AERODYNE AEROSOL MASS SPECTROMETERS (AMS) ARE WIDELY USED TO QUANTIFY AND CHARACTERIZE THE COMPOSITION OF NON-REFRACTORY SUBMICRON PARTICLES WHICH ARE CENTRAL TO CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY. AMSS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED DURING MANY AIRCRAFT MEASUREMENT CAMPAIGNS INCLUDING ON NASA AIRCRAFT. THOSE DATASETS HOSTED AT NASA AND OTHER AGENCIES AROUND THE WORLD ARE NEEDED TO CONSTRAIN THE SOURCES AND PROPERTIES OF SUBMICRON AEROSOLS AND TO INFORM THEIR MODELING. THE QUANTIFICATION CAPABILITIES OF THE AMS HAVE RECENTLY BEEN DEBATED IN THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO EVIDENCE SO FAR THAT REAL UNCERTAINTIES FOR AMBIENT DATA ARE LARGER THAN THE STATED ONES IN PARTICULAR FOR AIRCRAFT DATASETS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO BETTER CONSTRAIN THESE UNCERTAINTIES IN AMS QUANTIFICATION IN PARTICULAR FOR NASA CAMPAIGNS.

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators