Abstract
This chapter introduces the challenges inherent with the measurement of atmospheric aerosol chemistry and composition. The heterogeneous characteristics of atmospheric aerosols, spanning a continuum size spectrum from 10−9 to 10−5 m and varying chemical compositions, mixing state, physical properties cause an infinite number of degrees of freedom which are not fully measurable by the existing instrumentation. This chapter introduces the most important properties of aerosols, including concentration, size, mass, hygroscopicity, chemical and optical properties. The most common instrumentation for measuring areosols properties, such as nephelometers, aethalometers, particle counters, and mass spectrometers, are illustrated. This chapter focus on aerosols in situ measurements, which exploiting all principles of aerosol detection, provides more sophisticated characterization than what can be achieved by remote sensing, which relies on the optical methods alone. Some indications are given on the relathionship between areosol properties and effects on visibility, health and air quality, radiation, cloud interaction and climate changes.
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Decesari, S. (2011). Ground-Based Observing Systems for Atmospheric Aerosol Chemistry and Composition. In: Cimini, D., Visconti, G., Marzano, F. (eds) Integrated Ground-Based Observing Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12968-1_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12968-1_10
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