Novel particulate aerosol sampling design capable of withstanding high winds in polar and high mountain regions

Measuring light absorbing impurities, such as dust, aerosol black carbon, and dark-colored bioaerosols, is critical for understanding the changing surface energy budget of our planet. Unfortunately, current passive dust samplers are bulky, incapable of withstanding high winds, and provide no mechanism to securely store compartmentalized dust samples. To overcome these challenges, CIRES/NSIDC Fellow Mark Serreze and NSIDC Postdoc Alia Khan will design, build, and test an improved, highly aerodynamic passive dust/aerosol sampler prototype to better enable the study of aerosols and impurities in the cryosphere. The instrument will be durable to withstand high winds, not freeze/ice-over at low temperatures, and will feature a multi-chamber system that will rotate automatically to enable multiple sample collection without the need to empty the chamber after each sample collection. In addition to enabling higher-resolution (temporal) sampling than previously possible, this project has the potential to lead to future larger grants that will support more robust sampling of aeolian dust, bioaerosols, and anthropogenic derived aerosols such as black carbon in both the atmosphere, and frozen surfaces (snow and ice).