SAFMED+

SAFMED+ is the second part of the airborne campaign of the SAFMED component of the international CHARMEX programme.

The main objective is to characterise the concentrations, properties and sources of Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) during the transport of continental pollution plumes in connection with photochemical ageing.

The instrumental set-up allows the simultaneous characterisation of the gaseous and particulate organic fractions, providing information on: (1) concentration and size distribution of particles (e.g. CPC, UHSAS, SMPS), (2) optical properties (e.g. nephelometer), (3) volatility and chemical composition of the submicronic fraction of the aerosol (AMS), (4) composition of gaseous trace compounds including ozone, CO, CO2, NOx and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) LISA is in charge of the implementation of the proton transfer spectrometer (PTRMS) for the rapid measurement of the main VOCs of biogenic and anthropogenic origin, including the precursors of SOA, as well as the coordination of the campaign.

The “plus” this year is the combined exploration of the source and transport areas of the pollution. Flights dedicated to the exploration of pollution plumes and concentration gradients over the western ocean basin were combined with low-level overflights of biogenic emission zones representative of Mediterranean forest ecosystems and the tracking of emission plumes from ships. In total, 40 hours of flight time are planned for a period of 3 weeks. At the same time, a ground-based system complements the airborne measurements: surface measurements at Cap Corse as part of the long-term observatory of the CHARMEX system with, in particular, the implementation of additional continuous (C6-C12) and alert (C2-C10 hydrocarbons) VOC measurements, concomitant with the plume monitoring flights, two aerosol lidars at Cap Corse and Toulon, and ozone radiosoundings from Forcalquier (OHP)