References

ACP

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

ACP

1680-7324

Copernicus GmbH

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acp-12-3687-2012

Characterization of ions at Alpine waterfalls

Kolarž

¹ ⁴ Gaisberger

² ⁴ Madl

³ Hofmann

³ Ritter

² Hartl

Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade, Pregrevica 118, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia

Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Paracelsus Medical University, Strubergasse 21, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Department of Materials Research and Physics, Division of Physics and Biophysics, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Str. 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

These authors contributed equally to this work

24 04 2012

12 8 3687 3697

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During a three-year field campaign of measuring waterfall generated ions, we monitored five different waterfalls in the Austrian Alps. Most measurements were performed at the Krimml waterfall (Salzburg, Austria), which is the biggest waterfall in Europe, and the Gartl waterfall (Mölltal, Austria). We characterized spatial, time and size distributions of waterfall-generated ions under the influence of surrounding topography. The smallest ions with boundary diameters of 0.9, 1.5 and 2 nm, were measured with a cylindrical air ion detector (CDI-06), while ion sizes from 5.5 to 350 nm were measured using a modified Grimm SMPS aerosol spectrometer. High negative ion concentration gradients are detected in the vicinity of the waterfalls, whereas the increase of positive ions was only moderate. Ions in the nano range were the most abundant at 2 nm, and at 120 nm in the sub-micrometer range.

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