Vertical distribution of number concentration and size distribution of atmospheric aerosols over the central United States

Young J. Kim; J. F. Boatman

doi:10.1117/12.21879

1 September 1990 Vertical distribution of number concentration and size distribution of atmospheric aerosols over the central United States

Young J. Kim, J. F. Boatman

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Proceedings Volume 1312, Propagation Engineering: Third in a Series; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.21879
Event: 1990 Technical Symposium on Optics, Electro-Optics, and Sensors, 1990, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

Aircraft measurements of trace gases and atmospheric aerosols were performed over the central United States during four research field periods in 1988 as a part of the Central U.S. RADM Test and Assessment Intensives (CURTAIN). Aerosol size distributions were measured at six altitudes between 700 and 3200 m above sea level over the size range 0.1-32 micrometers, using two Particle Measuring Systems (PMS) probes; an active scattering aerosol spectrometer probe (ASASP) and a forward scattering spectrometer probe (FSSP), mounted on the wings of the NOAA King Air research aircraft. The FSSP data were first corrected using a scheme which accounts for the effects of the probe's electronic response time and nonuniformity in the laser beam intensity profile on the measured aerosol size spectra. Vertical profiles of the average aerosol concentration show seasonal characteristics, with maximum concentrations during summer and minimum concentrations during winter. In summer, the aerosol number concentration in the fme. particle mode is rather constant about 2,000 cm^-3 up to about 1900 m asl level. Number concentration of the soil. derived aerosols in the coarse-particle mode is maximized during spring. The measured aerosol number size distributions exhibit typically bimodal distributions for both boundary layer and free tropospheric aerosols. Each measured number size distribution is approximated with a sum of two lognormal distributions using a lognormal fitting routine. The aerosol size distribution data measured in the boundary layer and in the free troposphere are compared with the LOWTRAN 'Rural' aerosol model and Tropospheric aerosol model, respectively.

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Young J. Kim and J. F. Boatman "Vertical distribution of number concentration and size distribution of atmospheric aerosols over the central United States", Proc. SPIE 1312, Propagation Engineering: Third in a Series, (1 September 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.21879

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KEYWORDS

Aerosols

Atmospheric particles

Atmospheric modeling

Curtains

Data modeling

Troposphere

Phase modulation

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