Development of a multi-stage cloud water collector Part 1: Design and field performance evaluation

Cloud chemistry can vary as a function of drop size. In order to investigate variations in chemical composition across the drop size spectrum, a new multi-stage cloud water collector was developed. The Colorado State University 5-Stage cloud water collector (CSU 5-Stage) separates drops, based upon the principles of cascade inertial impaction, into five different fractions. Its design incorporates many features to facilitate its use in the field, and maintain both consistent performance between varying atmospheric conditions and the chemical and physical integrity of the collected sample. Limited field tests indicate the CSU 5-Stage works reasonably within field measurement uncertainty, and its results are comparable to those from other cloud collectors and consistent with additional concurrent measurements. Data obtained using the CSU 5-Stage provide additional insight into drop size-dependent chemistry in fogs/clouds. These insights should result in an improved understanding of both the impact of clouds on the fate of atmospheric species, and cloud microphysics and dynamics.