The Charged-coupled device Actinic Flux Spectroradiometers (CAFS) instruments measure in situ down- and up-welling radiation and combine to provide 4 pi steradian actinic flux density spectra from 280 to 650 nm. The sampling resolution is ~0.8 nm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 1.7 nm at 297 nm. From the measured flux, photolysis frequencies are calculated for ~40 important atmospheric trace gases including O3, NO2, HCHO, HONO and NO3 using a modified version of the NCAR Tropospheric Ultraviolet and Visible (TUV) radiative transfer model. The absolute spectral sensitivity of the instruments is determined in the laboratory with 1000 W NIST-traceable tungsten-halogen lamps with a wavelength dependent uncertainty of 3–5%. During deployments, spectral sensitivity is assessed with secondary calibration lamps while wavelength assignment is tracked with Hg line sources and comparisons to spectral features in the extraterrestrial flux. The optical collectors are characterized for angular and azimuthal response and the effective planar receptor distance. CAFS have an excellent legacy of performance on the NASA DC-8 and WB-57 platforms during atmospheric chemistry and satellite validation mission. These include AVE Houston 2004 and 2005, PAVE, CR-AVE, TC4, ARCTAS, DC3, SEAC4RS, KORUS-AQ, ATom and FIREX-AQ. For FIREX-AQ, upgraded electronics and cooling reduced noise and allowed for a decrease to 1 Hz acquisition.

CAR is a multi-wavelength scanning radiometer for determining albedo of clouds in the visible and near-infrared and measuring the angular distribution of scattered radiation and bidirectional reflectance of various surface types. It acquires imagery of cloud and Earth surface features.

For details, visit: https://car.gsfc.nasa.gov/

The single mass analyzer CIMS (S-CIMS) was developed for use on NASA’s ER-2 aircraft. Its first measurements were made in 2000 (SOLVE, see photo). Subsequently, it has flown on the NASA DC-8 aircraft for INTEX-NA, DICE, TC4, ARCTAS, ATom, KORUS, FIREX, as well as on the NCAR C-130 during MILAGRO/INTEX-B. HNO3 is measured by selective ion chemical ionization via the fluoride transfer reaction: CF3O^- + HNO3 → HF • NO3^- + CF2O In addition to its fast reaction rate with HNO3, CF3O^- can be used to measure additional acids and nitrates as well as SO2 [Amelynck et al., 2000; Crounse et al., 2006; Huey et al., 1996]. We have further identified CF3O^- chemistry as useful for the measurement of less acidic species via clustering reactions [Crounse et al., 2006; Paulot et al., 2009a; Paulot et al., 2009b; St. Clair et al., 2010]: CF3O^- + HX → CF3O^- • HX where, e.g., HX = HCN, H2O2, CH3OOH, CH3C(O)OOH (PAA) The mass analyzer of the S-CIMS instrument was first upgraded from a quadrupole to a unit-mass resolution time-of-flight (ToF) analyzer. In 2023, the mass filter was again upgraded to an 1m flight path (~5000 deltaM/M).  The ToF admits the sample ion beam to the ion extractor, where a pulse of high voltage orthogonally deflects and accelerates the ions into the reflectron, which in turn redirects the ions toward the multichannel plate detector. Ions in the ToF follow a V-shaped from the extractor to detector, separating by mass as the smaller ions are accelerated to greater velocities by the high voltage pulse. The detector collects the ions as a function of time following each extractor pulse. The rapid-scan collection of the ToF guarantees a high temporal resolution (1 Hz or faster) and simultaneous data products from the S-CIMS instrument for all mass channels [Drewnick et al., 2005]. We have flown a tandem CIMS (TCIMS) instrument in addition to the SCIMS since INTEX-B (2006). The T-CIMS provides parent-daughter mass analysis, enabling measurement of compounds precluded from quantification by the S-CIMS due to mass interferences (e.g. MHP) or the presence of isobaric compounds (e.g. isoprene oxidation products) [Paulot et al., 2009b; St. Clair et al., 2010]. Calibrations of both CIMS instruments are performed in flight using isotopically-labeled reagents evolved from a gas cylinders or from a thermally-stabilized permeation tube oven [Washenfelder et al., 2003]. By using an isotopically labeled standard, the product ion signals are distinct from the natural analyte and calibration can be performed at any time without adversely affecting the ambient measurement.

AATS-14 measures direct solar beam transmission at 14 wavelengths between 354 and 2139 nm in narrow channels with bandwidths between 2 and 5.6 nm for the wavelengths less than 1640 nm and 17.3 nm for the 2139 nm channel. The transmission measurements at all channels except 940 nm are used to retrieve spectra of aerosol optical depth (AOD). In addition, the transmission at 940 nm and surrounding channels is used to derive columnar water vapor (CWV) [Livingston et al., 2008]. Methods for AATS-14 data reduction, calibration, and error analysis have been described extensively, for example, by Russell et al. [2007] and Shinozuka et al. [2011]. AATS-14 measurements of spectral AOD and CWV obtained during aircraft vertical profiles can be differentiated to determine corresponding vertical profiles of spectral aerosol extinction and water vapor density. Such measurements have been used extensively in the characterization of the horizontal and vertical distribution of aerosol optical properties and in the validation of satellite aerosol sensors. For example, in the Aerosol Characterization Experiment-Asia (ACE-Asia), AATS measurements were used for closure (consistency) studies with in situ aerosol samplers aboard the NCAR C-130 and the CIRPAS Twin-Otter aircraft, and with ground-based lidar systems. In ACE-Asia, CLAMS (Chesapeake Lighthouse & Aircraft Measurements for Satellites, 2001), the Extended-MODIS-λ Validation Experiment (EVE), INTEX-A, INTEX-B, and ARCTAS, AATS results have been used in the validation of satellite sensors aboard various EOS platforms, providing important aerosol information used in the improvement of retrieval algorithms for the MISR and MODIS sensors among others.

Developed by Droplet Measurement Technologies, the CFSTGC is based on a concept by Roberts and Nenes [2005]. The instrument counts the fraction of aerosol particles that become droplets when exposed to a given water vapor supersaturation (RH > 100%).

As with all CCN counters, a temperature gradient is applied to produce a supersaturation of water vapor. However, the mechanism for generating supersaturation is not the same for all CCN counters. For example, for continuous flow parallel plate diffusion chambers, the temperature gradient is perpendicular to the flow, and supersaturation is a result of the nonlinear dependence of vapor pressure upon temperature. The same mechanism applies for static diffusion cloud chambers, where there is no flow at all.

However, as the name implies, for the Continuous Flow Streamwise Thermal Gradient CCN Counter, the temperature gradient is in the streamwise direction (maintained by thermoelectric coolers). In this case, supersaturation results as a consequence of the greater rate of mass transfer over heat transfer.

With laminar flow, heat and water vapor are transferred to the centerline of the column from the walls only by diffusion.

Since molecular diffusivity is greater than thermal diffusivity, the distance downstream that a water molecule travels before reaching the centerline is less than the distance the heat travels downstream before reaching the centerline. If you pick a point at the centerline, the heat originated from a greater distance upstream than the water vapor.

There are four facts that are necessary to explain how supersaturation is generated within the CFSTGC:

1) Assuming that the inner surface of the column is saturated with water vapor at all points, since the temperature is greater at point B than at point A, the water vapor partial pressure is also greater at point B than at point A.

2) The actual partial pressure of water vapor at point C is equal to the partial pressure of water vapor at point B.

3) However, since the temperature at point C is the same as at point A, the equilibrium water vapor pressure at point C is equal to the water vapor partial pressure at point A.

4) The saturation ratio is the ratio between the actual partial pressure of water vapor and the equilibrium vapor pressure. This is equivalent to the partial pressure at point B divided by the partial pressure at point A, which is always greater than one. Thus supersaturation is generated through a dynamic equilibrium.

Aerosols (particulate matter) have a dramatic effect on radiative forcing of the climate, in some cases cooling and in other cases warming. The Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC estimates that direct radiative forcing due to all aerosols is a cooling of -0.50 W m-2 with absorbing aerosol (black carbon) responsible for a warming of +0.22 W m-2, but the uncertainties associated with these numbers are very large. Better measurements of the optical properties of aerosols, especially absorption coefficient and asymmetry parameter, and their spatial and temporal distribution are required to reduce these uncertainties and improve the ability of models to predict climate change. Aero3X was designed to provide such measurements. It is a light weight (11 kg), compact (0.25 x 0.30 x 0.6 m), and fast (1 Hz sample rate) instrument intended for use on an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) but suitable for flight on other aircraft and for surface measurements. Aero3X uses an off-axis cavity ring-down technique to measure extinction coefficient and a reciprocal nephelometry technique for measurement of total-, forward- and back-scatter coefficients at wavelengths of 405 nm and 675 nm. Its outstanding precision (0.1 Mm-1) and sensitivity (0.2 Mm- 1) allow the determination of absorption coefficient, single-scattering albedo, estimates of backscatter to extinction ratio and asymmetry parameter at both wavelengths, and Angstrom exponent. Together with its humidification system for measurement of the dependence of aerosol optical properties on relative humidity, these represent a complete set of the aerosol optical properties important to climate and air quality. Aero3X was designed to operate in pollution plumes where NO2 may cause interference with the measurement, therefore, a measurement of NO2 mixing ratio is also made.

ATHOS uses laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) to measure OH and HO2 simultaneously. OH is both excited and detected with the A2Σ+ (v’=0) → X2π (v”=0) transition near 308 nm. HO2 is reacted with reagent NO to form OH and is then detected with LIF. The laser is tuned on and off the OH wavelength to determine the fluorescence and background signals. ATHOS can detect OH and HO2 in clear air and light clouds from Earth's surface to the lower stratosphere. The ambient air is slowed from the aircraft speed of 240 m/s to 8-40 m/s in an aerodynamic nacelle. It is then pulled by a vacuum pump through a small inlet, up a sampling tube, and into two low-pressure detection cells - the first for OH and the second for HO2. Detection occurs in each cell at the intersection of the airflow, the laser beam, and the detector field-of-view.