ZEBIS - air sampler for isotopes aboard the Zeppelin NT
Deployment on the ZEPTER-2 measurement campaign
The second deployment of ZEBIS took place in October / November 2008 as part of the ZEPTER-2 measurement campaign in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. There, zeppelin-assisted investigations of regional photochemistry and air quality were carried out over different areas of land. ZEBIS was integrated on the Zeppelin in addition to many scientific instruments of the ICG-2 of the Research Center Jülich as well as the Institute for Environmental Physics of the University of Heidelberg in order to achieve the following work steps:
- Vertical profiles of HOx over different land areas, preferably in air masses with high VOC and low NOx content,
- Vertical profiles of HONO in the planetary boundary layer,
- Impact of land-use changes on particle properties; Measurement of the size distribution of the aerosols with the precursors isoprene, monoterpenes and aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as in supplementary filter samples the 13C carbon isotope,
- Testing and further development of air-chemical models; Trace gas degradation by radicals; Formation of secondary organic particles and their aging in aerodynamic models.
For the investigations over differently used land areas, locally limited measurements over Lake Constance, cities, forest areas and large-scale measurements, in which all land use areas were overflown, were carried out. In addition to the vertical profiles, the daily courses of the trace elements were examined at a height above the different areas. At the same time as the zeppelin flights, regular measurements of atmospheric trace gases took place with the mobile air laboratory VITO of the ICG-2 on the ground in order to obtain additional information at the lower edge of the atmosphere. The individual flight plans and strategies as well as the measurements themselves were supported by a chemical weather prediction using the RIU-EURAD model of the University of Cologne.
With ZEBIS, our working group provides important information through the investigations of the stable isotope ratios in VOC, which extensively supplements the measurement of the concentration of the trace gases.
For more information, see laboratory measurements.
