FPVPC

Fluorescent Particle Vertical Profiles at CoURAGE

1 July 2025 - 31 July 2025

Lead Scientist: Maria Zawadowicz

Observatory: AMF (ARM Mobile Facility 1) - CRG

Understanding the vertical distribution of bioaerosols is crucial for advancing knowledge in public health, climate science, ecology, and atmospheric chemistry. Bioaerosols—airborne particles of biological origin such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, pollen, and spores—play significant roles in cloud formation, disease transmission, and biogeochemical cycling. While bioaerosol composition and abundance at ground level have been extensively studied, their vertical distribution remains poorly characterized across different geographic regions and meteorological conditions.

This campaign aims to fill this knowledge gap by studying the vertical distribution of bioaerosols at the urban-rural interface during the Coast-Urban-Rural Atmospheric Gradient Experiment (CoURAGE). The study will integrate in situ single-particle aerosol fluorescence measurements with off-line single-particle composition analysis. By leveraging high-time-resolution ARM tethered balloon system (TBS) vertical profiling alongside remote-sensing data, this project will provide novel insights into bioaerosol sources, transport mechanisms, and atmospheric residence times. These findings will improve climate models, allergen exposure predictions, and our understanding of long-range microbial dispersal.