Measurement of new particle formation at several altitudes on a 300 m meteorological observation tower

Abstract:

Since new particle formation (NPF) affects aerosol number size distribution and subsequently the newly formed particles can grow enough to act as cloud condensation nuclei, understanding NPF mechanism is crucially important as a step towards a better understanding of aerosol life cycle and its effects on cloud microphysical and radiative properties. However, not clearly understood are at what altitudes NPF actually occurs, what the spatial scale of NPF is, and what are the good meteorological conditions that lead to NPF. In this study, we analyze the data that will be obtained from a 300 m meteorological observation tower to have a better understanding of where NPF occurs and the meteorological conditions that lead to NPF. The tower is installed at the National Center for Intensive Observation of severe weather (NCIO) at a southern coastal rural town of Boseong, Korea (34.76N, 127.16E) and is equipped with measurement platforms at 11 altitudes. Aerosol number concentration and size distribution will be measured at 300 m and 10 m altitudes. A complementary aerosol number concentration measurement will also be made at an intermediate altitude. The basic meteorological variables (e.g., air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and speed) measured at each of the 11 measurement platform altitudes of the tower will be jointly collected. Comprehensive analysis of these continuous and vertically aligned measurement data will give us an opportunity to look at the details of NPF mechanism.