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    In situ measurements of optical properties at Tinfou (Morocco) during the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment SAMUM 2006
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Schladitz, A.; Müller, T.; Kaaden, N.; Massling, A.; Kandler, K.; Ebert, M.; Weinbruch, S.; Deutscher, C.; Wiedensohler, A.
    In situ measurements of optical and physical properties of mineral dust were performed at the outskirts of the Saharan Desert in the framework of the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment part 1 (SAMUM-1). Goals of the field study were to achieve information on the extent and composition of the dust particle size distribution and the optical properties of dust at the ground. For the particle number size distribution, measured with a DMPS/APS, a size dependent dynamic shape factor was considered. The mean refractive index of the particles in this field study is 1.53–4.1 × 10-3i at 537 nm wavelength and 1.53–3.1 × 10-3i at 637 nm wavelength derived from measurements of scattering and absorption coefficients, as well as the particle size distribution. Whereas the real part of the refractive index is rather constant, the imaginary part varies depending on the mineral dust concentrations. For high dust concentration the single scattering albedo is primarily influenced by iron oxide and is 0.96 ± 0.02 and 0.98 ± 0.01 at 537 nm and 637 nm wavelength, respectively. During low dust concentration the single scattering albedo is more influenced by a soot-type absorber and is 0.89 ± 0.02 and 0.93 ± 0.01 for the same wavelengths.
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    Spectral absorption coefficients and imaginary parts of refractive indices of Saharan dust during SAMUM-1
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Müller, T.; Schladitz, A.; Massling, A.; Kaaden, N.; Kandler, K.; Wiedensohler, A.
    During the SAMUM-1 experiment, absorption coefficients and imaginary parts of refractive indices of mineral dust particles were investigated in southern Morocco. Main absorbing constituents of airborne samples were identified to be iron oxide and soot. Spectral absorption coefficients were measured using a spectral optical absorption photometer (SOAP) in the wavelength range from 300 to 800 nm with a resolution of 50 nm. A new method that accounts for a loading-dependent correction of fibre filter based absorption photometers, was developed. The imaginary part of the refractive index was determined using Mie calculations from 350 to 800 nm. The spectral absorption coefficient allowed a separation between dust and soot absorption. A correlation analysis showed that the dust absorption coefficient is correlated (R2 up to 0.55) with the particle number concentration for particle diameters larger than 0.5 μm, whereas the coefficient of determination R2 for smaller particles is below 0.1. Refractive indices were derived for both the total aerosol and a dust aerosol that was corrected for soot absorption. Average imaginary parts of refractive indices of the entire aerosol are 7.4 × 10−3, 3.4 × 10−3 and 2.0 × 10−3 at wavelengths of 450, 550 and 650 nm. After a correction for the soot absorption, imaginary parts of refractive indices are 5.1 × 10−3, 1.6 × 10−3 and 4.5 × 10−4.
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    State of mixing, shape factor, number size distribution, and hygroscopic growth of the Saharan anthropogenic and mineral dust aerosol at Tinfou, Morocco
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Kaaden, N.; Massling, A.; Schladitz, A.; Müller, T.; Kandler, K.; Schütz, L.; Weinzierl, B.; Petzold, A.; Tesche, M.; Leinert, S.; Deutscher, C.; Ebert, M.; Weinbruch, S.; Wiedensohler, A.
    The Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) was conducted in May and June 2006 in Tinfou, Morocco. A H-TDMA system and a H-DMA-APS system were used to obtain hygroscopic properties of mineral dust particles at 85% RH. Dynamic shape factors of 1.11, 1.19 and 1.25 were determined for the volume equivalent diameters 720, 840 and 960 nm, respectively. During a dust event, the hydrophobic number fraction of 250 and 350 nm particles increased significantly from 30 and 65% to 53 and 75%, respectively, indicating that mineral dust particles can be as small as 200 nm in diameter. Lognormal functions for mineral dust number size distributions were obtained from total particle number size distributions and fractions of hydrophobic particles. The geometric mean diameter for Saharan dust particles was 715 nm during the dust event and 570 nm for the Saharan background aerosol. Measurements of hygroscopic growth showed that the Saharan aerosol consists of an anthropogenic fraction (predominantly non natural sulphate and carbonaceous particles) and of mineral dust particles. Hygroscopic growth and hysteresis curve measurements of the ‘more’ hygroscopic particle fraction indicated ammonium sulphate as a main component of the anthropogenic aerosol. Particles larger than 720 nm in diameter were completely hydrophobic meaning that mineral dust particles are not hygroscopic.
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    Particle characterization at the Cape Verde atmospheric observatory during the 2007 RHaMBLe intensive
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2010) Müller, K.; Lehmann, S.; van Pinxteren, D.; Gnauk, T.; Niedermeier, N.; Wiedensohler, A.; Herrmann, H.
    The chemical characterization of filter high volume (HV) and Berner impactor (BI) samples PM during RHaMBLe (Reactive Halogens in the Marine Boundary Layer) 2007 shows that the Cape Verde aerosol particles are mainly composed of sea salt, mineral dust and associated water. Minor components are nss-salts, OC and EC. The influence from the African continent on the aerosol constitution was generally small but air masses which came from south-western Europe crossing the Canary Islands transported dust to the sampling site together with other loadings. The mean mass concentration was determined for PM10 to 17 μg/m3 from impactor samples and to 24.2 μg/m3 from HV filter samples. Non sea salt (nss) components of PM were found in the submicron fractions and nitrate in the coarse mode fraction. Bromide was found in all samples with much depleted concentrations in the range 1–8 ng/m3 compared to fresh sea salt aerosol indicating intense atmospheric halogen chemistry. Loss of bromide by ozone reaction during long sampling time is supposed and resulted totally in 82±12% in coarse mode impactor samples and in filter samples in 88±6% bromide deficits. A chloride deficit was determined to 8% and 1% for the coarse mode particles (3.5–10 μm; 1.2–3.5 μm) and to 21% for filter samples. During 14 May with high mineral dust loads also the maximum of OC (1.71μg/m3) and EC (1.25 μg/m3) was measured. The minimum of TC (0.25 μg/m3) was detected during the period 25 to 27 May when pure marine air masses arrived. The concentrations of carbonaceous material decrease with increasing particle size from 60% for the ultra fine particles to 2.5% in coarse mode PM. Total iron (dust vs. non-dust: 0.53 vs. 0.06 μg m3), calcium (0.22 vs. 0.03 μg m3) and potassium (0.33 vs. 0.02 μg m3) were found as good indicators for dust periods because of their heavily increased concentration in the 1.2 to 3.5 μm fraction as compared to their concentration during the non-dust periods. For the organic constituents, oxalate (78–151 ng/m3) and methanesulfonic acid (MSA, 25–100 ng/m3) are the major compounds identified. A good correlation between nss-sulphate and MSA was found for the majority of days indicating active DMS chemistry and low anthropogenic influences.
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    Mass deposition fluxes of Saharan mineral dust to the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean: An intercomparison of methods
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2014) Niedermeier, N.; Held, A.; Müller, T.; Heinold, B.; Schepanski, K.; Tegen, I.; Kandler, K.; Ebert, M.; Weinbruch, S.; Read, K.; Lee, J.; Fomba, K.W.; Müller, K.; Herrmann, H.; Wiedensohler, A.
    Mass deposition fluxes of mineral dust to the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean were determined within this study. In the framework of SOPRAN (Surface Ocean Processes in the Anthropocene), the interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean in terms of material exchange were investigated at the Cape Verde atmospheric observatory (CVAO) on the island Sao Vicente for January 2009. Five different methods were applied to estimate the deposition flux, using different meteorological and physical measurements, remote sensing, and regional dust transport simulations. The set of observations comprises micrometeorological measurements with an ultra-sonic anemometer and profile measurements using 2-D anemometers at two different heights, and microphysical measurements of the size-resolved mass concentrations of mineral dust. In addition, the total mass concentration of mineral dust was derived from absorption photometer observations and passive sampling. The regional dust model COSMO-MUSCAT was used for simulations of dust emission and transport, including dry and wet deposition processes. This model was used as it describes the AOD's and mass concentrations realistic compared to the measurements and because it was run for the time period of the measurements. The four observation-based methods yield a monthly average deposition flux of mineral dust of 12–29 ng m−2 s−1. The simulation results come close to the upper range of the measurements with an average value of 47 ng m−2 s−1. It is shown that the mass deposition flux of mineral dust obtained by the combination of micrometeorological (ultra-sonic anemometer) and microphysical measurements (particle mass size distribution of mineral dust) is difficult to compare to modeled mass deposition fluxes when the mineral dust is inhomogeneously distributed over the investigated area.
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    Size distribution, mass concentration, chemical and mineralogical composition and derived optical parameters of the boundary layer aerosol at Tinfou, Morocco, during SAMUM 2006
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Kandler, K.; Schütz, L.; Deutscher, C.; Ebert, M.; Hofmann, H.; Jäckel, S.; Jaenicke, R.; Knippertz, P.; Lieke, K.; Massling, A.; Petzold, A.; Schladitz, A.; Weinzierl, B.; Wiedensohler, A.; Zorn, S.; Weinbruch, S.
    During the SAMUM 2006 field campaign in southern Morocco, physical and chemical properties of desert aerosols were measured. Mass concentrations ranging from 30μgm−3 for PM2.5 under desert background conditions up to 300 000μgm−3 for total suspended particles (TSP) during moderate dust storms were measured. TSP dust concentrations are correlated with the local wind speed, whereasPM10 andPM2.5 concentrations are determined by advection from distant sources. Size distributions were measured for particles with diameter between 20 nm and 500μm (parametrizations are given). Two major regimes of the size spectrum can be distinguished. For particles smaller than 500 nm diameter, the distributions show maxima around 80 nm, widely unaffected of varying meteorological and dust emission conditions. For particles larger than 500 nm, the range of variation may be up to one order of magnitude and up to three orders of magnitude for particles larger than 10μm. The mineralogical composition of aerosol bulk samples was measured by X-ray powder diffraction. Major constituents of the aerosol are quartz, potassium feldspar, plagioclase, calcite, hematite and the clay minerals illite, kaolinite and chlorite. A small temporal variability of the bulk mineralogical composition was encountered. The chemical composition of approximately 74 000 particles was determined by electron microscopic single particle analysis. Three size regimes are identified: for smaller than 500 nm in diameter, the aerosol consists of sulphates and mineral dust. For larger than 500 nm up to 50μm, mineral dust dominates, consisting mainly of silicates, and—to a lesser extent—carbonates and quartz. For diameters larger than 50μm, approximately half of the particles consist of quartz. Time series of the elemental composition show a moderate temporal variability of the major compounds. Calcium-dominated particles are enhanced during advection from a prominent dust source in Northern Africa (Chott El Djerid and surroundings). The particle aspect ratio was measured for all analysed particles. Its size dependence reflects that of the chemical composition. For larger than 500 nm particle diameter, a median aspect ratio of 1.6 is measured. Towards smaller particles, it decreases to about 1.3 (parametrizations are given). From the chemical/mineralogical composition, the aerosol complex refractive index was determined for several wavelengths from ultraviolet to near-infrared. Both real and imaginary parts show lower values for particles smaller than 500 nm in diameter (1.55–2.8 × 10−3i at 530 nm) and slightly higher values for larger particles (1.57–3.7 × 10−3i at 530 nm).