Description of instruments at DLR Falcon wing

DMT Ultra-high Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer – Airborne (UHSAS-A)

UHSAS-A (manufacturer photo)

The UHSAS-A is an optical particle spectrometer, measuring in the diameter range from 60nm to 1µm. The instrument laser operates at 1064nm and it collects the light scattered by individual particles over a large solid angle (22°–158°). From the detected scattered light, the particle size is inverted. Description by manufacturer.

DMT Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer Probe (PCASP-100X)

PCASP-100X (manufacturer photo)

The PCASP-100X is an optical particle spectrometer. It operates with a laser at 633nm and collects light scattered by individual particles at an angular range from 35° to 120°. It is sensitive to particles in the diameter range from 0.1µm to 3.0µm. Description by manufacturer.

DMT Cloud, Aerosol, and Precipitation Spectrometer with Polarization Detection (CAPS)

CAPS (manufacturer photo)

The CAPS is a combination of an optical particle spectrometer (named CAS), a shadow imager (named CIP), and a Hotwire LWC instrument.

The CAS part operates with a laser at 658nm and collects light scattered by individual particles to an angular range from 4° to 12° (forward detector) and to the angular range from 168° to 176° (polarization-sensitive backward detectors). The CAS is sensitive to particles in the diameter range from 0.5µm to 50µm. The polarization of the backscattered light gives an indication for the particle shape.

The CIP part uses light with a wavelength of 658nm and detects particle shadows with an array of 64 optical diodes. The size range from ~20µm to ~1mm is covered.

The hotwire part measures the power required to keep a coil at a constant temperature of 125°C. From the required power the liquid water content can be estimated.

Description by the manufacturer.