Abstract
Abstract. We compared observations of aerosol particle formation and growth in different parts of the planetary boundary layer at two different environments that have frequent new particle formation (NPF) events. In summer 2012 we had a campaign in Po Valley, Italy (urban background), and in spring 2013 a similar campaign took place in Hyytiälä, Finland (rural background). Our study consists of three case studies of airborne and ground-based measurements of ion and particle size distribution from ∼1 nm. The airborne measurements were performed using a Zeppelin inside the boundary layer up to 1000 m altitude. Our observations show the onset of regional NPF and the subsequent growth of the aerosol particles happening almost uniformly inside the mixed layer (ML) in both locations. However, in Hyytiälä we noticed local enhancement in the intensity of NPF caused by mesoscale boundary layer (BL) dynamics. Additionally, our observations indicate that in Hyytiälä NPF was probably also taking place above the ML. In Po Valley we observed NPF that was limited to a specific air mass.
Highlights
The boundary layer (BL) is the lowest layer of the earth’s atmosphere (Stull, 1988)
We studied where new particle formation (NPF) occurs in the BL and how it relates to BL evolution, comparing two different environments
On these days the NPF event was fully captured during the Zeppelin measurement
Summary
The boundary layer (BL) is the lowest layer of the earth’s atmosphere (Stull, 1988). The BL is an interface controlling the exchange of mass and energy between atmosphere and surface. Ground-based measurements are often used as representative observations for the whole BL. They cannot cover vertical internal variability of BL, and this can be addressed only by airborne observations. Convective mixing creates a mixed layer (ML) that rapidly grows during the morning by entraining air from above and can reach an alti-
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