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Outline. Introduction Instruments designed and fabricated at the Desert Research Institute, Reno Emphasis on the Integrating Nephelometer for scattering measurements Compare with Radiance nephelometer during a field study at Ft. Bliss, Texas Summary.
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Outline Introduction Instruments designed and fabricated at the Desert Research Institute, Reno Emphasis on the Integrating Nephelometer for scattering measurements Compare with Radiance nephelometer during a field study at Ft. Bliss, Texas Summary
Atmospheric Aerosol Applications and Research • Radiation transfer, light scattering and absorption, emission. • Climate simulation • Visibility at the National Parks • Military applications - sensor performance and plume visibility • Cloud albedo (Twomey effect, more aerosol, more competition for water vapor, smaller droplets, ammonium sulfate aerosol) • Cloud lifetime (Black carbon causes local heating from sunlight absorption, cloud dissipation). • Health effects • PM 2.5 levels are legislated • Likely that PM will be further differentiated into E.C., O.C., etc. • Source Level Combustion • Engine performance • Power plants
Why is light extinction measurement important? • Aerosol Radiative Transfer and Climate impacts • Optical Remote Sensing • Atmospheric Visibility
Visibility: Good for tourism, bad for military when engine plumes become visible. • IMPROVE: (Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environments) • Aerosols are a dominant influence on man-made visibility impairment. • Aerosol optical properties are very important and are measured. National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Environmental Protection Agency
DRI Instruments for light Extinction Measurements • Photoacoustic absorption instrument • Integrating-Sphere scattering instrument • Cavity Ring-Down (CRD) total extinction instrument
Sketch of the Photoacoustic Instrument • Basic principles: • Laser light is power modulated by the chopper. • Light absorbing aerosols convert light to heat - a sound wave is produced. • Microphone signal is a measure of the light absorption. • Light scattering aerosols don't generate heat.
Aerosol Optical Properties: Absorbing particles. For small optical depths, and D < 0.1 µm: I(L)/I(0) = e(-L L), L(1/m) ≈ S.O.C (m2/g) x r (g/m3), L = path length, r = aerosol concentration by mass. Absorption dominates for D < 0.1 µm (Rayleigh scattering). Aside: For non-absorbing aerosols, Extinction=Scattering. Note the strong dependence of the scattering coefficient on diameter!
DRI CRD Extinction Instrument • A path length of approximately 10 km due to high reflecting mirrors • measures total light extinction
Nephelometers Measure Light Scattering These instruments operate by illuminating a fixed sample volume from the side, and observing the amount of light that is scattered by particles and gas molecules in the direction of a photomultiplier tubes. The instruments integrate over scattering angles of 7-170°
National Instrument’s Labview is used for data acquisition and signal processing.
National Instrument’s Labview is used for data acquisition and signal processing.
Radiance neph at Ft. Bliss, TX Forward angle truncation of 7 deg. DRI neph. Signal over 4 times compared to radiance Dust particles as big as 20 m from the road
DRI Nephelometer at Ft. Bliss, TX 20 s time averages Radiance forward angle trunc. of 7 deg. DRI neph. has < 1 deg. DRI neph. Signal over 4 times compared to radiance Dust particles as big as 20 m from the road
Summary The integrating Nephelometer developed at the DRI provides considerable improvements for scattering measurements over the existing instruments Further evaluation of the nephelometer undergoing currently at the Reno Aerosol Optics Experiment A closure experiment ensures reliable measurements from the instruments