Abstract
From past many decades, the integrating nephelometers are generally used to measure the aerosol scattering coefficient for ground level at different wavelengths. In recent years, the research focus has been shifted toward the airborne observations using either tethered balloons or drones. For this particular purpose, one needs light-weight instruments which are capable of measuring the aerosol scattering coefficient suitable for airborne activities. Thus, we report the design and development of a light-weight scattering coefficient counter (weight ~ 500 g, 7″ × 3″) with high sensitivity. This instrument has been specifically designed and developed for the measurement of aerosol scattering coefficient at 633 nm wavelength. The aerosol scattering coefficient calculation becomes extremely important for modeling aerosol optical/radiative properties. Delhi is one of the regions with high aerosol loadings, so one needs such Light-weight instruments for the aerosol scattering coefficient measurements. At present, this instrument has only been evaluated at ground level. But, before using the developed instrument for airborne observations, there is a strong need for comparison of the instrument against routinely used nephelometers for performance evaluation. Comparisons were performed between the light-weight scattering coefficient counter and high-end AURORA 3000 Nephelometer for two different seasons. For both the seasons, i.e., the monsoon season (July 25–August 24, 2017) and the winter season (February 1–28, 2018), we found a strong correlation (i.e., R2 = 0.99). However, the highest value of scattering coefficient was found to be 98 ± 32 Mm−1 with a mean value of 55 Mm−1 for the monsoon season, while the same for the winter season was observed to be 270 ± 108 Mm−1 with a mean value of 165 Mm−1. This light-weight instrument could be a potential instrument for aerosol scattering observations, especially for airborne platforms with payload mass limitations.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to Director, NPL, for his consistent support for the ongoing work. Authors acknowledge CSIR Network Project AIM_IGPHim (PSC-0112) for the financial support.
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Ahlawat, A., Mishra, S.K., Gumber, S. et al. Performance Analysis of Light-weight Scattering Coefficient Counter with AURORA 3000 Nephelometer over Delhi. MAPAN 35, 213–219 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12647-019-00361-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12647-019-00361-5