Ernest Weingartner

Last Name

Weingartner

First Name

Ernest

ORCID

0000-0002-2427-4634

Organisational unit

01709 - Lehre Umweltsystemwissenschaften

Show all metadata

Search Results

Publications 1 - 10 of 18

Seasonal and diurnal characteristics of water soluble inorganic compounds in the gas and aerosol phase in the Zurich area
Fisseha, Rebeka; Dommen, Josef; Gutzwiller, Lukas; et al. (2006)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Gas and aerosol samples were taken using a wet effluent diffusion denuder/aerosol collector (WEDD/AC) coupled to ion chromatography (IC) in the city of Zurich, Switzerland from August to September 2002 and in March 2003. Major water soluble inorganic ions; nitrate, sulfate, and nitrite were analyzed online with a time resolution of two hours for the gas and aerosol phase. The fraction of water soluble inorganic anions in PM10 varied from 15% in August to about 38% in March. Seasonal and diurnal variations of nitrate in the gas and aerosol phase were observed with more than 50% of the total nitrate in the gas phase during August and more than 80% of nitrate in the aerosol phase during March exceeding the concentration of sulfate by a factor of 2. Aerosol sulfate, on the other hand, did not show significant variability with season. However, in the gas phase, the SO2 concentration was 6.5 times higher in winter than in summer. Nitrous acid (HONO) also showed a diurnal variation in both the gas and aerosol phase with the lowest concentration (0.2–0.6 µg/m3) in the afternoon. The primary pollutants, NO, CO and SO2 mixing ratios were often at their highest between 04:00–10:00 local time due to the build up of fresh vehicle emission under a nocturnal inversion.
Secondary organic aerosol formation by irradiation of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene-NOx-H2O in a new reaction chamber for atmospheric chemistry and physics
Paulsen, Dwane; Dommen, Josef; Kalberer, Markus; et al. (2005)
Environmental Science & Technology
Ice nuclei properties within a Saharan Dust Event at the Jungfraujoch
Chou, C.; Stetzer, Olaf; Weingartner, Ernest; et al. (2010)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
The new portable ice nucleation chamber (PINC) developed by the Institute for Atmo-spheric and Climate Sciences of ETH Zurich was operated during two campaigns PINCII and III at the high alpine research station Jungfraujoch situated at 3580m a.s.l., inMarch and June 2009, respectively. During this time of the year, a high probability of Saharan Dust Events (SDE) at the Jungfraujoch has been observed. We used animpactor with a cutoffsize of 1μm aerodynamic diameter and operated the systemat−31◦C and relative humidities of 127% and 91% with respect to ice and water, re-spectively in order to investigate the contribution of deposition freezing to mixed-phaseclouds and also to look at the number concentration of ice nuclei (IN) during a SDE. The average IN concentration during PINC II was 8 particles per liter whereas duringPINC III, the average number concentration was higher up to 14 particles per liter. TwoSDEs were detected on 15 and 16 June 2009. Our measurements show that the SDEshad IN number concentration up to several hundreds per liter. We found the best corre-lation between the number concentration of the larger particle fraction measured by an optical particle counter and the IN number concentration during a Saharan Dust Event.This correlation factor is higher for particles larger than 0.5 μm meaning that a higherconcentration of larger particles induced higher IN number concentration. No correla-tion could be found between the black carbon mass concentration and the variations inIN number concentration.
Changes of fatty acid aerosol hygroscopicity induced by ozonolysis under humid conditions
Vesna, Olga; Sjogren, S.; Weingartner, Ernest; et al. (2008)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Unsaturated fatty acids are important constituents of the organic fraction of atmospheric aerosols originating from biogenic or combustion sources. Oxidative processing of these may change their interaction with water and thus affect their effect on climate. The ozonolysis of oleic and arachidonic acid aerosol particles was studied under humid conditions in a flow reactor at ozone exposures close to atmospheric levels, at concentrations between 0.5 and 2 ppm. While oleic acid is a widely used proxy for such studies, arachidonic acid represents polyunsaturated fatty acids, which may decompose into hygroscopic products. The hygroscopic (diameter) growth factor at 93% relative humidity (RH) of the oxidized arachidonic particles increased up to 1.09 with increasing RH during the ozonolysis. In contrast, the growth factor of oleic acid was very low (1.03 at 93% RH) and was almost invariant to the ozonolysis conditions, so that oleic acid is not a good model to observe oxidation induced changes of hygroscopicity under atmospheric conditions. We show for arachidonic acid particles that the hygroscopic changes induced by humidity during ozonolysis are accompanied by about a doubling of the ratio of carboxylic acid protons to aliphatic protons. We suggest that, under humid conditions, the reaction of water with the Criegee intermediates might open a pathway for the formation of smaller acids that lead to more significant changes in hygroscopicity. Thus the effect of water to provide a competing pathway during ozonolysis observed in this study should be motivation to include water, which is ubiquitously present in and around atmospheric particles, in future studies related to aerosol particle aging.
Effect of photochemical aging on the ice nucleation properties of diesel and wood burning particles
Chou, Cédric; Stetzer, Olaf; Tritscher, Torsten; et al. (2012)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions
Ice nuclei properties within a Saharan dust event at the Jungfraujoch in the Swiss Alps
Chou, Cédric; Stetzer, Olaf; Weingartner, Ernest; et al. (2011)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
The new portable ice nucleation chamber (PINC) developed by the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Sciences of ETH Zurich was operated during two measurement campaigns at the high alpine research station Jungfraujoch situated at 3580 m a.s.l, in March and June 2009. During this time of the year, a high probability of Saharan dust events (SDE) at the Jungfraujoch has been observed. We used an impactor with a cutoff size of 1 μm aerodynamic diameter and operated the system at −31 °C and relative humidities of 127 % and 91 % with respect to ice and water, respectively. Investigation of the ambient number concentration of ice nuclei (IN) in the deposition nucleation mode and during a SDE in the free troposphere is reported. The results discussed in this paper are the first continuous IN measurements over a period of several days at the Jungfraujoch. The average IN concentration found during the campaign in March was 8 particles per liter whereas during the campaign in June, the average number concentration was higher up to 14 particles per liter. Two SDEs were detected on 15 and 16 June 2009. Our measurements show that the SDEs had IN number concentration up to several hundreds per liter. We found the best correlation between the number concentration of the larger particle fraction measured by an optical particle counter and the IN number concentration during a Saharan dust event. This correlation factor is higher for particles larger than 0.5 μm meaning that a higher concentration of larger particles induced higher IN number concentration. No correlation could be found between the black carbon mass concentration and the variations in IN number concentration.
Investigation of the effective peak supersaturation for liquid-phase clouds at the high-alpine site Jungfraujoch, Switzerland (3580 m a.s.l.)
Hammer, Emanuel; Bukowiecki, Nicolas; Gysel, Martin; et al. (2014)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Aerosols influence the Earth's radiation budget directly through absorption and scattering of solar radiation in the atmosphere but also indirectly by modifying the properties of clouds. However, climate models still suffer from large uncertainties as a result of insufficient understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions. At the high altitude research station Jungfraujoch (JFJ; 3580 m a.s.l., Switzerland) cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentrations at eight different supersaturations (SS) from 0.24% to 1.18% were measured using a CCN counter during Summer 2011. Simultaneously, in-situ aerosol activation properties of the prevailing ambient clouds were investigated by measuring the total and interstitial (non-activated) dry particle number size distributions behind two different inlet systems. Combining all experimental data, a new method was developed to retrieve the so-called effective peak supersaturation SSpeak, as a measure of the SS at which ambient clouds are formed. A 17-month CCN climatology was then used to retrieve the SSpeak values also for four earlier summer campaigns (2000, 2002, 2004 and 2010) where no direct CCN data were available. The SSpeak values varied between 0.01% and 2.0% during all campaigns. An overall median SSpeak of 0.35% and dry activation diameter of 87 nm was observed. It was found that the difference in topography between northwest and southeast plays an important role for the effective peak supersaturation in clouds formed in the vicinity of the JFJ, while differences in the number concentration of potential CCN only play a minor role. Results show that air masses coming from the southeast (with the slowly rising terrain of the Aletsch Glacier) generally experience lower SSpeak values than air masses coming from the northwest (steep slope). The observed overall median values were 0.41% and 0.22% for northwest and southeast wind conditions, respectively, corresponding to literature values for cumulus clouds and shallow-layer clouds. These cloud types are consistent with weather observations routinely performed at the JFJ.
Evaluating the capabilities and uncertainties of droplet measurements for the fog droplet spectrometer (FM-100)
Eugster, Werner; Spiegel, Johanna K.; Zieger, Paul; et al. (2012)
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Droplet size spectra measurements are crucial to obtain a quantitative microphysical description of clouds and fog. However, cloud droplet size measurements are subject to various uncertainties. This work focuses on the error analysis of two key measurement uncertainties arising during cloud droplet size measurements with a conventional droplet size spectrometer (FM-100): first, we addressed the precision with which droplets can be sized with the FM-100 on the basis of the Mie theory. We deduced error assumptions and proposed a new method on how to correct measured size distributions for these errors by redistributing the measured droplet size distribution using a stochastic approach. Second, based on a literature study, we summarized corrections for particle losses during sampling with the FM-100. We applied both corrections to cloud droplet size spectra measured at the high alpine site Jungfraujoch for a temperature range from 0 °C to 11 °C. We showed that Mie scattering led to spikes in the droplet size distributions using the default sizing procedure, while the new stochastic approach reproduced the ambient size distribution adequately. A detailed analysis of the FM-100 sampling efficiency revealed that particle losses were typically below 10% for droplet diameters up to 10 μm. For larger droplets, particle losses can increase up to 90% for the largest droplets of 50 μm at ambient wind speeds below 4.4 m s−1 and even to >90% for larger angles between the instrument orientation and the wind vector (sampling angle) at higher wind speeds. Comparisons of the FM-100 to other reference instruments revealed that the total liquid water content (LWC) measured by the FM-100 was more sensitive to particle losses than to re-sizing based on Mie scattering, while the total number concentration was only marginally influenced by particle losses. Consequently, for further LWC measurements with the FM-100 we strongly recommend to consider (1) the error arising due to Mie scattering, and (2) the particle losses, especially for larger droplets depending on the set-up and wind conditions.
A combined particle trap/HTDMA hygroscopicity study of mixed inorganic/organic aerosol particles
Zardini, Alessandro A.; Sjogren, S.; Marcolli, Claudia; et al. (2008)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Atmospheric aerosols are often mixtures of inorganic and organic material. Organics can represent a large fraction of the total aerosol mass and are comprised of water-soluble and insoluble compounds. Increasing attention was paid in the last decade to the capability of mixed inorganic/organic aerosol particles to take up water (hygroscopicity). We performed hygroscopicity measurements of internally mixed particles containing ammonium sulfate and carboxylic acids (citric, glutaric, adipic acid) in parallel with an electrodynamic balance (EDB) and a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA). The organic compounds were chosen to represent three distinct physical states. During hygroscopicity cycles covering hydration and dehydration measured by the EDB and the HTDMA, pure citric acid remained always liquid, adipic acid remained always solid, while glutaric acid could be either. We show that the hygroscopicity of mixtures of the above compounds is well described by the Zdanovskii-Stokes-Robinson (ZSR) relationship as long as the two-component particle is completely liquid in the ammonium sulfate/glutaric acid system; deviations up to 10% in mass growth factor (corresponding to deviations up to 3.5% in size growth factor) are observed for the ammonium sulfate/citric acid 1:1 mixture at 80% RH. We observe even more significant discrepancies compared to what is expected from bulk thermodynamics when a solid component is present. We explain this in terms of a complex morphology resulting from the crystallization process leading to veins, pores, and grain boundaries which allow for water sorption in excess of bulk thermodynamic predictions caused by the inverse Kelvin effect on concave surfaces.
Sensitivity estimations for cloud droplet formation in the vicinity of the high-alpine research station Jungfraujoch (3580 m a.s.l.)
Hammer, E.; Bukowiecki, Nicolas; Luo, Beiping P.; et al. (2015)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Aerosol radiative forcing estimates suffer from large uncertainties as a result of insufficient understanding of aerosol–cloud interactions. The main source of these uncertainties is dynamical processes such as turbulence and entrainment but also key aerosol parameters such as aerosol number concentration and size distribution, and to a much lesser extent, the composition. From June to August 2011 a Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment (CLACE2011) was performed at the high-alpine research station Jungfraujoch (Switzerland, 3580 m a.s.l.) focusing on the activation of aerosol to form liquid-phase clouds (in the cloud base temperature range of −8 to 5 °C). With a box model the sensitivity of the effective peak supersaturation (SSpeak), an important parameter for cloud activation, to key aerosol and dynamical parameters was investigated. The updraft velocity, which defines the cooling rate of an air parcel, was found to have the greatest influence on SSpeak. Small-scale variations in the cooling rate with large amplitudes can significantly alter CCN activation. Thus, an accurate knowledge of the air parcel history is required to estimate SSpeak. The results show that the cloud base updraft velocities estimated from the horizontal wind measurements made at the Jungfraujoch can be divided by a factor of approximately 4 to get the updraft velocity required for the model to reproduce the observed SSpeak. The aerosol number concentration and hygroscopic properties were found to be less important than the aerosol size in determining SSpeak. Furthermore turbulence is found to have a maximum influence when SSpeak is between approximately 0.2 and 0.4 %. Simulating the small-scale fluctuations with several amplitudes, frequencies and phases, revealed that independently of the amplitude, the effect of the frequency on SSpeak shows a maximum at 0.46 Hz (median over all phases) and at higher frequencies, the maximum SSpeak decreases again.

Publications 1 - 10 of 18

Ernest Weingartner

Last Name

First Name

ORCID

Organisational unit

Filters

Search Results