Measuring atmospheric composition change

Abstract

Scientific findings from the last decades have clearly highlighted the need for a more comprehensive approach to atmospheric change processes. In fact, observation of atmospheric composition variables has been an important activity of atmospheric research that has developed instrumental tools (advanced analytical techniques) and platforms (instrumented passenger aircrafts, ground-based in situ and remote sensing stations, earth observation satellite instruments) providing essential information on the composition of the atmosphere. The variability of the atmospheric system and the extreme complexity of the atmospheric cycles for short-lived gaseous and aerosol species have led to the development of complex models to interpret observations, test our theoretical understanding of atmospheric chemistry and predict future atmospheric composition. The validation of numerical models requires accurate information concerning the variability of atmospheric composition for targeted species via comparison with observations and measurements. In this paper, we provide an overview of recent advances in instrumentation and methodologies for measuring atmospheric composition changes from space, aircraft and the surface as well as recent improvements in laboratory techniques that permitted scientific advance in the field of atmospheric chemistry. Emphasis is given to the most promising and innovative technologies that will become operational in the near future to improve knowledge of atmospheric composition. Our current observation capacity, however, is not satisfactory to understand and predict future atmospheric composition changes, in relation to predicted climate warming. Based on the limitation of the current European observing system, we address the major gaps in a second part of the paper to explain why further developments in current observation strategies are still needed to strengthen and optimise an observing system not only capable of responding to the requirements of atmospheric services but also to newly open scientific questions

Tropospheric ozone and its precursors from the urban to the global scale from air quality to short-lived climate forcer

“…It would be a Herculean task to review all the literature on ozone; therefore much of the focus of this review is on the recent findings and discoveries relating to tropospheric ozone. It builds on earlier integrative reviews such as and those of ACCENT Isaksen et al, 2009;Monks et al, 2009;Laj et al, 2009).…”

General overview: European Integrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality interactions (EUCAARI) – integrating aerosol research from nano to global scales

“…For the first time, all groups worked together to ensure similar procedures and methodologies. A number of metrology papers from EUSAAR activities have been recently submitted/published providing the data quality framework for EUCAARI (Cavalli et al, 2010;Mueller et al, 2009;. EUCAARI and EUSAAR measurements provided a panEuropean view of aerosol properties (Fig.…”

Number size distributions and seasonality of submicron particles in Europe 2008–2009

“…Both are very similar instruments in their operation: they aspirate dried air, use ionizing radiation to establish an equilibrium bipolar charge-distribution in the sampled aerosol (Wiedensohler, 1988), use a cylindrical differential mobility analyser to select particles based on their electrical mobility and use a condensation nuclei counter to measure the resulting concentrations in each of the selected size ranges (McMurry, 2000;Laj et al, 2009;Wiedensohler et al, 2010). The main difference between these instruments is the mode of operation, as the DMPS keeps the differential mobility analyser voltage constant during measurement of a single size interval and the SMPS scans with continuously differing voltages.…”