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DOE Pulse
  • Number 322  |
  • October 11, 2010

New aerosol-observing instruments to deploy

Attaching the sampling tower for testing at Brookhaven.

Attaching the sampling tower
for testing at Brookhaven.

The first of four mobile shipping containers outfitted with a suite of sophisticated atmosphere-monitoring instruments departed from Brookhaven Lab this September for deployment high on a mountain in Colorado. The instruments on this and three other mobile, self-contained research stations were purchased and/or custom designed by Brookhaven scientists and collaborators with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility.

These units will function as a powerful tool for adding to our scientific understanding of how aerosols impact climate change. Instruments include wet and dry nephelometers, a particle soot absorption photometer, a condensation particle counter, a cloud condensation nuclei counter, an ozone detector, and a solid-state meteorological sensor to measure local sampling conditions (winds, temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, and rainfall) — all within a 20-foot, insulated SeaTainer shipping container. Railings, sampling towers, and pumps are secured inside during shipping and can be assembled on location in less than half a day.

Because these units will be deployed under possibly severe conditions, they incorporate a multitude of safety and stability features, as well as capabilities to remotely operate and monitor the instruments. In the case of severe weather, the unit can go into “turtle mode,” with sampling towers lowered, instruments idled, and outside doors sealed in one to two hours or less. For further information go to Brookhaven National Laboratory News.

[Karen McNulty Walsh, 631.344.8350,
kmcnulty@bnl.gov]