Project Details
Projekt
CI-APiTOF - A CI-APiTOF mass spectrometer to study the drivers of new particle formation in the HALO missions AEROCLOUD-FIRE and CONTANGO-FIRE
Applicant
Professor Dr. Joachim Curtius
Subject Area
Atmospheric Science
Term
since 2026
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 564835479
The newly developed Chemical Ionization-Atmospheric Pressure interface-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (CI-APiTOF) will be operated on the research aircraft HALO for the missions AEROCLOUD-FIRE and CONTANGO-FIRE. The CI-APiTOF measures the key substances responsible for new particle formation (NPF) in the atmosphere, allowing to investigate aerosol nucleation and growth processes in the Upper Troposphere Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) under a variety of conditions. We will study NPF processes a) in the outflow of deep convective clouds in the extra-tropics/midlatitudes of the Southern Hemisphere (COF-NPF), b) NPF initiated by Stratospheric Air Intrusions (SAI-NPF), c) NPF potentially occurring in wildfire plumes (WFP-NPF), and d) NPF in aircraft engine exhaust plumes (AEE-NPF). NPF has important influences on the aerosol budget of the UTLS region. The newly formed particles also grow over time, undergo long-range transport, and descend to the lower troposphere, where they can serve as cloud condensation nuclei that influence the Earth’s hydrological cycle, radiation budget, and climate. A special focus of the investigations will be on COF-NPF processes in which extremely low volatile oxidation products of isoprene drive the aerosol nucleation and growth.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
