Data measured during this year's expedition

The flight from Turkey to Egypt showed towards its end that desert dust contributes to the aerosol absorption in the atmosphere. Due to northerly winds we measured dust only above Egypt. The flight over the Arabian peninsula took place in a very turbulent atmosphere, which can lift the dust very high. Nevertheless, we measured an important contribution of dust only at the beginning of the flight. During the flight to Pakistan we measured desert dust again at the beginning of the flight, and very high absorption towards the end close to Karachi. Combustion aerosols, especially black carbon, are dominant at the altitude of the flight. They are smaller and remain in the atmosphere longer, reaching higher altitudes. The contribution of desert dust to aerosol absorption is weaker and becomes more important at lower altitudes, where it is abundant.

Polet iz Turčije do Egipta je proti koncu poti pokazal, da k absorpciji delcev v zraku prispeva tudi puščavski pesek. Ker je veter pihal s severa, smo pesek izmerili šele nad Egiptom. Polet nad Arabskim polotokom je potekal v zelo turbulentni atmosferi, kar pomeni, da se prah iz puščave lahko dvigne zelo visoko. Kljub temu smo izmerili pomembnejši prispevek puščavskega peska samo na začetku poleta. Med poletom v Pakistan smo spet izmerili puščavski pesek na začetku poleta, na koncu pa zelo visoko absorpcijo v bližini Karačija. Na višini poleta prevladujejo aerosoli, ki nastanejo z izgorevanjem goriv, med njimi prevladujejo delci črnega ogljika - ti so manjši in ostanejo v atmosferi dalj časa, zato se tudi dvignejo višje. Prispevek puščavskega peska k absorpciji aerosolov je šibkejši, pomembnejši postane nižje v atmosferi, kjer ga je zelo veliko.

Check the Black Carbon Measurements