AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Airborne Measurements of Bioaerosol Across the Southern U.S
ANNE PERRING, Darrel Baumgardner, Mark T. Hernandez, Joshua P. Schwarz, Ru-Shan Gao, Greg Kok, Gavin McMeeking, David Fahey, CU CIRES- NOAA ESRL
Abstract Number: 343 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract Airborne observations of fluorescent biological aerosol were made using a Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor (WIBS-4, Droplet Measurement Technologies, Boulder, CO) aboard the Cloud Lab blimp (a Skyship 600 airship) during a series of flights that took place in September and October of 2013. The project sampled a wide band of longitude across the southern U.S. as it traveled from Titusville, FL to Monterrey, CA and probed the atmosphere up to 1000m above the surface. The dataset is divided into geographic regions and average concentrations of fluorescent particles aloft are examined. Fluorescent particles represent a significant fraction of supermicron loadings aloft and particles detected by the WIBS are segregated into seven populations based on their fluorescent behavior. This allows for more specific analysis of the different contributors to fluorescent bioaerosols than has previously been reported. We observe distinct size distributions and geographic variations for the different fluorescent populations detected by the WIBS-4. These variations are discussed and potential attributions are posited based on a growing library of known biological materials. Auxiliary particle data from other DMT instruments aboard the airship are used to put the WIBS measurements in context and to examine possible interferences from non-biological fluorescent particles.