AAAR 31st Annual Conference
October 8-12, 2012
Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
A Balloon-Borne Platform for Measuring Vertically Resolved Concentrations of Black Carbon in the Troposphere
DANIEL WILSON, Odelle Hadley, Craig Corrigan, Jeff Blair, Thomas Kirchstetter, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Abstract Number: 557 Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
Abstract Sunlight-absorbing black carbon (BC) particles emitted during combustion of fossil and biomass fuels contribute to climate change. Modeling studies agree that the climate impact of BC depends on its vertical distribution in the atmosphere. This project is developing a balloon-borne platform for the routine vertical profiling of aerosols that aircraft-based platforms cannot perform because they are too costly. Our current platform includes an improved micro-Aethalometer and a miniaturized optical particle counter integrated with a data acquisition and tracking system, altogether weighing less than six pounds. At this weight, the payload is unrestricted by the Federal Aviation Administration. Compared to its predecessor, the improved micro-Aethalometer has increased sample flow rate, inlet humidity control, and improved firmware, all of which increase stability and sensitivity for high altitude operation. In addition to aerosol data, temperature, pressure, humidity and location are recorded. At 12 km, the payload is released from the balloon, a parachute deploys, and the payload descends gently back to the Earth’s surface. Transceivers incorporated into the instrument package transmit the location of the payload to a ground operator’s laptop throughout the flight allowing the payload to be recovered after each mission. This presentation will feature a description of the technology and several test flights in California.