Stratospheric aerosols like Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs) or volcanic aerosols are investigated by different types of balloon borne sensors in co-operation with the University of Nagoya, Japan, and the University of Wisconsin, Laramie, Wisconsin. The sensors flown are dedicated optilca particle counters (OPC) or backscatter sondes (BKS), respectively.
University of Wisconsin, Laramie, Wisconsin University of Nagoya, Nagoya, Japan
Optical particle counter sonde (OPC): The balloon-borne aerosol sonde based on an optical particle counter (OPC) was developed at the University of Nagoya, Japan. Air sampled by a pump is analysed by light from a laser diode. Retrieved spectra allow to determine aerosol size distributions and other properties of aerosols. Pressure, temperature and humidity from a VAISALA radio sonde are transferred by telemetry to the AWI receiver station together with the aerosol data, allowing to retrieve the altitude profiles. Backscattersondes (BKS): The backscatter sonde from the University of Wyoming is a well proven balloon borne aerosol sounding instrument operating with two channels ("blue" 480nm and "red" 940nm). Light emitted from a xenon flashlamp is backscattered by atmospheric aerosols and recorded by two photomultiplier devices. A standard meteorological package giving atmospheric pressure and temperature allows to calculate the altitude of the balloon. The measurements allow to characterise polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) and volcanic aerosols.