Discovery by Cassini’s plasma instrument of heavy positive and negative ions within Titan’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere has advanced our understanding of ion neutral chemistry within Titan’s upper atmosphere, primarily composed of molecular nitrogen, with 2.5% methane. The external energy flux transforms Titan’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere into a medium rich in complex hydrocarbons, nit...

* Corresponding author: [email protected] International Discussion Meeting and Workshop 2006: Laser-induced Incandescence, Quantitative interpretation, modelling, application Introduction Time-resolved LII has recently evolved into a tool for evaluating particle size distributions in aerosols. Since larger particles cool slower than smaller particles the size distribution can be recovere...

As part of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia – Smoke, Aerosols, Clouds, Rainfall and Climate (LBA-SMOCC) campaign, detailed surface and airborne aerosol measurements were performed over the Amazon Basin during the dry to wet season from 16 September to 14 November 2002. Optical and physical properties of aerosols at the surface, and in the boundary layer (BL) and free ...

Atmospheric carbonaceous aerosols of South Asian origin have received immense concerns in the Anthropocene owing to their plausible role in the observed regional to inter-continental scale climate anomalies. Tracking plausible sources and alterations during their transport (secondary processes) are keys to understanding their net influence on regional climate. Here, we report elemental concentr...

We analyzed PM2.5 aerosols from 14 major cities in China for concentrations of water-soluble (WS) major and trace elements (Na, Mg, Ca, K, Fe, Mn, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ba, Pb, S and Cl). The main focus was to examine patterns in spatial distribution and seasonal variability. Using principal component analysis, we identified three general sources for WS-elements in aerosols as anthropogenic, seasalts and...

The organic component is the most abundant fraction of atmospheric submicron particles, while the formation mechanisms of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) are not fully understood. The effects of sulfate seed aerosols on SOA formation were investigated with a series of experiments carried out using a 9 m3 smog chamber. The presence of FeSO4 or Fe2(SO4)3 seed aerosols decreased SOA yields and inc...

Atmospheric aerosols, suspended solid and liquid particles, act as nucleation sites for cloud drop formation, affecting clouds and cloud properties-ultimately influencing the cloud dynamics, lifetime, water path, and areal extent that determine the reflectivity (albedo) of clouds. The concentration N d of droplets in clouds that influences planetary albedo is sensitive to the availability of ae...

A range of miniature, low-cost optical particle counters for characterizing atmospheric particles has been developed. They are intended for use with disposable balloon-borne radiosondes, dropsondes or in dense ground-based sensor networks. Versions exist that are suitable for determining the size distributions and number concentrations of cloud particles or atmospheric aerosols such as mineral ...

Accurate dose estimation under various inhalation conditions is important for assessing both the potential health effects of pollutant particles and the therapeutic efficacy of medicinal aerosols. We measured total deposition fraction (TDF) of monodisperse micrometer-sized particles [particle diameter (Dp) = 1, 3, and 5 microm in diameter] in healthy adults (8 men and 7 women) in a wide range o...

S tudies of the effective delivery of pharmaceutical inhalation aerosols have hinged on their particlesize characteristics and the mass, or dose, of drug delivered to the lung. Preparation and delivery of aerosols have been approached using these criteria with the intention of optimizing lung deposition. Aerosol particles and droplets exhibit a range of sizes which constitute their distribution...