Observational Case Study on the Influence of Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Dynamics on New Particle Formation

We analyze the influence of atmospheric boundary-layer development on new particle formation (NPF) during the morning transition. Continuous in-situ measurements of vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and aerosol number concentrations were quasi-continously measured near Melpitz, Germany, by...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Boundary-layer meteorology 2016-01, Vol.158 (1), p.67-92
Main Authors: Platis, Andreas, Altstädter, Barbara, Wehner, Birgit, Wildmann, Norman, Lampert, Astrid, Hermann, Markus, Birmili, Wolfram, Bange, Jens
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmosphere
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Atmospheric Sciences
Atmospherics
Boundaries
Boundary layer
Dynamical systems
Dynamics
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Fluctuations
Grounds
Humidity
Inversion layers
Meteorology
Nucleation
Temperature
Unmanned aerial vehicles
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We analyze the influence of atmospheric boundary-layer development on new particle formation (NPF) during the morning transition. Continuous in-situ measurements of vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and aerosol number concentrations were quasi-continously measured near Melpitz, Germany, by unmanned aerial systems to investigate the potential connection between NPF and boundary-layer dynamics in the context of turbulence, temperature and humidity fluctuations. On 3 April 2014 high number concentrations of nucleation mode particles up to [Formula: see text] were observed in an inversion layer located about 450 m above ground level. The inversion layer exhibited a spatial temperature structure parameter [Formula: see text] 15 times higher and a spatial humidity structure parameter [Formula: see text] 5 times higher than in the remaining part of the vertical profile. The study provides hints that the inversion layer is responsible for creating favorable thermodynamic conditions for a NPF event. In addition, this layer showed a strong anti-correlation of humidity and temperature fluctuations. Using estimates of the turbulent mixing and dissipation rates, it is concluded that the downward transport of particles by convective mixing was also the reason of the sudden increase of nucleation mode particles measured on ground. This work supports the hypothesis that many of the NPF events that are frequently observed near the ground may, in fact, originate at elevated altitude, with newly formed particles subsequently being mixed down to the ground.
ISSN:0006-8314
1573-1472
DOI:10.1007/s10546-015-0084-y