Long-term observations of tropospheric particle number size distributions and equivalent black carbon mass concentrations in the German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN)
Wolfram Birmili1,a,Kay Weinhold1,Fabian Rasch1,André Sonntag1,Jia Sun1,Maik Merkel1,Alfred Wiedensohler1,Susanne Bastian2,Alexander Schladitz2,b,Gunter Löschau2,Josef Cyrys3,4,Mike Pitz3,c,Jianwei Gu3,4,Thomas Kusch3,4,Harald Flentje5,Ulrich Quass6,Heinz Kaminski6,Thomas A. J. Kuhlbusch6,d,Frank Meinhardt7,Andreas Schwerin7,Olaf Bath7,Ludwig Ries7,Holger Gerwig7,Klaus Wirtz7,and Markus Fiebig8Wolfram Birmili et al. Wolfram Birmili1,a,Kay Weinhold1,Fabian Rasch1,André Sonntag1,Jia Sun1,Maik Merkel1,Alfred Wiedensohler1,Susanne Bastian2,Alexander Schladitz2,b,Gunter Löschau2,Josef Cyrys3,4,Mike Pitz3,c,Jianwei Gu3,4,Thomas Kusch3,4,Harald Flentje5,Ulrich Quass6,Heinz Kaminski6,Thomas A. J. Kuhlbusch6,d,Frank Meinhardt7,Andreas Schwerin7,Olaf Bath7,Ludwig Ries7,Holger Gerwig7,Klaus Wirtz7,and Markus Fiebig8
1Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
2Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG), Dresden, Germany
3Helmholtz Zentrum Munich (HMGU), Institute of Epidemiology II, Neuherberg, Germany
4University of Augsburg (UA), Wissenschaftszentrum Umwelt, Augsburg, Germany
5Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Meteorologisches Observatorium Hohenpeißenberg, Hohenpeißenberg, Germany
6Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology (IUTA), Duisburg, Germany
7German Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Dessau-Rosslau, Germany
8Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Kjeller, Norway
anow at: German Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Berlin, Germany
Received: 23 Oct 2015 – Discussion started: 24 Nov 2015 – Revised: 11 Jul 2016 – Accepted: 09 Aug 2016 – Published: 26 Aug 2016
Abstract. The German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN) is a cooperative atmospheric observation network, which aims at improving the scientific understanding of aerosol-related effects in the troposphere. The network addresses research questions dedicated to both climate- and health-related effects. GUAN's core activity has been the continuous collection of tropospheric particle number size distributions and black carbon mass concentrations at 17 observation sites in Germany. These sites cover various environmental settings including urban traffic, urban background, rural background, and Alpine mountains. In association with partner projects, GUAN has implemented a high degree of harmonisation of instrumentation, operating procedures, and data evaluation procedures. The quality of the measurement data is assured by laboratory intercomparisons as well as on-site comparisons with reference instruments. This paper describes the measurement sites, instrumentation, quality assurance, and data evaluation procedures in the network as well as the EBAS repository, where the data sets can be obtained (doi:10.5072/guan).
The German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN) provides new continuous data on tropospheric aerosol particles including number size distributions and black carbon. The data are equally relevant for atmospheric studies related to both climate-related and health-related issues. The published data underwent uniform measures of quality assurance and control. The data are available free of charge at the World Data Center for Aerosols EBAS data repository.
The German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN) provides new continuous data on tropospheric...
