ATom: Ultrafine Aerosol Characteristics and Formation, Lower Stratosphere, 2016-2018

This dataset consists of (a) selected aerosol and gas-phase observations made on all four deployments of NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom), (b) thermodynamic properties related to aerosol formation derived from these measurements, (c) 48-h back trajectories for ATom-4 observations, and (d) output from the Model of Aerosols and Ions in the Atmosphere (MAIA). ATom observations, thermodynamics, and back trajectories were inputs for MAIA model runs.

MAIA runs focused on data from ATom-4 deployment, and output includes aerosol formation rates, and ultrafine particle size distributions and number concentrations in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS). ATom 1-4 deployments included all four seasons from 2016 to 2018. This investigation sought to understand how new particle formation (NPF) can occur in the LMS, factors influencing the amount of NPF, and other potential sources of ultrafine aerosols in this region of the atmosphere.