Nonspherical Aerosol Particles Research Articles

Investigation of Light-Scattering Properties of Non-Spherical Sea Salt Aerosol Particles at Varying Levels of Relative Humidity

In the marine environment, sea salt aerosol particles transition from cubic or rectangular shapes when dry to various non-spherical shapes like ellipsoids and cylinders under different humidities. The complex humidity conditions and particle morphologies pose challenges to simulating the optical scattering properties of non-spherical sea salt aerosols. This study, addressing real environmental scenarios, employs the randomly oriented T-matrix computational method to calculate the optical scattering and polarization characteristics of sea salt aerosols at a wavelength of 1.06 μm under three relative humidity conditions (50%, 80%, and 95%) and three particle morphologies (spheroid, circular cylinder, and Chebyshev particle shapes). The results show the following: (1) In terms of optical scattering properties, the greater the non-sphericity of particles under the same humidity conditions, the larger the deviation between non-spherical and spherical models. For spheroid and circular cylinder sea salt aerosols, the error in the extinction efficiency factor mainly lies within 10–30%, reaching up to 120%; the error in the asymmetry factor is primarily between 3 and 25%, with a maximum of 75%, and the error in the forward-scattering phase function is mainly within 10–60%, reaching up to 180%. Chebyshev particle-shaped sea salt aerosols exhibit smaller deviations in optical scattering properties compared to equivalent spherical models, generally within the 5–25% range. Under different humidity conditions, the scattering characteristic parameters of sea salt aerosol particles for various non-spherical models show a positive correlation with relative humidity. When relative humidity is below 70%, the optical scattering properties of differently shaped sea salt aerosols are less affected by relative humidity. Above 70% relative humidity, the optical scattering properties of sea salt aerosols of different shapes become more sensitive to changes in relative humidity. (2) Regarding polarization properties, the greater the humidity, the more significant the impact on polarization properties, and as humidity increases, sea salt aerosols with higher non-sphericity exhibit more complex changes in polarization characteristics. The differences in shapes of non-spherical models mainly affect the numerical values of polarization properties. Under the same humidity conditions, spheroid polarization characteristics are significantly different from other models. In terms of depolarization ratio for aerosols, circular cylinder sea salt aerosols show the highest depolarization ratio at various relative humidities, followed by spheroid, with Chebyshev-shaped having the least. The effect of relative humidity on the depolarization ratio varies with the scattering angle. The higher the relative humidity, the more complex the variation in the depolarization ratio with scattering angle, with more pronounced oscillations in the curve, and the less non-spherical the shape, the more intense the oscillations in the depolarization ratio curve due to humidity. In conclusion, this study calculated the optical scattering and polarization properties of sea salt aerosol particles under different relative humidities and shapes, which is of significant importance for applications like 1.06 μm laser engineering and atmospheric radiation transmission in actual marine scenarios.

Effect of morphological properties on the particle size distribution measurements and modelling of porous and nonspherical aerosol behaviour

Estimating the time evolution of the suspended aerosol concentration in nuclear reactor containment is critical in assessing the environmental source term during severe accident conditions. Morphological properties of porous and non-spherical aerosol particles are necessary to convert the measured equivalent size distributions to actual size distributions and modelling the aerosol processes. Towards this, the dynamics of liquid PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) and metal aerosol (non-radioactive fission product equivalent SrO2; and structural steel) are studied individually in a 1 m3 closed chamber. The effect of initial particle size distributions (PSDs) based on different equivalent diameters and the morphological properties on realistic modeling of experimental results is analysed. Electrical Low-Pressure Impactor (ELPI) and Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) are used to measure concentration decay and size growth. The aerosol dynamics model is validated with PAO aerosol data and applied to metal aerosol. Modelled dynamics using both the aerodynamic and effective density (ρe) corrected mobility equivalent PSDs of ELPI (APSD and MEPSD) agree with the measured values within 10% deviation for PAO aerosol, which are spherical with ρe (0.82 g cm−3) slightly differed from 1 g cm−3. Modelled dynamics using APSD significantly deviate around 77.5–137% for the porous and non-spherical/fractal metal aerosols, irrespective of the morphological properties explicitly used to model the aerosol processes with marginal effect. As ρe of SrO2 and steel aerosols (3.16 and 3.34 g cm−3) are >1 g cm−3, aerodynamic distribution underestimates the coagulation phenomenon, the primary aerosol dynamics process to a larger extent. The mobility equivalent size distributions of ELPI model the aerosol dynamics within 6–23% deviation, as supported by SMPS measurements. This study can be extended to ascertain the input parameters required for improved estimations of sodium combustion aerosol dynamics, which has added complexity of hygroscopic growth and time-varying chemical speciation.

Modeling a Spheroidal Particle Ensemble and Inversion by Generalized Runge–Kutta Regularizers from Limited Data

Extracting information about the shape or size of non-spherical aerosol particles from limited optical radar data is a well-known inverse ill-posed problem. The purpose of the study is to figure out a robust and stable regularization method including an appropriate parameter choice rule to address the latter problem. First, we briefly review common regularization methods and investigate a new iterative family of generalized Runge–Kutta filter regularizers. Next, we model a spheroidal particle ensemble and test with it different regularization methods experimenting with artificial data pertaining to several atmospheric scenarios. We found that one method of the newly introduced generalized family combined with the L-curve method performs better compared to traditional methods.

Jacobians of single-scattering optical properties of super-spheroids computed using neural networks.

In atmospheric aerosol remote sensing and data assimilation studies, the Jacobians of the optical properties of non-spherical aerosol particles are required. Specifically, the partial derivatives of the extinction efficiency factor, single-scattering albedo, asymmetry factor, and scattering matrix should be obtained with respect to microphysical parameters, such as complex refractive indices, shape parameters and size parameters. When a look-up table (LUT) of optical properties of particles is available, the Jacobians traditionally can be calculated using the finite difference method (FDM), but the accuracy of the process depends on the resolution of microphysical parameters. In this paper, a deep learning scheme was proposed for computing Jacobians of the optical properties of super-spheroids, which is a flexible model of non-spherical atmospheric particles. Using the neural networks (NN), the error of the Jacobians in the FDM can be reduced by more than 60%, and the error reduction rate of the Jacobians of the scattering matrix elements can be more than 90%. We also tested the efficiency of the NN for computing the Jacobians. The computation takes 30 seconds for one million samples on a host with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. The accuracy and efficiency of the present NN scheme proves it is promising for applications in remote sensing and data assimilation studies.

Impacts of the Variations of Aerosols Components and Relative Humidity on the Visibility and Particles Size Distribution of the Desert Atmosphere

This paper investigates the Impact of relative humidity, varying the concentrations of water-soluble aerosol particle concentrations (WASO), Mineral Nuclei Mode Aerosols Particle Concentration (MINN), mineral accumulation mode, nonspherical (MIAN) aerosol particles concentrations and Mineral Coarse Mode Aerosols Particle Concentration (MICN) on the visibility and particles size distribution of desert aerosols based on microphysical properties of desert aerosols. The microphysical properties (the extinction coefficients, volume mix ratios, dry mode radii and wet mode radii) were extracted from Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds (OPAC 4.0) at eight relative humidities, RHs (00 to 99%) and at the spectral visible range of 0.4-0.8mm, the concentrations were varied to obtain five different models for each above-mentioned component. Regression analysis of some standard equations were used to determine the Angstrom exponent (α), the turbidity coefficient (β), the curvature (α2), humidification factor (), the mean exponent of aerosol growth curve (µ) and the mean exponent of aerosol size distributions (n). The values of angstrom exponent (α) were observed to be less than 1 throughout the five models at all RHs for the four studied components, and this signifies the dominance of coarse mode particles over fine mode particles. But the magnitude of the angstrom exponent (α) fluctuates all through the studied components except for WASO which increased with the increase in RH across the models and this also signifies the dominance of coarse mode particles with some traces of fine mode particles. The investigation also revealed that the curvature (α2) has both monomodal (negative signs) and bimodal (positive signs) types of distributions all through the five models and this also signifies the dominance of coarse mode particles with some traces of fine mode particles across the individual models for all the studied components. it was also found that the visibility decreased with the increase in RH and increased with the increase in wavelength. The investigation further revealed that the turbidity coefficient (β) fluctuates with the increase in RH and the particles concentrations, and this might be due to major coagulation and sedimentation. The analysis further found that there is a direct inverse power relation between the humidification factor and the mean exponent of aerosols size distribution with the mean exponent of aerosols growth curve. It was also found that as the magnitude of µ increased for MIAN, MINN and MICN, the effective hygroscopic growth decreased. For WASO, it was found that as the magnitude of µ decreased, the effective hygroscopic growth increased with the increase in particles concentrations and RH. The decreased in the magnitude of µ for WASO might be due to the fact that as we increase the non-hygroscopic particles, we decrease the deliquescence. The mean exponent of aerosol size distribution (n) being less than 3 shows foggy condition of the desert atmosphere the four investigated components and five studied models.

Polarimetric Backscatter Sonde Observations of Southern Ocean Clouds and Aerosols

Balloon-borne polarimetric backscatter sonde (polarsonde) observations of aerosol and cloud during the approach of a cold front at Macquarie Island (54.499 S 158.937 E) are described. The polarsonde captures vertical profiles of cloud occurrence and phase. The cloud base and cloud top heights from the backscatter sonde compare favourably with observations made by a co-located cloud radar and ceilometer. An estimate of the total scatter probability from a liquid cloud layer at 1000 m height is used with a Monte Carlo model of the instrument to obtain cloud particle concentration, and this is compared to a measurement of cloud condensation nucleus concentration made at sea level. Backscatter from aerosol, as well as cloud, is significant. A high aerosol loading in part of the pre-frontal airmass is observed at altitudes up to 6 km. Below the melting level, the high cross-polarised return, relative to the co-polarised, indicates a substantial concentration of solid, non-spherical aerosol particles, which due to the high humidity cannot be sea salt or sulphate. A back trajectory analysis indicates that the observed aerosol includes continental dust.

RESEARCH ON MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF A VARIETY OF NONSPHERICAL AEROSOL PARTICLES

Abstract. In order to study the environment or climate of an area, it is necessary to understand the composition of atmospheric aerosol particles, as well as microphysical properties, such as extinction cross section, scattering cross section, polarization degree, etc. For a long time, when calculating the microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosol particles, the aerosol particles are always be considered as spheres. Mie theory has been used to calculate the scattering properties of spherical particles with high accuracy. However, in reality, aerosol particles are not only spherical, they have complex composition and different shapes. The influence of non-spherical aerosol particles on atmospheric radiation, scattering and absorption cannot be ignored. Therefore, it is necessary to fully understand the micro-physical characteristics of non-spherical aerosol particles for fully understand the real atmospheric environment. Until now, T-Matrix method is one of the most effective and extensive methods to study the light scattering characteristics of non-sphericalrotationally symmetric aerosol particles. In this paper, the non-spherical aerosol particles extinction section, scattering cross section,the absorption cross section are calculated using T-Matrix method. The extinction, scattering, and the absorption properties arecalculated with variety of different types aerosol particles, and compared with the properties calculated by Mie scattering theory. Itlays a foundation for more accurate simulation of the microphysical properties of aerosol particles in real atmosphere.

A SCATTERING SIMULATION MODEL FOR NONSPHERICAL AEROSOL PARTICLES BASED ON PARALLEL FDTD SCHEME

Abstract. In order to simulate the scattering properties of nonspherical aerosol particles in visible and near infrared band precisely and efficiently, a scattering computation model for aerosol particles based on parallel FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) is developed. The basic principle of FDTD is introduced, and a new parallel computation scheme for FDTD is proposed, and is realized by MPI repeated non-blocking communication technique. The FDTD scattering model is validated against Lorenz-Mie theory and T Matrix method. Simulation results show that, the scattering properties obtained parallel FDTD scattering model are qualitatively in good agreement with the T matrix method and Lorenz-Mie theory, validating the accuracy of our model. The relative simulation error of Mueller is slightly larger in forward scattering directions than that in backward directions for particles with small size parameter, while for large particles, the result is opposite.

Characterizing the size and absorption of single nonspherical aerosol particles from angularly-resolved elastic light scattering

Measuring the absorption of a single aerosol particle is a challenging endeavor. Of the few techniques available, none are suitable for measuring the single-particle absorption of coarse-mode nonspherical aerosols. Analysis of two-dimensional angular optical scattering (TAOS) patterns provide a possible pathway to perform this measurement. Using a Multiple-Sphere T-Matrix (MSTM) code, we simulate the captured TAOS patterns with geometries similar to a previously designed instrument. By analyzing the size of the speckle and the integrated irradiance of these simulated TAOS patterns, we are able to distinguish between high-absorbing, weak-absorbing, and non-absorbing particles over the size range of 2 µm to 10 µm. In particular, the speckle present in the scattering patterns provides a means to estimate the size of the particle. Once the size of the particle is known, the integrated irradiance provides insight into the absorption of the particle.

Application of the weighted total field-scattering field technique to 3D-PSTD light scattering model

PSTD (Pseudo Spectral Time Domain) is an excellent model for the light scattering simulation of nonspherical aerosol particles. However, due to the particularity of its discretization form of the Maxwell's equations, the traditional Total Field/Scattering Field (TF/SF) technique for FDTD (Finite Differential Time Domain) is not applicable to PSTD, and the time-consuming pure scattering field technique is mainly applied to introduce the incident wave. To this end, the weighted TF/SF technique proposed by X. Gao is generalized and applied to the 3D-PSTD scattering model. Using this technique, the incident light can be effectively introduced by modifying the electromagnetic components in an inserted connecting region between the total field and the scattering field region with incident terms, where the incident terms are obtained by weighting the incident field by a window function. To optimally determine the thickness of connection region and the window function type for PSTD calculations, their influence on the modeling accuracy is firstly analyzed. To further verify the effectiveness and advantages of the weighted TF/SF technique, the improved PSTD model is validated against the PSTD model equipped with pure scattering field technique in both calculation accuracy and efficiency. The results show that, the performance of PSTD seems to be not sensitive to variation of window functions. The number of the connection layer required decreases with the increasing of spatial resolution, where for spatial resolution of 24 grids per wavelength, a 6-layer region is thick enough. The scattering phase matrices and integral scattering parameters obtained by the improved PSTD show an excellent consistency with those well-tested models for spherical and nonspherical particles, illustrating that the weighted TF/SF technique can introduce the incident precisely. The weighted TF/SF technique shows higher computational efficiency than pure scattering technique.

Science and technology of atmospheric effects on optical engineering: Progress in 3rd quinquennium of 21st century

Brief introduction with remarks is given for recent work in optical properties of turbulent and turbid atmospheres and their effects on optical engineering. Emphasis about turbulence investigation is paid on spatial structure characteristics of optical turbulence, turbulence profiling with lidar technology, and turbulence prediction based on mesoscale atmospheric model. Discussion of turbid atmosphere study is focused on light scattering by non-spherical aerosol particles, high resolution atmospheric transmittance from solar radiation measurement, total sky imaging with high spectral resolution, and the modulation transfer function of a turbid medium. Key points about light propagation through turbulence include non-Kolmogorov turbulence effects, probability distribution models of scintillation, and combined beam propagation. Atmospheric effects on quantum communication are discussed, and statistical characteristics of atmospheric effects on optical engineering are introduced.

Simultaneously simulating the scattering properties of nonspherical aerosol particles with different sizes by the MRTD scattering model.

In order to improve the computational efficiency of multi-resolution time domain (MRTD) scattering model, a multi-size synchronous-computational scheme (MSCS) is proposed. By using MSCS, the scattering properties of the particles with different sizes can be simultaneously calculated by MRTD model in one wave-particle interaction simulation. In this model, the pulse plane wave with a wide spectrum is taken as the incident light, and the light scattering simulation for particles with different sizes is transformed into the scattering calculation for a size-fixed particle at different wavelengths. To guarantee the stability and precision of the improved MRTD (IMRTD) model, the method to design model's input parameters, such as the spatial resolution, discrete time interval and pulse width, is proposed. To validate the accuracy of IMRTD model, its results are compared with those of Mie and T-Matrix theory, and the influence of spatial resolution on the precision of IMRTD is analyzed as well. At last, model's computational efficiency is also discussed. The simulation results show that, IMRTD method can calculate the scattering parameters of particles with different sizes simultaneously and accurately, where, in case that the pulse width is 5.56 × 10-8ns, and the radius of the size-fixed particle is 0.5μm (its size parameter is 6.28), light scattering process by particles with size parameters up to 12.56 can be successfully simulated. With the increasing of spatial resolution, the simulation accuracy is improved for all particles, and the improvement for large particles is more notable than that for small ones. It can also be found that the computational efficiency of IMRTD is much higher than that of traditional version.

Application of Convolution Perfectly Matched Layer in MRTD scattering model for non-spherical aerosol particles and its performance analysis

The performance of absorbing boundary condition (ABC) is an important factor influencing the simulation accuracy of MRTD (Multi-Resolution Time-Domain) scattering model for non-spherical aerosol particles. To this end, the Convolution Perfectly Matched Layer (CPML), an excellent ABC in FDTD scheme, is generalized and applied to the MRTD scattering model developed by our team. In this model, the time domain is discretized by exponential differential scheme, and the discretization of space domain is implemented by Galerkin principle. To evaluate the performance of CPML, its simulation results are compared with those of BPML (Berenger's Perfectly Matched Layer) and ADE-PML (Perfectly Matched Layer with Auxiliary Differential Equation) for spherical and non-spherical particles, and their simulation errors are analyzed as well. The simulation results show that, for scattering phase matrices, the performance of CPML is better than that of BPML; the computational accuracy of CPML is comparable to that of ADE-PML on the whole, but at scattering angles where phase matrix elements fluctuate sharply, the performance of CPML is slightly better than that of ADE-PML. After orientation averaging process, the differences among the results of different ABCs are reduced to some extent. It also can be found that ABCs have a much weaker influence on integral scattering parameters (such as extinction and absorption efficiencies) than scattering phase matrices, this phenomenon can be explained by the error averaging process in the numerical volume integration.

Light scattering computation model for nonspherical aerosol particles based on multi-resolution time-domain scheme: model development and validation

Due to the inadequate understanding of the scattering properties of nonspherical aerosols, considerable uncertainties still exist in the radiative transfer numerical simulation. To this end, a new scattering model for nonspherical aerosols is established based on Multi-Resolution Time-Domain (MRTD) scheme. The model is comprised of three modules: near field calculation module, near-to-far transformation module and scattering parameters computation module, in which, the near electromagnetic field is calculated by MRTD technique, the near-to-far transformation scheme is performed by volume integral method, and the calculation models for extinction and absorption cross section are directly derived from Maxwell's curl equations in the frequency domain. To achieve higher computational efficiency, the model is further parallelized by MPI non-blocking repeated communication technique. The accuracy of the scattering model is validated against Lorenz-Mie, Aden-Kerker and T-matrix theories for spherical particles, particles with inclusions and nonspherical particles. At last, the parallel computational efficiency of the MRTD scattering model is quantitatively discussed as well. The results obtained by parallel MRTD scattering model show an excellent agreement with those of the well-tested scattering theories, where the relative simulation errors of the phase function are less than 5% for most scattering angles. In backward directions, the simulation errors are much larger than that in forward scattering directions due to the stair approximation in particle construction. The computational accuracy of the integral scattering parameters like extinction and absorption efficiencies is higher than phase matrix, where the simulation errors of extinction and absorption efficiencies for the particle with a size parameter of 10 achieve -0.4891% and -1.6933%, respectively.

Assessment of lidar depolarization uncertainty by means of a polarimetric lidar simulator

Abstract. Lidar depolarization measurements distinguish between spherical and non-spherical aerosol particles based on the change of the polarization state between the emitted and received signal. The particle shape information in combination with other aerosol optical properties allows the characterization of different aerosol types and the retrieval of aerosol particle microphysical properties. Regarding the microphysical inversions, the lidar depolarization technique is becoming a key method since particle shape information can be used by algorithms based on spheres and spheroids, optimizing the retrieval procedure. Thus, the identification of the depolarization error sources and the quantification of their effects are crucial. This work presents a new tool to assess the systematic error of the volume linear depolarization ratio (δ), combining the Stokes–Müller formalism and the complete sampling of the error space using the lidar model presented in Freudenthaler (2016a). This tool is applied to a synthetic lidar system and to several EARLINET lidars with depolarization capabilities at 355 or 532 nm. The lidar systems show relative errors of δ larger than 100 % for δ values around molecular linear depolarization ratios (∼ 0.004 and up to ∼ 10 % for δ = 0.45). However, one system shows only relative errors of 25 and 0.22 % for δ = 0.004 and δ = 0.45, respectively, and gives an example of how a proper identification and reduction of the main error sources can drastically reduce the systematic errors of δ. In this regard, we provide some indications of how to reduce the systematic errors.

Effect of particle rotation on the drift velocity for nonspherical aerosol particles

The theoretical drift velocity of a randomly oriented nonspherical aerosol particles in an external field has been previously computed both in the limit of slow rotation and in the limit of fast rotation but not in the intermediate interval. The low rotation limit has been widely used to calculate the drift velocity for a range of nonspherical particles. The fast rotation limit, which is equivalent to the projected area method, has been used for molecular ions and agglomerates. A 1-D model equation containing the particle acceleration and an orientation dependent friction coefficient is proposed to predict the drift velocity between the two limits. This model has the essential physical phenomena without the complications of the 3-D treatment of the combined translation and rotation behavior. As an example, the drift velocity is computed for model parameters based on the friction tensor and rotational diffusion coefficient for circular cross section nanorods in the free molecular limit. For a momentum accommodation coefficient of 0.9 and a particle density of 1000kg/m3, the largest percent deviation from the low rotation velocity limit is 14% and the deviation is at most 1% for nanorods of any length for diameters of 20nm diameter or larger. Much larger changes in the velocity ratio are shown to occur if the momentum accommodation coefficient is reduced. Also, examples are given where the dimensionless rotation rate increases by about a factor of 7 from either a change in density or a change in the mean free path of the background gas. The results of recent experiments and model calculation of the collision cross section and mobilities of large molecular ions are discussed in regard to our model predictions on the effect of rotation on the drift velocity.

Influences of nonspherical aerosol particles and relative humidity of atmosphere on the performance of free space quantum communication

When the optical signal is transmitted in the free space, it inevitably passes through the atmosphere. The atmospheric aerosol is one of the most important components of the atmosphere, which not only affects the regional climate, but also influences the transmission of the free space optical signal. However, the study on the relationship between the non-spherical aerosols and the parameters of the free space quantum communication channel has not been carried out so far. To investigate this relationship, the spectral distribution function of the aerosol and its extinction factor should be analyzed first. According to three nonspherical aerosol particles: cylindrical particles, ellipsoidal particles and Chebyshev particles, the equation between channel attenuation of the free space quantum communication and the degree of quantum entanglement can then be established. After that, the effects of the relative humidity of the atmosphere on the degree of quantum entanglement and the fidelity of quantum communication can be analyzed and simulated finally. The simulation results show that the channel attenuations of the free space quantum communication are sequenced in ascending order as cylindrical particles, ellipsoidal particles, and Chebyshev particles, and their influences on the degree of quantum entanglement have different changing trends. When the transmission time is fixed, with the increase of aspect ratio of ellipsoidal particles, the degree of quantum entanglement shows a growing trend, with the increase of aspect ratio of cylindrical particles, the degree of quantum entanglement shows descending trend. With the increase of Chebyshev particle equivalent radius, the degree of quantum entanglement also shows the descending trend. When the relative humidity of the atmosphere is 0.2(0.9), the degree of quantum entanglement and the fidelity of quantum communication will be 0.72(0.75) and 0.32(0.22), respectively. It can be seen that the nonspherical aerosol particles and the relative humidity of the atmosphere each have a significant effect on the function of the free space quantum communication system. Therefore, in a practical free space quantum communication system, the shape factor of nonspherical aerosol particle, orientating factor, equivalent radius and the relative humidity of the atmosphere cannot be ignored, in order to improve the effectiveness and reliability of the free space quantum communication, the different parameters of the communication system should be adjusted adaptively.

Shape classification of single aerosol particle using near-forward optical scattering patterns calculation

Particle shapes can be distinguished by the properties of near-forward optical scattering patterns of particles. The discrete dipole approximation method is used to calculate the light scattering patterns of Bacillus sphaericus, Bacillus subtilis, Burkholderia pseudomallei based on their prolate spheroid models. Shape dependence of forward angle-resolved light scattering intensity for nonspherical biological aerosol particles is discussed by simulating their light scattering response of three detectors located in different azimuthal range. Combined with sphericity index method, forward small angle (5°–20°) angle-resolved light scattering intensity has the ability to identify the elongated particles and non-elongated particles under certain orientation conditions. This study can help not only design particle morphology measurement instrument but also detect harmful biological aerosol rapidly.

Transfer learning used to analyze the dynamic evolution of the dust aerosol

To keep the advantage of Support Vector Machine (SVM) in analyzing the dynamic evolution of the dust aerosol, we introduce transfer learning as a new method because transfer learning can utilize knowledge from previously collected data and add dozens of new samples, which can significantly improve dust and cloud classification results. It can also reduce the time of sample collection and make learning efficient. In this paper, we receive significant improvement effect using SVM as the basic learner in TrAdaBoost during four consecutive dust storm days, and correct one error classification in PDF. As a result, dust aerosol in high altitude can even spread to stratosphere. Moreover, in the process of dust aerosol transportation, it is highly affected by anthropogenic aerosol, for example, the color ratio (CR) changes from 0.728 to 0.460 and finally reaches 0.466, while depolarization ratio (DR) changes from 0.308 to 0.081 and finally reaches 0.156. It is indicated that the big size and non-spherical aerosol particles reduce obviously after dust aerosol deposition, but small size and spherical anthropogenic aerosol also produce a certain effect, and on March 22, 2010 had a small recovery above the ocean following the reduction of DR and CR. Due to the MODIS resolution not meeting the observation requirement and layer identification being different between CALIPSO and CloudSat, a problem such as stratocumulus cloud in low altitude still exists in aerosol and cloud classification. Lack of ground-based auxiliary data is the main problem which hinders our validation and quantitative analysis. It is pressing for a solution in future.

Brownian dynamics determination of the bipolar steady state charge distribution on spheres and non-spheres in the transition regime

A Brownian Dynamics (BD) method to calculate the steady state charge distribution on spherical and non-spherical aerosol particles is presented which circumvents ion-particle collision rate calculation. BD calculations are performed using both monodisperse and measured polydisperse ion properties under atmospheric pressure, room temperature conditions. Calculations reveal that for spherical particles in both the nano- and submicrometer size ranges, the fractions of charged particles are noticeably underpredicted by flux matching theory-based regression expressions. In the examination of non-spherical particles (aggregates, linear chains and cylinders), two models for accumulated particle charge are employed: (1) accumulated charge distributes itself along a particle surface, and (2) accumulated charge is immobile. Independent of model, it is found that particles having a Projected Area (PA) to diffusion based surface area (πRs2) ratio close to unity behaves similar to a sphere of the same mobility diameter. However, model specific behavior is observed for highly non-spherical particles (PA/πRs2<0.5). With distributed charge, highly non-spherical particles acquire more charges than an equivalent mobility sphere in the sub 100nm range, yet acquire less charge than spheres in the submicrometer range. Conversely, with immobile charges, non-spherical particles are found to be more charged than equivalent mobility diameter spheres in both the nano- and submicrometer size ranges. The results of BD calculations are used to develop accurate regression expressions for the charge distribution on spherical and non-spherical particles considering three situations: conducting particles (where both Coulomb and image potentials are accounted for), non-conducting particles where charge is distributed, and non-conducting particles where charge is immobilized.