Development of an Airborne Cloud Water Sampler

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

An aircraft-based cloud water collection system will be developed, tested, and deployed on a C-130 aircraft during the DYCOMS-II (Dynamics and Chemistry of Marine Stratocumulus) field program. The design improves upon previous aircraft-based collectors by offering an automated collection system that is capable of obtaining multiple, well-characterized cloud water samples for chemical analysis. An axial flow cyclone system provides efficient separation of cloud drops from the ambient air stream. Centrifugal force resulting from the rotational flow acts to remove cloud drops to the duct wall, where they accumulate and are removed through an extraction slot located downstream of the vanes. Cloud water samples collected in the field study will be analyzed chemically. These data will be used to investigate the effects of cloud processing on aerosol particles and the influence of aerosol physical and chemical properties on cloud formation.