Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics www.atmos-chem-phys.net 1680-7316 1680-7324 8 14 2008 10.5194/acp-8-4049-2008 http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/4049/2008/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/4049/2008/acp-8-4049-2008.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/4049/2008/acp-8-4049-2008.pdf 4049 4060 2008-07-25 Applicability of condensation particle counters to measure atmospheric clusters M. Sipilä mikko.sipila@helsinki.fi K. Lehtipalo M. Kulmala T. Petäjä H. Junninen P. P. Aalto H. E. Manninen E.-M. Kyrö E. Asmi I. Riipinen J. Curtius A. Kürten S. Borrmann C. D. O'Dowd Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Finland Institute for Atmospheric Physics, J. Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Particle Chemistry Department, Mainz, Germany School of Physics & Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies, Environmental Change Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland also at: Helsinki Institute of Physics, Helsinki, Finland now at: Earth and Sun Systems Laboratory, Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, USA now at: Institute for Atmosphere and Environment, J. W. Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany now at: Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA This study presents an evaluation of a pulse height condensation particle counter (PH-CPC) and an expansion condensation particle counter (E-CPC) in terms of measuring ambient and laboratory-generated molecular and ion clusters. Ambient molecular cluster concentrations were measured with both instruments as they were deployed in conjunction with an ion spectrometer and other aerosol instruments in Hyytiälä, Finland at the SMEAR II station between 1 March and 30 June 2007. The observed cluster concentrations varied and ranged from some thousands to 100 000 cm^−3. Both instruments showed similar (within a factor of ~5) concentrations. An average size of the detected clusters was approximately 1.8 nm. As the atmospheric measurement of sub 2-nm particles and molecular clusters is a challenging task, we conclude that most likely we were unable to detect the smallest clusters. Nevertheless, the reported concentrations are the best estimates to date for minimum cluster concentrations in a boreal forest environment. Aalto, P., Hämeri, K., Becker, E., Weber, R., Salm, J., Mäkelä, J. M., Hoell, C., O'Dowd, C. D., Karlsson, H., Hansson, H.-C., Väkevä, M., Koponen, I. 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