Dataset associated with "Observations of ice nucleating particles over Southern Ocean waters"

Abstract

Aerosol number, surface area, black carbon mass concentrations, Radon-222 concentrations, and Immersion-mode ice nucleating particle (INP) number concentrations were monitored onboard the RV Investigator (voyage IN2016_V02), an Australian Government research platform operated by the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) from 13 March to 15 April in 2016. These data were used to characterize INP composition and abundance present over the Southern Ocean. Measurements were made from the RV Investigator’s custom-designed air sampling inlet and a dedicated sampling line for the aerosol concentrator (both located approximately 18.4 m above sea level at the front of the ship), with the exception of the aerosol particles that were collected onto polycarbonate membrane filters in open-faced filter holders that were located approximately 23 m above the ocean surface. Total aerosol surface area and number were determined using a nephelopmeter and a condensation particle counter, respectively. Black carbon concentrations were determined using a multi-angle absorption photometer (MAAP). Radon (222Rn) concentrations were measured using a 700 L dual flow loop two-filter detector (Chambers et al., 2014; Griffiths et al., 2016), built by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) and installed as part of the permanent suite of atmospheric instrumentation onboard the RV Investigator. Finally, immersion-mode ice nucleating particles were measured using two methods: the ice spectrometer (IS, offline) and continuous flow diffusion chamber (CFDC, online).