Image courtesy of Brigitte Baeuerle

From: Brigitte Baeuerle
Arica, Chile, October 22, 2008

Measuring really small particles

In this picture, Cameron McNaughton from the University of Hawaii is filling a syringe with butanol, a colorless and mildly toxic alcohol, that is used inside instruments measuring particle number concentration on the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft. The instrument is called an “Ultrafine Condensation Nuclei Counter” and uses a laser to measures particles that are as small as 3 nanometers in diameter.

Cameron is a recent PhD graduate in Oceanography but specializes in intercontinental transport of air pollution and its effects on regional and global climate. Since 2000, he has participated in 8 airborne field campaigns, logging more than 650 hours as a "flight scientist". Cameron also brought his surfboard with him and is one of the few scientists who has been brave enough to go into the fairly cold Ocean!

Brigitte

Postcards from the Field: Climate Science from the Southeast Pacific

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