Sinha, P. R. Nagendra, N. Manchanda, R. K. Ojha, D. K. Kumar, B. Suneel Koli, S. K. Trivedi, D. B. Lodha, R. K. Sahu, L. K. Sreenivasan, S. Development of balloon-borne Impactor payload for profiling free tropospheric aerosol <p>Size-segregated aerosol vertical profiles in the troposphere are critically important for source attribution, transformation processes, atmospheric stability, and radiative forcing. For the first time, the development of a 6-stage Impactor for real-time balloon-borne measurements of size-segregated (cut-off diameter (D<sub>ae</sub>): 0.15-5 µm) aerosol mass concentrations in the free troposphere (FT) was tested during spring 2016 over Hyderabad, India, is presented. Total aerosol mass concentrations obtained with the 6-stage Impactor (M<sub>TI</sub>) and a co-located optical particle counter (OPC) (M<sub>TOPC</sub>) measurements at the surface under ambient conditions agreed to within 15%. The effect of aerosol particle growth on the M<sub>TI</sub> data are assessed using an urban aerosol particle model by scaling mass concentration of water-soluble (hydrophilic) aerosol particles at ambient RH to that at RH =50%. An overall uncertainty of the measurement of the M<sub>TI</sub> was estimated to be about 19%. The altitude variation of size-segregated mass concentrations of aerosol particles along with thermodynamic variables depicted convectively well-mixed layer extending up to about 4.5 km within which aerosol particles showed two distinct layers, one at ∼2 km, and another at about 4.5 km. The size-resolved air samples containing aerosol particles collected using the balloon-borne 6-stage Impactor will be useful for their chemical characterization and also long-range transport studies.</p> size-segregated mass concentrations;size-resolved air samples;6- stage Impactor;RH;aerosol particle model;M TI data;Total aerosol mass concentrations;TOPC;balloon-borne Impactor payload;aerosol particle growth;OPC;FT;M TI;4.5  km;tropospheric aerosol Size-segregated aerosol;aerosol particles;convectively well-mixed layer;aerosol mass concentrations;balloon-borne 6- stage Impactor 2018-11-08
    https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Development_of_balloon-borne_Impactor_payload_for_profiling_free_tropospheric_aerosol/7315067
10.6084/m9.figshare.7315067.v1