Evolution of Aerosol Size Distributions during 2006 TexAQS / GoMACCS

During the 2006 Texas Air Quality Study / Gulf of Mexico Atmospheric Composition and Climate Study (TexAQS / GoMACCS) ground, sea and airborne measurements were conducted in the larger Houston area. As one on four research aircraft the NOAA WP-3D was equipped with a large set of instruments measuring aerosol microphysical and chemical properties and large set of gas-phase species. Major improvements of aerosol sizing instrumentation onboard of the NOAA WP-3D were introduced for this mission. Together the Nucleation Mode Aerosol Size Spectrometer (NMASS), Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS) and White Light - Optical Particle Counter (WL-OPC) cover the aerosol diameter range of 3nm to 10μm with a 1 second resolution. The 1Hz data of all three instruments is combined to calculate aerosol size, surface and volume distributions using an inversion technique. First results from the 2006 TexAQS / GoMACCS mission together with a brief introduction of the aerosol sizing instruments will be presented. Changes in size distribution as a function of the age of individual plumes from urban and industrial sources will be evaluated for evidence of inorganic and organic gas-to-particle conversion.