Size distribution of neutral and charged particles smaller than 42 nm measured over the So

Size distribution measurements of neutral and charged particles smaller than 42 nm, collected over the Southern Ocean during the austral summer of 2016/2017. Data were gathered using a Neutral cluster and Air Ion Spectrometer (NAIS) aboard the icebreaker Akademik Tryoshnikov, with temporal coverage from January 22 to April 11, 2017. The dataset, authored by Andrea Baccarini of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, provides high-resolution concentration data corrected for diffusional losses and flagged for pollution events.

Use Cases

• Modeling new particle formation (NPF) and growth based on high-resolution particle concentration dynamics.
• Investigating the role of ion-induced nucleation in the atmosphere based on charged particle data.
• Studying the impact of ship exhaust and human activity on pristine polar air based on pollution flags.
• Analyzing the temporal evolution of aerosol size distributions in the remote Southern Ocean.

Strengths

• High temporal resolution with data collected at 1-second intervals and averaged to 90-120 seconds.
• Includes quality control with pollution flags (clean=1, polluted=0) based on a referenced methodology.
• Covers a specific and remote geographic region (Southern Ocean) during a defined expedition period.
• Data is corrected for known instrumental diffusional losses in the inlet.

Limitations

• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred from metadata files after download.
• Data missing due to instrumental problems were removed, potentially creating gaps in the time series.

Provenance

Source

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, via the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE).

Collection Method

Measured in situ using a Neutral cluster and Air Ion Spectrometer (NAIS) instrument aboard the icebreaker Akademik Tryoshnikov.

Time Range

January 22, 2017 to April 11, 2017

Geography

Southern Ocean, along the track of the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition.