Evaluation of a Perpendicular Inlet for Airborne Sampling of Interstitial Submicron Black-Carbon Aerosol

Perring, A.E., J.P. Schwarz, R. Gao, A.J. HEYMSFIELD, C. Schmitt, F.M. Schnaiter, and D.W. Fahey (2013), Evaluation of a Perpendicular Inlet for Airborne Sampling of Interstitial Submicron Black-Carbon Aerosol, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 47, 1066-1072, doi:10.1080/02786826.2013.821196.
Abstract

Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

The majority of airborne aerosol measurements employ forward-facing inlets with near-isokinetic sampling; these inlets have known artifacts when sampling in clouds such that data taken in cloud must typically be discarded. Here we report first results from a perpendicular inlet for sampling interstitial submicron black-carbon (BC) containing aerosol. The inlet, consisting of a flat plate to stabilize flow prior to perpendicular sampling, was evaluated using a single particle soot photometer (SP2) aboard the NASA WB-57F aircraft during the Midlatitude Airborne Cirrus Properties Experiment (MACPEX) of 2011. The new inlet rejects large particles and is free of aerosol artifacts when sampling in ice clouds while allowing sampling of submicron BC-containing aerosol with the same unit efficiency as a validated isokinetic inlet, thus allowing for airborne sampling of interstitial BC aerosol.

PDF of Publication
Download from publisher's website
Research Program
Radiation Science Program (RSP)
Upper Atmosphere Research Program (UARP)
Mission
MACPEX