Project Details
Projekt
Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer for airborne measurement of key aerosol precursor gases for nucleation and condensation
Subject Area
Atmospheric Science
Term
since 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 531848360
We propose to develop a new major instrumentation for the research aircraft HALO in order to measure the key substances responsible for formation of new aerosol particles in the atmosphere, investigating the aerosol nucleation and growth processes. The instrument will be a Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIMS) that is able to switch polarities every second. Therefore, positive and negative ions can be measured quasi-simultaneously within a single CIMS instrument, allowing to measure the most important aerosol precursors such as ammonia (NH3), sulfuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid (HNO3), various (highly) oxidized organic species, and other trace gases with extremely high sensitivity. A focus of the development and a major advance over existing instrumentation will be the detection of gaseous ammonia at concentrations down to a few pptv. The instrument will be operated as part of several future HALO science missions, thereby allowing to identify the key nucleator species in the free troposphere in regions such as the ATAL region (Asian Tropospheric Aerosol Layer), the troposphere above the Southern Ocean, or nucleation events observed in other regions of the troposphere in tropical as well as extra-tropical latitudes. Furthermore, measurements in the exhaust plume of aircraft are planned to characterize the emissions and the aerosol formation for different fuel types such as Sustainable Aviation Fuels. Based on our in-depth knowledge and expertise for developing CIMS instrumentation for airborne operation on HALO, our strong research record for aerosol nucleation studies and our close cooperation with partnering groups that will complement the HALO payloads for the planned missions, this initiative has a very high potential for conducting highly innovative research utilizing the most advanced instrumentation and measuring several key substances that are not/hardly accessible for measurement in the free troposphere so far.
DFG Programme
Major Instrumentation Initiatives
Major Instrumentation
VOCUS B2 CI-TOF
Instrumentation Group
1700 Massenspektrometer
Applicant Institution
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Co-Investigator
Professor Dr. Alexander Vogel
