88th Annual Meeting (20-24 January 2008)

Sunday, 20 January 2008
Atmospheric Measurements aboard C-130 During the Pacific Atmospheric Sulfur Experiment
Exhibit Hall B (Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)
Anastasia G. Yanchilina, Creighton University, Omaha, NE; and L. Mauldin and R. Anderson
Poster PDF (1.3 MB)
The Pacific Atmospheric Sulfur Experiment (PASE) is a study with a primary goal aimed at understanding the sulfur cycle in a remote marine atmosphere. The study will be conducted in August and September months of 2007 at Christmas Island on board the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft. It will foremost focus on measurements of DMS (dimethyl sulfide) and its contribution to formation of H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) and MSA (methane-sulfonic acid) by reaction with OH (hydroxyl). PASE will also concentrate on subsequent production of aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei from H2SO4, MSA, and NH3 concentrations in a cloud free convective boundary layer (CBL) and in outflow of marine cumulus. This study explains the measurement technique for OH, H2SO4, MSA, HO2, HO2+RO2 (peroxy radicals), and NH3 (ammonia) using the SICIMS (Selected ion chemical ionization mass spectrometer). It also presents sample measurements from research flights of OH, H2SO4, MSA, HO2, and HO2+RO2. In addition, this paper discusses the measurement technique utilized aboard the C-130 in testing SO2, DMS, DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), DMSO2 (dimethyl sulfone), O3 (ozone), aerosols, and cloud condensation nuclei. It includes several adaptations to technique and instrumentation from previous studies conducted: the First Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-1) in 1998, the Pacific Exploratory Missions A and B (PEM-Tropics) in 1996, and the Intercontinental Transport Experiment (INTEX-B) in 2006.

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