Gaston Manta, Eleni Marinou, Nicholas Marsden, Sebastien Masson, Nicolas Maury, Bernhard Mayer, Margarette Mayers-Als, Christophe Mazel, Wayne McGeary, James C. McWilliams, Mario Mech, Melina Mehlmann, Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni, Theresa Mieslinger, Andreas Minikin, Peter Minnett, Gregor Möller, Yanmichel Morfa Avalos, Caroline Muller, Ionela Musat, Anna Napoli, Almuth Neuberger, Christophe Noisel, David Noone, Freja Nordsiek, Jakub L. Nowak, Lothar Oswald, Douglas J. Parker, Carolyn Peck, Renaud Person, Miriam Philippi, Albert Plueddemann, Christopher Pöhlker, Veronika Pörtge, Ulrich Pöschl, Lawrence Pologne, Michał Posyniak, Marc Prange, Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez, Jule Radtke, Karim Ramage, Jens Reimann, Lionel Renault, Klaus Reus, Ashford Reyes, Joachim Ribbe, Maximilian Ringel, Markus Ritschel, Cesar B. Rocha, Nicolas Rochetin, Johannes Röttenbacher, Callum Rollo, Haley Royer, Pauline Sadoulet, Leo Saffin, Sanola Sandiford, Irina Sandu, Michael Schäfer, Vera Schemann, Imke Schirmacher, Oliver Schlenczek, Jerome Schmidt, Marcel Schröder, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Andrea Sealy, Christoph J. Senff, Ilya Serikov, Samkeyat Shohan, Elizabeth Siddle, Alexander Smirnov, Florian Späth, Branden Spooner, M. Katharina Stolla, Wojciech Szkółka, Simon P. de Szoeke, Stéphane Tarot, Eleni Tetoni, Elizabeth Thompson, Jim Thomson, Lorenzo Tomassini, Julien Totems, Alma Anna Ubele, Leonie Villiger, Jan von Arx, Thomas Wagner, Andi Walther, Ben Webber, Manfred Wendisch, Shanice Whitehall, Anton Wiltshire, Allison A. Wing, Martin Wirth, Jonathan Wiskandt, Kevin Wolf, Ludwig Worbes, Ethan Wright, Volker Wulfmeyer, Shanea Young, Chidong Zhang, Dongxiao Zhang, Florian Ziemen, Tobias Zinner, and Martin Zöger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4067–4119, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, 2021
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The EUREC4A field campaign, designed to test hypothesized mechanisms by which clouds respond to warming and benchmark next-generation Earth-system models, is presented. EUREC4A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. It was the first campaign that attempted to characterize the full range of processes and scales influencing trade wind clouds.
Eija Asmi, John Backman, Henri Servomaa, Aki Virkkula, Maria I. Gini, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Thomas Müller, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, and Antti Hyvärinen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5397–5413, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5397-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5397-2021, 2021
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Absorbing aerosols are warming the planet and accurate measurements of their concentrations in pristine environments are needed. We applied eight different absorbing-aerosol measurement methods in a field campaign at the Arctic Pallas station. The filter-based techniques were found to be the most sensitive to detect the minuscule amounts of black carbon present, showing a 40 % agreement between them. Our results help to reduce uncertainties in absorbing aerosol measurements.
Mira L. Pöhlker, Minghui Zhang, Ramon Campos Braga, Ovid O. Krüger, Ulrich Pöschl, and Barbara Ervens
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11723–11740, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11723-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11723-2021, 2021
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Clouds cool our atmosphere. The role of small aerosol particles in affecting them represents one of the largest uncertainties in current estimates of climate change. Traditionally it is assumed that cloud droplets only form particles of diameters ~ 100 nm (
accumulation mode). Previous studies suggest that this can also occur in smaller particles (
Aitken mode). Our study provides a general framework to estimate under which aerosol and cloud conditions Aitken mode particles affect clouds.
Eugene F. Mikhailov, Mira L. Pöhlker, Kathrin Reinmuth-Selzle, Sergey S. Vlasenko, Ovid O. Krüger, Janine Fröhlich-Nowoisky, Christopher Pöhlker, Olga A. Ivanova, Alexey A. Kiselev, Leslie A. Kremper, and Ulrich Pöschl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6999–7022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6999-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6999-2021, 2021
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Subpollen particles are a relatively new subset of atmospheric aerosol particles. When pollen grains rupture, they release cytoplasmic fragments known as subpollen particles (SPPs). We found that SPPs, containing a broad spectrum of biopolymers and hydrocarbons, exhibit abnormally high water uptake. This effect may influence the life cycle of SPPs and the related direct and indirect impacts on radiation budget as well as reinforce their allergic potential.
Andrea Cuesta-Mosquera, Griša Močnik, Luka Drinovec, Thomas Müller, Sascha Pfeifer, María Cruz Minguillón, Björn Briel, Paul Buckley, Vadimas Dudoitis, Javier Fernández-García, María Fernández-Amado, Joel Ferreira De Brito, Veronique Riffault, Harald Flentje, Eimear Heffernan, Nikolaos Kalivitis, Athina-Cerise Kalogridis, Hannes Keernik, Luminita Marmureanu, Krista Luoma, Angela Marinoni, Michael Pikridas, Gerhard Schauer, Norbert Serfozo, Henri Servomaa, Gloria Titos, Jesús Yus-Díez, Natalia Zioła, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3195–3216, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3195-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3195-2021, 2021
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Measurements of black carbon must be conducted with instruments operating in quality-checked and assured conditions to generate reliable and comparable data. Here, 23 Aethalometers monitoring black carbon mass concentrations in European networks were characterized and intercompared. The influence of different aerosol sources, maintenance activities, and the filter material on the instrumental variabilities were investigated. Good agreement and in general low deviations were seen.
Patricia K. Quinn, Elizabeth J. Thompson, Derek J. Coffman, Sunil Baidar, Ludovic Bariteau, Timothy S. Bates, Sebastien Bigorre, Alan Brewer, Gijs de Boer, Simon P. de Szoeke, Kyla Drushka, Gregory R. Foltz, Janet Intrieri, Suneil Iyer, Chris W. Fairall, Cassandra J. Gaston, Friedhelm Jansen, James E. Johnson, Ovid O. Krüger, Richard D. Marchbanks, Kenneth P. Moran, David Noone, Sergio Pezoa, Robert Pincus, Albert J. Plueddemann, Mira L. Pöhlker, Ulrich Pöschl, Estefania Quinones Melendez, Haley M. Royer, Malgorzata Szczodrak, Jim Thomson, Lucia M. Upchurch, Chidong Zhang, Dongxiao Zhang, and Paquita Zuidema
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 1759–1790, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1759-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1759-2021, 2021
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ATOMIC took place in the northwestern tropical Atlantic during January and February of 2020 to gather information on shallow atmospheric convection, the effects of aerosols and clouds on the ocean surface energy budget, and mesoscale oceanic processes. Measurements made from the NOAA RV Ronald H. Brown and assets it deployed (instrumented mooring and uncrewed seagoing vehicles) are described herein to advance widespread use of the data by the ATOMIC and broader research communities.
Laurent Poulain, Benjamin Fahlbusch, Gerald Spindler, Konrad Müller, Dominik van Pinxteren, Zhijun Wu, Yoshiteru Iinuma, Wolfram Birmili, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Hartmut Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3667–3684, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3667-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3667-2021, 2021
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We present results from source apportionment analysis on the carbonaceous aerosol particles, including organic aerosol (OA) and equivalent black carbon (eBC), allowing us to distinguish local emissions from long-range transport for OA and eBC sources. By merging online chemical measurements and considering particle number size distribution, the different air masses reaching the sampling place were described and discussed, based on their respective chemical composition and size distribution.
Rob L. Modini, Joel C. Corbin, Benjamin T. Brem, Martin Irwin, Michele Bertò, Rosaria E. Pileci, Prodromos Fetfatzis, Kostas Eleftheriadis, Bas Henzing, Marcel M. Moerman, Fengshan Liu, Thomas Müller, and Martin Gysel-Beer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 819–851, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-819-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-819-2021, 2021
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Extinction-minus-scattering is an important method for measuring aerosol light absorption, but its application in the field presents a number of challenges. A recently developed instrument based on this method – the CAPS PMssa – has the potential to overcome some of these challenges. We present a compilation of theory, lab measurements, and field examples to characterize this instrument and show the conditions under which it can deliver reliable absorption measurements for atmospheric aerosols.
Jinfeng Yuan, Robin Lewis Modini, Marco Zanatta, Andreas B. Herber, Thomas Müller, Birgit Wehner, Laurent Poulain, Thomas Tuch, Urs Baltensperger, and Martin Gysel-Beer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 635–655, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-635-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-635-2021, 2021
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Black carbon (BC) aerosols contribute substantially to climate warming due to their unique light absorption capabilities. We performed field measurements at a central European background site in winter and found that variability in the absorption efficiency of BC particles is driven mainly by their internal mixing state. Our results suggest that, at this site, knowing the BC mixing state is sufficient to describe BC light absorption enhancements due to the lensing effect in good approximation.
Lixia Liu, Yafang Cheng, Siwen Wang, Chao Wei, Mira L. Pöhlker, Christopher Pöhlker, Paulo Artaxo, Manish Shrivastava, Meinrat O. Andreae, Ulrich Pöschl, and Hang Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13283–13301, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13283-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13283-2020, 2020
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This modeling paper reveals how aerosol–cloud interactions (ACIs) and aerosol–radiation interactions (ARIs) induced by biomass burning (BB) aerosols act oppositely on radiation, cloud, and precipitation in the Amazon during the dry season. The varying relative significance of ACIs and ARIs with BB aerosol concentration leads to a nonlinear dependence of the total climate response on BB aerosol loading and features the growing importance of ARIs at high aerosol loading.
Ting Lei, Nan Ma, Juan Hong, Thomas Tuch, Xin Wang, Zhibin Wang, Mira Pöhlker, Maofa Ge, Weigang Wang, Eugene Mikhailov, Thorsten Hoffmann, Ulrich Pöschl, Hang Su, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5551–5567, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5551-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5551-2020, 2020
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We present the design of a nano-hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (nano-HTDMA) apparatus that enables high accuracy and precision in hygroscopic growth measurements of aerosol nanoparticles with diameters less than 10 nm. We further introduce comprehensive methods for system calibration and validation of the performance of the system. We then study the size dependence of the deliquescence and the efflorescence of aerosol nanoparticles for sizes down to 6 nm.
Laurent Poulain, Gerald Spindler, Achim Grüner, Thomas Tuch, Bastian Stieger, Dominik van Pinxteren, Jean-Eudes Petit, Olivier Favez, Hartmut Herrmann, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4973–4994, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4973-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4973-2020, 2020
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The stability and the comparability between ACSM and collocated filter sampling and MPSS measurements was investigated in order to examine the instruments robustness for year-long measurements. Specific attention was paid to the influence of the upper size cutoff diameter to better understand how it might affect the data validation. Recommendations are provided for better on-site quality assurance and quality control of the ACSM, which would be useful for either long-term or intensive campaigns.
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Short summary
Black carbon (BC) is the major atmospheric aerosol that can absorb light and influence climate. We measured the physical properties of BC at a background site in Germany. In summer, BC particles were smaller and the mixture with other atmospheric components occurred during the daytime. In winter, emissions from residential heating significantly influenced BC's properties. Understanding these characteristics of BC can help to improve the accuracy of aerosol optic simulation.
Black carbon (BC) is the major atmospheric aerosol that can absorb light and influence climate....
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