Balloon-borne optical counter for in situ aerosol measurements

Abstract

A new balloon-borne optical particle counter has been developed to make in situ measurements of stratospheric aerosols. The intensity of light scattered at 60° from the forward direction by individual particles is measured. Aerosol number concentrations in seven size channels can be inferred. The counter has been calibrated using polystyrene and polyvinyl toluene latex spheres. There is good agreement between measured and calculated individual pulse intensities for aerosol with radii from 0.16 to 2.6 µm. The size resolution is limited by broadening of the pulse count/pulse height spectrum, arising mainly from the photoelectron statistics of photomultipliers. Stratospheric aerosol measurements have been made using this instrument at Kiruna (68°N, 21°E), Sweden, in February 1995, and at Aire sur l'Adour (44°N, 0°W), France, in 1992, 1993, and 1994. The uncertainties in the measurements are discussed. The retrieved aerosol concentrations and size distributions are presented, and shown to be broadly consistent with measurements made by the University of Wyoming optical particle counter.