Perring, AE, Schwarz, JP, Baumgardner, D et al. (8 more authors) (2015) Airborne observations of regional variation in fluorescent aerosol across the United States. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 120 (3). 1153 - 1170. ISSN 2169-897X
Abstract
Airborne observations of fluorescent aerosol were made aboard an airship during CloudLab, a series of flights that took place in September and October of 2013 and covered a wideband of longitude across the continental U.S. between Florida and California and between 28 and 37-N latitudes. Sampling occurred from near the surface to 1000-m above the ground. A Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor (WIBS-4) measured average concentrations of supermicron fluorescent particles aloft (1-μm to 10-μm), revealing number concentrations ranging from 2.1-±-0.8 to 8.7-±-2.2-×-104 particles m-3 and representing up to 24% of total supermicron particle number. We observed distinct variations in size distributions and fluorescent characteristics in different regions, and attribute these to geographically diverse bioaerosol. Fluorescent aerosol detected in the east is largely consistent with mold spores observed in a laboratory setting, while a shift to larger sizes associated with different fluorescent patterns is observed in the west. Fluorescent bioaerosol loadings in the desert west were as high as those near the Gulf of Mexico, suggesting that bioaerosol is a substantial component of supermicron aerosol both in humid and arid environments. The observations are compared to model fungal and bacterial loading predictions, and good agreement in both particle size and concentrations is observed in the east. In the west, the model underestimated observed concentrations by a factor between 2 and 4 and the prescribed particle sizes are smaller than the observed fluorescent aerosol. A classification scheme for use with WIBS data is also presented. Key Points Fluorescent supermicron aerosol loads are reported across the southern U.S. Regional variations in fluorescent behavior and particle size are observed Comparison to modeled emissions shows an underestimate in the west
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | ©2014, American Geophysical Union. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Bioaerosol; Biological particles; CCN; Fluorescent aerosol; IN; PBAP |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number BBC No External Reference |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jul 2015 10:59 |
Last Modified: | 03 Aug 2015 00:38 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2014JD022495 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Geophysical Union |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/2014JD022495 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:85461 |