Search Results

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Item
    Ion-particle interactions during particle formation and growth at a coniferous forest site in central Europe
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2014) Gonser, S.G.; Klein, F.; Birmili, W.; Größ, J.; Kulmala, M.; Manninen, H.E.; Wiedensohler, A.; Held, A.
    In this work, we examined the interaction of ions and neutral particles during atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) events. The analysis is based on simultaneous field measurements of atmospheric ions and total particles using a neutral cluster and air ion spectrometer (NAIS) across the diameter range 2–25 nm. The Waldstein research site is located in a spruce forest in NE Bavaria, Southern Germany, known for enhanced radon concentrations, presumably leading to elevated ionization rates. Our observations show that the occurrence of the ion nucleation mode preceded that of the total particle nucleation mode during all analyzed NPF events. The time difference between the appearance of 2 nm ions and 2 nm total particles was typically about 20 to 30 min. A cross correlation analysis showed a rapid decrease of the time difference between the ion and total modes during the growth process. Eventually, this time delay vanished when both ions and total particles did grow to larger diameters. Considering the growth rates of ions and total particles separately, total particles exhibited enhanced growth rates at diameters below 15 nm. This observation cannot be explained by condensation or coagulation, because these processes would act more efficiently on charged particles compared to neutral particles. To explain our observations, we propose a mechanism including recombination and attachment of continuously present cluster ions with the ion nucleation mode and the neutral nucleation mode, respectively.
  • Item
    Observation of viscosity transition in α-pinene secondary organic aerosol
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2016) Järvinen, Emma; Ignatius, Karoliina; Nichman, Leonid; Kristensen, Thomas B.; Fuchs, Claudia; Hoyle, Christopher R.; Höppel, Niko; Corbin, Joel C.; Craven, Jill; Duplissy, Jonathan; Ehrhart, Sebastian; El Haddad, Imad; Frege, Carla; Gordon, Hamish; Jokinen, Tuija; Kallinger, Peter; Kirkby, Jasper; Kiselev, Alexei; Naumann, Karl-Heinz; Petäjä, Tuukka; Pinterich, Tamara; Prevot, Andre S.H.; Saathoff, Harald; Schiebel, Thea; Sengupta, Kamalika; Simon, Mario; Slowik, Jay G.; Tröstl, Jasmin; Virtanen, Annele; Vochezer, Paul; Vogt, Steffen; Wagner, Andrea C.; Wagner, Robert; Williamson, Christina; Winkler, Paul M.; Yan, Chao; Baltensperger, Urs; Donahue, Neil M.; Flagan, Rick C.; Gallagher, Martin; Hansel, Armin; Kulmala, Markku; Stratmann, Frank; Worsnop, Douglas R.; Möhler, Ottmar; Leisner, Thomas; Schnaiter, Martin
    Under certain conditions, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles can exist in the atmosphere in an amorphous solid or semi-solid state. To determine their relevance to processes such as ice nucleation or chemistry occurring within particles requires knowledge of the temperature and relative humidity (RH) range for SOA to exist in these states. In the Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets (CLOUD) experiment at The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), we deployed a new in situ optical method to detect the viscous state of α-pinene SOA particles and measured their transition from the amorphous highly viscous state to states of lower viscosity. The method is based on the depolarising properties of laboratory-produced non-spherical SOA particles and their transformation to non-depolarising spherical particles at relative humidities near the deliquescence point. We found that particles formed and grown in the chamber developed an asymmetric shape through coagulation. A transition to a spherical shape was observed as the RH was increased to between 35 % at −10 °C and 80 % at −38 °C, confirming previous calculations of the viscosity-transition conditions. Consequently, α-pinene SOA particles exist in a viscous state over a wide range of ambient conditions, including the cirrus region of the free troposphere. This has implications for the physical, chemical, and ice-nucleation properties of SOA and SOA-coated particles in the atmosphere.
  • Item
    On a mathematical model for laser-induced thermotherapy
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2008) Fasano, Antonio; Hömberg, Dietmar; Naumov, Dmitri
    We study a mathematical model for laser-induced thermotherapy, a minimally invasive cancer treatment. The model consists of a diffusion approximation of the radiation transport equation coupled to a bio-heat equation and a model to describe the evolution of the coagulated zone. Special emphasis is laid on a refined model of the applicator device, accounting for the effect of coolant flow inside. Comparisons between experiment and simulations show that the model is able to predict the experimentally achieved temperatures reasonably well.
  • Item
    Microphysical and optical properties of dust and tropical biomass burning aerosol layers in the Cape Verde region - an overview of the airborne in situ and lidar measurements during SAMUM-2
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Weinzierl, Bernadett; Sauer, Daniel; Esselborn, Michael; Petzold, Andreas; Veira, Andreas; Rose, Maximilian; Mund, Susanne; Wirth, Martin; Ansmann, Albert; Tesche, Matthias; Gross, Silke; Freudenthaler, Volker
    In the framework of the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar and in situ measurements of the particle size, aerosol mixing state and absorption coefficient were conducted. Here, the properties of mineral dust and tropical biomass burning layers in the Cape Verde region in January/February 2008 are investigated and compared with the properties of fresh dust observed in May/June 2006 close the Sahara. In the Cape Verde area, we found a complex stratification with dust layers covering the altitude range below 2 km and biomass burning layers aloft. The aerosol type of the individual layers was classified based on depolarization and lidar ratios and, in addition, on in situ measured Ångström exponents of absorption åap. The dust layers had a depth of 1.3 ± 0.4 km and showed a median åap of 3.95. The median effective diameter Deff was 2.5 μm and the dust layers over Cape Verde yielded clear signals of aging: large particles were depleted due to gravitational settling and the accumulation mode diameter was shifted towards larger sizes as a result of coagulation. The tropical biomass layers had a depth of 2.0 ± 1.1 km and were characterized by a median åap of 1.34. They always contained a certain amount of large dust particles and showed a median Deff of 1.1 μm and a fine mode Deff,fine of 0.33. The dust and biomass burning layers had a median aerosol optical depth (AOD) of 0.23 and 0.09, respectively. The median contributions to the AOD of the total atmospheric column below 10 km were 75 and 37%, respectively.
  • Item
    Stochastic weighted particle methods for population balance equations
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2011) Patterson, Robert I.A.; Kraft, Markus; Wagner, Wolfgang
    A class of stochastic algorithms for the numerical treatment of population balance equations is introduced. The algorithms are based on systems of weighted particles, in which coagulation events are modelled by a weight transfer that keeps the number of computational particles constant. The weighting mechanisms are designed in such a way that physical processes changing individual particles (such as growth, or other surface reactions) can be conveniently treated by the algorithms. Numerical experiments are performed for complex laminar premixed flame systems. Two members of the class of stochastic weighted particle methods are compared to each other and to a direct simulation algorithm. One weighted algorithm is shown to be consistently better than the other with respect to the statistical noise generated. Finally, run times to achieve fixed error tolerances for a real flame system are measured and the better weighted algorithm is found to be up to three times faster than the direct simulation algorithm.
  • Item
    Convergence of stochastic particle systems undergoing advection and coagulation
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2012) Patterson, Robert I.A.
    The convergence of stochastic particle systems representing physical advection, inflow, outflow and coagulation is considered. The problem is studied on a bounded spatial domain such that there is a general upper bound on the residence time of a particle. The laws on the appropriate Skorohod path space of the empirical measures of the particle systems are shown to be relatively compact. The paths charged by the limits are characterised as solutions of a weak equation restricted to functions taking the value zero on the outflow boundary. The limit points of the empirical measures are shown to have densities with respect to Lebesgue measure when projected on to physical position space. In the case of a discrete particle type space a strong form of the Smoluchowski coagulation equation with a delocalised coagulation interaction and an inflow boundary condition is derived. As the spatial discretisation is refined in the limit equations, the delocalised coagulation term reduces to the standard local Smoluchowski interaction.