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Atmospheric fine particle pollution has an important impact on regional environment, global climate and human health, so it has been one of the key and difficult points of air pollution prevention and control. In recent years, due to the continuous promotion of China's air pollution prevention and control plan, the problem of atmospheric fine particle pollution has been significantly improved, and the relevant measurement technology has also made considerable progress. In this paper, the development and application of atmospheric fine particle measurement technology in recent years are reviewed based on the information of physical and chemical parameters such as atmospheric fine particle number concentration, particle size distribution and chemical composition. For the measurement of fine particle number concentration, it mainly includes diffusion charge counting and condensation particle counting. The former is mainly applicable to the combustion emission scenario, and the latter is applicable to the urban air low concentration scenario. For the measurement of fine particle size, it mainly involves single particle size and overall particle size spectrum analysis. The single particle size is mostly determined by electron microscopy and optical microscopy, and the particle size spectrum analysis is mainly determined by electro migration classification. For the component measurement of fine particles, aerosol mass spectrometry and spectral analysis are mainly used. Finally, in view of the new requirements of research on the evolution mechanism of atmospheric particulates and intelligent monitoring and supervision, this paper discusses the future development of atmospheric fine particulates in multi-parameter comprehensive characterization, rapid measurement of dynamic processes, high-performance micro-nano sensors and other directions.

Rapid road network expansion has heightened the importance of surface condition information for traffic accident prevention and route optimization. This article introduces a laser diode-based sensor that identifies seven surface conditions and accurately measure ice, water, and snow film thicknesses on roads. An optical module was developed to detect weak optical signals based on the characteristic absorption spectrum of the target surface. The module used three laser diodes (1310, 1440, and 1550 nm wavelengths) as light sources. Additionally, a road classification algorithm that is adaptable to foggy weather was developed using a multi-wavelength processing protocol. The sensor was subjected to numerous calibration and performance verification experiments. During thick foggy measurements, the processed spectra displayed a maximum variation of 2.372% across a 600 to 25,000 m visibility range with a relative standard deviation of only 0.328%. This demonstrated effective weakening of the effects of visibility variations. During winter field testing, the sensor classified road conditions effectively and accurately measured ice, snow, and water film thicknesses, with a correlation coefficient of 0.97444. The accuracy of the measurements was less than 0.5 mm. The sensor's effectiveness for long-term field-based road testing has been verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate and efficient sampling of fog droplets is a prerequisite for online measurement. The performance of such a sampler relies on the internal flow field, temperature, and humidity. Based on aerodynamics and turbulence theory, we designed a fog droplet sampler with multi-segment structure and specific temperature control. First, we used COMSOL to investigate the effects of key system parameters. The sampling efficiency first increased and then decreased with sampling flow. The reason was that the impact force under reasonable flows maintained particles in suspension, whereas high flows with high turbulence intensity increased the likelihood of particles colliding with the walls. Based on the simulations, we determined the optimal sampling flow (1000 L/min), segment structure (a cylindrical inlet), and segment dimension (25 mm for the optical measurement segment) of the sampler, with a sampling efficiency of 0.87. Subsequently, we investigated the effects of temperature, relative humidity, and sampling flow on the particle size. Size change increased with temperature but decreased with relative humidity and sampling flow. Additionally, temperature control contributed to condensation prevention, and size change was < 1% when the temperature was 15 °C. Finally, we conducted an experiment for verification purposes. The sampling efficiency of the fabricated system was 0.77, i.e., 11.49% lower than for the simulation. Size change was < 1 μm in both the simulations and the experiments, while variation was 6.30% in the experiment, i.e., a difference of 3.97% from the simulation. Hence, the designed fog droplet sampler achieved accurate and efficient sampling of fog droplets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately measuring fog droplet spectra is essential for understanding fog's formation, dissipation, and composition, which makes a challenge to the performance of droplet sampling and measurement systems. Standard particles such as glass beads are widely used to characterize their performance. However, the disparities between glass beads and fog droplets, including refractivity, size distribution, and composition, may lead to calibration errors. In this context, we developed a three-stage fog droplet screening system based on the virtual impact principle. We determined the Stokes number and the diameter of the acceleration nozzle through theoretical analysis. Subsequently, we utilized the computational fluid dynamics software Fluent to explore the influence of key system parameters on screening efficiency, including the diameter of the collection nozzle (D1) and the distance between the acceleration nozzle and the collection nozzle (S). The simulation results indicated that the screening efficiency improved with S. The best performance was achieved when D1 = 1.35 D0 and S = 1.90 D0 (where D0 represents the diameter of the acceleration nozzle), resulting in an average screening efficiency of 75.4%. Finally, we conducted experiments to validate the effectiveness of the screening system. The screening efficiency of each outlet was estimated at 42.2%, 66.1%, 84.0%, and 95.3%, with differences of 2.0%, 3.3%, 4.1%, and 4.7% compared to the simulations. The average screening efficiency was 71.9%, with a deviation of 3.5% from the simulation. These findings demonstrated that the screening system could provide an alternative technical apparatus for characterizing droplet sampling and measurement systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nucleation in the free troposphere (FT) and subsequent growth of new particles represent a globally important source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Whereas new particle formation (NPF) has been shown to occur frequently in the upper troposphere over tropical oceans, there have been few studies of NPF at lower altitudes. In addition, the impact of urban emissions and biomass burning on the NPF in tropical marine FT remains poorly understood. In this study, we examine NPF in the lower and mid-troposphere (3–8.5 km) over the tropical ocean and coastal region using airborne measurements during the recent Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP 2 Ex). NPF was mostly observed above 5.5 km and coincided with elevated relative humidity (RH) and reduced condensation sink (CS), suggesting that NPF occurs in convective cloud outflow. The frequency of NPF increases with altitude, reaching ∼ 50 % above 8 km. An abrupt decrease in NPF frequency coincides with early monsoon transition and is attributed to increased CS resulting from reduced convective activity and more frequent transport of aged urban plumes. Surprisingly, a large fraction of NPF events in background air were observed in the early morning, and the NPF is likely made possible by very low CS despite low actinic flux. Convectively detrained biomass-burning plumes and fresh urban emissions enhance NPF as a result of elevated precursor concentrations and scavenging of pre-existing particles. In contrast, NPF is suppressed in aged urban plumes where the reactive precursors are mostly consumed, while CS remains relatively high. This study shows a strong impact of urban and biomass-burning emissions on the NPF in tropical marine FT. The results also illustrate the competing influences of different variables and interactions among anthropogenic emissions, convective clouds, and meteorology, which lead to NPF under a variety of conditions in tropical marine environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric aerosols affect the global energy budget by scattering and absorbing sunlight (direct effects) and by changing the microphysical structure, lifetime, and coverage of clouds (indirect effects). Both aerosol direct and indirect effects are affected by the vertical distribution of aerosols in the atmosphere, which is further influenced by a range of processes, such as aerosol dynamics, long-range transport, and entrainment. However, many observations of these processes are based on ground measurements, limiting our ability to understand the vertical distribution of aerosols and simulate their impact on clouds and climate. In this work, we examined the vertical heterogeneity of aerosols over the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) using data collected from the Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols and Land Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) campaign. The vertical profiles of meteorological and aerosol physiochemical properties up to 2500 m above the ground are examined based on the 38 flights conducted during the HI-SCALE campaign. The aerosol properties over the SGP show strong vertical heterogeneity and seasonal variabilities. The aerosol concentrations at the surface are the highest due to strong sources of emission at ground level. The mode diameter of these aerosols during summer (~ 100 nm) is larger than that during spring (~ 30 nm), potentially as a result of enhanced condensational growth due to enriched volatile organic compounds in summer. The concentration of aerosols below 30 nm in the boundary layer (BL) (e.g., below 1000 m) during spring is higher than that during summer, a result of the stronger new particle formation (NPF) events and a reduced condensation sink in spring. In the BL, the size of the aerosols gradually increases with altitude due to condensational growth and cloud processing. However, the composition of the aerosols remained similar, with organics and sulfates representing 59.8 ± 2.2 % and 22.7 ± 2.1 % of the total mass in the BL. Through the vertical profiles of aerosol properties, we noticed a considerable number of NPF events (7 out of 38) in the upper BL, where the newly formed particles continue to grow as they are mixed down to the surface. There is also an indication that deep convection brings aerosols from the free troposphere (FT) to the surface, where they grow to contribute to the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Overall, the vertical heterogeneity of aerosols over the SGP is influenced by aerosol dynamics (new particle formation, growth, and cloud processing) and transport processes (long-range transport, entrainment, and convective downward transport). Case studies showing the influence of these factors are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hygroscopic growth of atmospheric aerosols plays an important role in regional radiation, cloud formation, and hence climate. Aerosol hygroscopic growth is often characterized by hygroscopic tandem differential mobility analyzers (HTDMAs), and Xie et al. (2020) recently demonstrated that hygroscopic growth measurements of a single particle are possible using a surface plasmon resonance microscope-azimuthal rotation illumination (SPRM-ARI). The hygroscopic properties of ambient aerosols are not uniform and often exhibit large relative humidity (RH) and size variabilities due to different chemical compositions and mixing states. To better understand the contribution of different aerosol components and establish a link between the apparent hygroscopic properties of single particles and bulk aerosols, we conduct combined hygroscopic growth measurements using a SPRM-ARI and an HTDMA as a case study to prove the concept (experimental information: 100–200 nm, during noontime on 28 September 2021 and 22 March 2022 in Hefei, China). According to the distinct hygroscopic growth behavior from single-particle probing using a SPRM-ARI, the individual particles can be classified into three categories defined as non-hygroscopic (NH), less hygroscopic (LH), and more hygroscopic (MH). The mean growth factor (GF) of the three categories can be utilized to reproduce the GF distribution obtained from the HTDMA measurement. The chemical compositions of individual particles from the three categories are identified to be organic carbon (OC), soot (mainly elemental carbon), fly ash, and secondary aerosols (mainly OC and sulfate), using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The coupled SPRM–HTDMA measurement suggests a size-dependent variation of aerosol chemical components, i.e., an increase of OC fraction with increasing particle sizes, which agrees reasonably well with the chemical compositions from collected aerosol samples. This likely links the hygroscopic properties of individual particles to their bulk hygroscopic growth and chemical composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]