Measurements of atmospheric aerosol vertical distributions above Svalbard, Norway, using unmanned aerial systems (UAS)

Bates, T. S.; Quinn, Patricia K.; Johnson, James E.; Corless, Andrew; Brechtel, Fred J.; Stalin, Scott; Meinig, Christian; Burkhart, John F.

doi:10.5194/amt-6-2115-2013

Cited by 85 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…It should be noted that there are a number of existing publications on vertical aerosol measurements over the Arctic using aircraft (e.g. Yamanouchi et al, 2005;Engvall et al, 2008), as well as unmanned aerial systems (Bates et al, 2013). However, these studies have predominantly taken place at lower latitudes than the ASCOS study, where additional atmospheric mechanisms and processes are of importance.…”

Section: P Kupiszewski Et Al: Vertical Profiling Of Aerosol Particlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical profiling of aerosol particles and trace gases over the central Arctic Ocean during summer

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Unique measurements of vertical size-resolved aerosol particle concentrations, trace gas concentrations and meteorological data were obtained during the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS, www.ascos.se), an International Polar Year project aimed at establishing the processes responsible for formation and evolution of low-level clouds over the high Arctic summer pack ice. The experiment was conducted from on board the Swedish icebreaker Oden, and provided both ship-and helicopter-based measurements. This study focuses on the vertical helicopter profiles and onboard measurements obtained during a three-week period when Oden was anchored to a drifting ice floe, and sheds light on the characteristics of Arctic aerosol particles and their distribution throughout the lower atmosphere. Distinct differences in aerosol particle characteristics within defined atmospheric layers are identified. Within the lowermost couple hundred metres, transport from the marginal ice zone (MIZ), condensational growth and cloud processing develop the aerosol population. During two of the four representative periods defined in this study, such influence is shown. At altitudes above about 1 km, long-range transport occurs frequently. However, only infrequently does large-scale subsidence descend such air masses to become entrained into the mixed layer in the high Arctic, and therefore long-range transport plumes are unlikely to directly influence low-level stratiform cloud formation. Nonetheless, such plumes can influence the radiative balance of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) by influencing formation and evolution of higher clouds, as well as through precipitation transport of particles downwards. New particle formation was occasionally observed, particularly in the near-surface layer. We hypothesize that the origin of these ultrafine particles could be in biological processes, both primary and secondary, within the open leads between the pack ice and/or along the MIZ. In general, local sources, in combination with upstream boundary-layer transport of precursor gases from the MIZ, are considered to constitute the origin of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) particles and thus be of importance for the formation of interior Arctic low-level clouds during summer, and subsequently, through cloud influences, for the melting and freezing of sea ice.

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Section: P Kupiszewski Et Al: Vertical Profiling Of Aerosol Particlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical profiling of aerosol particles and trace gases over the central Arctic Ocean during summer

et al. 2013

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“…While such campaigns can provide substantial insight and have the unique ability to deploy a variety of instruments to the same location, the cost of such efforts is unsustainable for routine observing. UAS can play a central role in decreasing the cost associated with making aerosol measurements at altitude in the high latitude atmosphere, and to date there have been limited UAS-based measurement campaigns (e.g., Bates et al, 2013;Platis et al, 2015;Altstädter et al, 2015). Of additional interest is the impact of the aerosol and associated cloud particles on the transfer of energy through the Earth's atmosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interest in such deployments stems from the ability of these platforms to collect information on spatial variability of key atmospheric properties and the underlying surface, and provide profiles of atmospheric quantities related to aerosols (e.g., Corrigan et al, 2008;Bates et al, 2013;Platis et al, 2015), clouds (e.g., Ramana et al, 2007), thermodynamics (e.g., Lawrence and Balsley, 2013), turbu-lence (e.g., van den Kroonenberg et al, 2012), and radiation (e.g., Ramana et al, 2007;Valero et al, 1996). Additionally, their use has been buoyed by the potential to deploy these aircraft to areas difficult to sample with manned platforms (e.g., Lin, 2006;Elston et al, 2011), including the near surface environment at high latitudes (e.g., Curry et al, 2004;Cassano et al, 2010), and by the potential for significant cost-savings relative to routine deployment of manned aircraft with continued miniaturization of instrumentation and platforms alike.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pilatus unmanned aircraft system for lower atmospheric research

et al. 2016

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Abstract. This paper presents details of the University of Colorado (CU) "Pilatus" unmanned research aircraft, assembled to provide measurements of aerosols, radiation and thermodynamics in the lower troposphere. This aircraft has a wingspan of 3.2 m and a maximum take-off weight of 25 kg, and it is powered by an electric motor to reduce engine exhaust and concerns about carburetor icing. It carries instrumentation to make measurements of broadband up-and downwelling shortwave and longwave radiation, aerosol particle size distribution, atmospheric temperature, relative humidity and pressure and to collect video of flights for subsequent analysis of atmospheric conditions during flight. In order to make the shortwave radiation measurements, care was taken to carefully position a high-quality compact inertial measurement unit (IMU) and characterize the attitude of the aircraft and its orientation to the upward-looking radiation sensor. Using measurements from both of these sensors, a correction is applied to the raw radiometer measurements to correct for aircraft attitude and sensor tilt relative to the sun. The data acquisition system was designed from scratch based on a set of key driving requirements to accommodate the variety of sensors deployed. Initial test flights completed in Colorado provide promising results with measurements from the radiation sensors agreeing with those from a nearby surface site. Additionally, estimates of surface albedo from onboard sensors were consistent with local surface conditions, including melting snow and bright runway surface. Aerosol size distributions collected are internally consistent and have previously been shown to agree well with larger, surface-based instrumentation. Finally the atmospheric state measurements evolve as expected, with the near-surface atmosphere warming over time as the day goes on, and the atmospheric relative humidity decreasing with increased temperature. No directional bias on measured temperature, as might be expected due to uneven heating of the sensor housing over the course of a racetrack pattern, was detected. The results from these flights indicate that the CU Pilatus platform is capable of performing research-grade lower tropospheric measurement missions.

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“…With the prospect of conducting in situ aerosol measurements at a fraction of the cost of that needed for traditional air campaigns various research groups are focusing on the development of miniaturized instruments in order to match the tight restrictions on volume, mass, and power consumption (Ramana et al, 2007;Corrigan et al, 2008;Bates et al, 2013;de Boer et al, 2016;Murphy et al, 2016;Gao et al, 2016). These restrictions furthermore put a value on a minimal set of aerosol instruments that can collect a comprehensive set of aerosol properties at adequate accuracies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A practical set of miniaturized instruments for vertical profiling of aerosol physical properties

Telg

Murphy

Bates

et al. 2017

Aerosol Science and Technology

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In situ atmospheric aerosol measurements have been performed from a Manta unmanned aircraft system (UAS) using recently developed miniaturized aerosol instruments. Flights were conducted up to an altitude of 3000 m (AMSL) during spring 2015 in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway. We use these flights to demonstrate a practical set of miniaturized instruments that can be deployed onboard small UASs and can provide valuable information on ambient aerosol.Measured properties include size-resolved particle number concentrations, aerosol absorption coefficient, relative humidity, and direct sun intensity. From these parameters it is possible to derive a comprehensive set of aerosol optical properties: aerosol optical depth, single scattering albedo, and asymmetry parameter. The combination of instruments also allows us to determine the aerosol hygroscopicity.

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Measurements of atmospheric aerosol vertical distributions above Svalbard, Norway, using unmanned aerial systems (UAS)

Cited by 85 publications

References 27 publications

Vertical profiling of aerosol particles and trace gases over the central Arctic Ocean during summer

Vertical profiling of aerosol particles and trace gases over the central Arctic Ocean during summer

The Pilatus unmanned aircraft system for lower atmospheric research

A practical set of miniaturized instruments for vertical profiling of aerosol physical properties

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