Measurements of the Mass, Composition, Volatility, Hygroscopicity, and Optical Properties of Carbonaceous Aerosol on Board the R/V Ronald H. Brown during CalNex 2010

“The goal of the project is to improve understanding of the effects of atmospheric aging on climate forcing properties (light absorption, water uptake) of carbonaceous particles in the boundary layer, particularly black carbon (BC) particles through a set of field-based measuemrnts. A suite of instruments focused on real-time, volatility-dependent measurements of ambient aerosol mass, size, chemical composition (including elemental carbon and nonrefractory organic and inorganic components), hygroscopicity, and optical properties will be developed, tested, and deployed. This project will link state-of-the-art instrument techniques (SP2-AMS, SMPS, HTDMA, and PAS) behind a thermodenuder (TD) system for direct correlation of measurements. Two complementary techniques for the measurement of carbonaceous particles, a TD for volatility-resolved measurements of aerosol composition and properties, and the Soot Particle-Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SP2-AMS), for the real-time, size-resolved measurement of the chemical composition of the refractory and nonrefractory components of the carbonaceous particles will be used. Experiments will be conducted in collaboration with the University of Helsinki, who will provide a Hygroscopicity Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (HTDMA) for characterization of the water uptake properties of the aerosol particles and in coordination with NOAA researchers who operate optical-based instruments for characterization of particulate optical properties. Taken together, this suite of measurements will provide a complete and unique characterization of background, urban outflow, and specific point source emission (including ship- and port-based emissions) aerosols sampled during the CalNex 2010 study.”