Real-time detection of airborne fluorescent bioparticles in Antarctica

Abstract

Abstract. We demonstrate, for the first time, continuous real-time observations of airborne bio-fluorescent aerosols recorded at the British Antarctic Survey's Halley VI Research Station, located on the Brunt Ice Shelf close to the Weddell Sea coast (lat 75 • 34 59 S, long 26 • 10 0 W) during Antarctic summer, 2015. As part of the NERC MAC (Microphysics of Antarctic Clouds) aircraft aerosol cloud interaction project, observations with a real-time ultraviolet-lightinduced fluorescence (UV-LIF) spectrometer were conducted to quantify airborne biological containing particle concentrations along with dust particles as a function of wind speed and direction over a 3-week period.Significant, intermittent enhancements of both non-and bio-fluorescent particles were observed to varying degrees in very specific wind directions and during strong wind events. Analysis of the particle UV-induced emission spectra, particle sizes and shapes recorded during these events suggest the majority of particles were likely a subset of dust with weak fluorescence emission responses. A minor fraction, however, were likely primary biological particles that were very strongly fluorescent, with a subset identified as likely being pollen based on comparison with laboratory data obtained using the same instrument.

Intercomparison of Multiple UV-LIF Spectrometers Using the Aerosol Challenge Simulator

“…Ambient measurements have been conducted worldwide using UV-LIF spectrometers, and in comparison to the MBS, for which no published ambient data currently exist, multiple versions of the WIBS have been part of worldwide measurement campaigns [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Laboratory experiments conducted using UV-LIF spectrometers are limited in relation to the quantity of ambient measurements conducted worldwide.…”

Characterisation and source identification of biofluorescent aerosol emissions over winter and summer periods in the United Kingdom

“…2.3). The use of this method has been applied for analysis of data from a Colorado pine forest (Robinson et al, 2013;Crawford et al, 2014;Huffman et al, 2013;Gosselin et al, 2016), a highaltitude site in central France (Gabey et al, 2013), and the Brunt ice shelf in Antarctica (Crawford et al, 2017). This analysis has also been applied to laboratory data and has been shown to effectively segregate between polystyrene latex spheres (PSLs) of different sizes and doping (Crawford et al, 2015).…”

“…The HAC method was used to distinguish and statistically segregate different biological particle types, using the approach of Crawford et al (2015). Previous studies have reported the success of the method for data analysis in a range of environments (Gabey et al, 2013;Crawford et al, 2014Crawford et al, , 2015Crawford et al, , 2017Gosselin et al, 2016), and its use has been compared to other analysis methods, including various supervised learning techniques (Ruske et al, 2016).…”

“…Using (1) the fluorescent channel intensities, (2) the cluster size and shape, and (3) the percentage contribution to the overall fluorescent particles at each site, initial assumptions were made of the particle type. These assumptions were aided by laboratory experiments conducted using a WIBS-3D (Crawford et al, 2017), and are herein referred to as "Dstl Experiment 2014". Further support is provided by a comprehensive laboratory experiment conducted at Dstl in 2017 using a WIBS-4, and is herein referred to as "Dstl Experiment 2017" (details of which are to be published in 2019).…”

“…The constituents of PBAP vary in size and abundance, and include viruses (0.01-0.3 µm), bacteria and associated agglomerates (0.1-10 µm), fungal spores (1-30 µm), pollen (5-100 µm), and fragments such as plant and animal debris (Després et al, 2012). Biological particle dispersal has implications for agricultural, animal, and human health (Polymenakou et al, 2008;Fisher et al, 2012;D'Amato et al, 2002;Douwes et al, 2003), whilst also influencing the hydrological cycle and climate, by acting as ice nuclei and cloud condensation Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 1666 E. Forde et al: Characterisation and source identification of biofluorescent aerosol emissions in the UK nuclei (Pöschl et al, 2010;Schumacher et al, 2013;Huffman et al, 2013;Hoose and Möhler, 2012;Pratt et al, 2009;Pope, 2010).…”