Developing the ‘Modular Multiplatform Compatible Air Measurement System’ (MoMuCAMS)
Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL
Lay summary
Aerosols play an important role in the Arctic’s radiative budget, either directly by scattering or absorbing light or through aerosol-cloud interactions. The aerosols’ influence on climate depends on particle properties such as size, number concentration and chemical composition but also vertical distribution. Aerosols also have an impact on human health, as fine particles can cause respiratory diseases when inhaled. Despite a denser network of ground-based measurement facilities throughout the world, little is still known about the vertical distribution of aerosols, especially in polar regions. We know that aerosol properties and distributions exhibit seasonal variation due to the relationship between prevalent sources and meteorological conditions influencing transport from source regions and chemical reactions. However, many uncertainties remain regarding the physical and chemical processes leading to aerosol dispersion and their impacts. The MoMuCAMS (Modular Multiplatform Compatible Air Measurement System) project will help fill the lack of vertical aerosol and trace gas measurements in high latitude regions and allow the investigation of long-standing questions. The system includes a series of lightweight and small-sized instruments placed in a box, which hangs under a helikite (tethered balloon) for vertical atmospheric measurements in extreme environments. The payload is a modular platform allowing for easy modification of the instrumentation setup based on lifting capacities of the helikite and measurement objectives. MoMuCAMS contains four main instrumentation packages (1. An aerosol particle package 2. A trace gas package 3. A meteorological package 4. A turbulence and radiation package [to be developed at a later stage]) for a complete understanding of the vertical aerosol distribution and impact on Arctic climate. A central payload computer will collect and store data from each instrument and enable remote communication with the ground station via a serial radio system. Remote communication will provide real-time data monitoring for decision making on sampling strategies and for remote activation of certain instruments. A first objective of MoMuCAMS will be the collection of data in remote Arctic regions (i.e. Villum, Greenland) to primarily understand the vertical distribution of aerosols in clean environments. Analysis will also focus on exchanges between the planetary boundary layer and free troposphere in order to understand whether Arctic clouds are primarily fed from local or remote sources. A second objective is to deploy the package in high latitude urban regions (i.e. Fairbanks, Alaska) where the combination of ground-based temperature inversions and local sources of pollution from industrial activities and domestic heating causes the different pollutants to be trapped in the inversion layer. Measurements close to polluting sources will help us understand chemical reactions between different aerosols and trace gas species during nighttime and at cold temperatures.
Details
| Regional focus | Arctic |
| Location | Alaska, USA |
| Funded amount | 20,000 CHF |
| Project dates | 1st March 2020 – 28th February 2022 |
| Category | SPI Technogrants |