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CPC

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cpc: Condensation Particle Counter

The condensation particle counter (CPC) measures sub-micron aerosol particle number concentration by condensing fluid onto particles and causing them to grow to sizes that are easily detectable by optical scattering. The condensing liquid is typically an alcohol (e.g., butanol) or water.

Depending on the CPC type, typical CPC instruments can count particles with sizes that range from 3 to 3000 nanometers (ultrafine CPC) or from 10 to 3000 nanometers (fine CPC). The CPC is part of the aerosol observing system (AOS).

Measurements

Aerosol concentration
Cloud particle number concentration

Locations

  • Fixed
  • AMF1
  • AMF2
  • AMF3

Active Instrument Locations

Facility Name Instrument Start Date
Oliktok Point, Alaska; AMF3 2016-08-06
Lamont, OK (Extended and Co-located with C1) 2016-11-14
Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal 2013-10-04
U. of Helsinki Research Station (SMEAR II), Hyytiala, Finland; AOS 2013-09-26
MOSAIC (Drifting Obs - Study of Arctic Climate); AMF2 2019-03-27
Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal; Supplemental Site 2017-07-20
Off the Coast of California - NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown; AMF2 2015-01-09
Andenes, Norway; AMF1 (main site for COMBLE) 2019-09-16
Los Angeles, CA to Honolulu, HI - container ship Horizon Spirit; AMF2 2012-09-22
Highland Center, Cape Cod MA; MAOS 2012-06-24

Related Publications

2019

Kuang C and F Mei. 2019. Condensation Particle Counter (CPC) Instrument Handbook - Airborne Version. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-TR-227.

Marinescu P, E Levin, D Collins, S Kreidenweis, and S van den Heever. 2019. "Quantifying aerosol size distributions and their temporal variability in the Southern Great Plains, USA." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19(18), 10.5194/acp-19-11985-2019.

Yeom J, S Yum, F Mei, B Schmid, J Comstock, L Machado, and M Cecchini. 2019. "Impact of secondary droplet activation on the contrasting cloud microphysical relationships during the wet and dry seasons in the Amazon." Atmospheric Research, , 10.1016/j.atmosres.2019.104648. ONLINE.

Fast J, L Berg, Z Feng, F Mei, R Newsom, K Sakaguchi, and H Xiao. 2019. "The Impact of Variable Land‐Atmosphere Coupling on Convective Cloud Populations Observed During the 2016 HI‐SCALE Field Campaign." Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 11(8), 10.1029/2019MS001727.

Kulkarni G and D Gu. 2019. "Ice nucleation ability of loess from the northwestern United States." PLOS ONE, 14(8), 10.1371/journal.pone.0220991.

Liu J and Z Li. 2019. "Aerosol properties and their influences on low warm clouds during the Two-Column Aerosol Project." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19(14), 10.5194/acp-19-9515-2019.

Jensen M, E Bruning, D Collins, A Fridlind, P Kollias, C Kuang, D Rosenfeld, A Ryzhkov, A Varble, SD Brooks, S Collis, E Defer, J Fan, J Flynn, S Giangrande, R Griffin, J Hu, R Jackson, M Kumjian, T Logan, T Matsui, G McFarquhar, C Nowotarski, J Quaas, M Oue, R Sheesley, J Snyder, P Stier, S Usenko, S van den Heever, M van Lier Walqui, Y Wang, Y Xu, and G Zhang. 2019. Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) Science Plan. Ed. by Robert Stafford, DOE/SC-ARM-19-017.

Wang J, R Wood, M Jensen, E Azevedo, C Bretherton, D Chand, C Chiu, X Dong, J Fast, A Gettelman, S Ghan, S Giangrande, M Gilles, A Jefferson, P Kollias, C Kuang, A Laskin, E Lewis, X Liu, Y Liu, E Luke, A McComiskey, F Mei, M Miller, A Sedlacek, and R Shaw. 2019. Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) Field Campaign Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-19-012.

McFarquhar G, R Marchand, C Bretherton, S Alexander, A Protat, S Siems, R Wood, and P DeMott. 2019. Measurements of Aerosols, Radiation, and Clouds over the Southern Ocean (MARCUS) Field Campaign Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-19-008.

de Boer G, M Shupe, A Solomon, and J Intrieri. 2019. Profiling at Oliktok Point to Enhance Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) Experiments (POPEYE) Field Campaign Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-19-010.

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