NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

SPEC has developed a Fast Cloud Droplet Probe (FCDP) with state-of-the-art electro-optics and electronics that utilizes forward scattering to determine cloud droplet distributions and concentrations in the range of 1.5 to 50 microns.  Though designed for cloud droplet measurements, the probe has also shown reliable measurements in ice clouds.  The new electronics include a temperature controlled fiber-coupled laser, FSSP-300 optics with pinhole limiting depth of field (Lance et al. 2010), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), 40 MHz analog-to-digital-converter (ADC) sampling, custom amplifiers, a very small and low power Linux based 400 MHz processor and a 16-Gigabyte flash drive that stores data at the probe.

The AC3 was designed at NASA Langley inspired by a previous Straub and Collett (2004) version. The probe samples in-situ cloud water by separating droplets from the main airflow.  This is accomplished by imparting swirl on an axial flow following an in-line stator, and collecting droplets that have impacted on the probes outer walls. Cloud-water is then transferred into the aircraft cabin using teflon tubing and manually collected into vials. Cloud-water can then be analyzed by a number of laboratory analytical techniques including ion-chromatography, pH electrodes, or total organic content. The probe utilizes a shutter to inhibit sample contamination by aerosols.    

Aerodyne High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) operated by the Langley Aerosol Research Group Experiment (LARGE).  Provides fast-response non-refractory submicron aerosol mass concentrations (e.g., organics, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and chloride) and tracer m/z fragments (e.g., m/z44, m/z55, etc.).