Seminar

Abstract

Coarse-mode aerosol (>1 µm diameter) constitutes a significant fraction of the globally-emitted aerosol mass concentration. It primarily includes mineral dust and sea-salt, but also contains bioaerosol and microplastic particles which form a particularly poorly characterized subgroup of atmospheric aerosol constituents.

In this presentation, I will show recent results from airborne and laboratory measurements of mineral dust and microplastic, and give an overview of novel observational capabilities at the University of Vienna:

• Based on observations during the A-LIFE aircraft field experiment in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2017, we will give insight, how pollution in Arabian and Saharan dust mixtures changes the dust’s microphysical and optical properties.
• We will present a new method to identify airborne microplastics in situ by merging imaging, fluorescence, and machine learning of single particles.
• The talk will close with an overview of the new Aerosol Observatory at the University of Vienna that will also serve as a National Facility for aerosol in-situ within the pan-European research infrastructure ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure).

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Bernadett Weinzierl is full professor and Head of the Aerosol Physics and Environmental Physics research group at the University of Vienna (Austria) since 2016. She worked as aerosol scientist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) between 2004 and 2016, and obtained her doctorate at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Muünchen (LMU) in 2008.

She is an expert in (airborne) in situ aerosol and cloud measurements and model-supported data analysis. She has coordinated several large-scale airborne field experiments including SALTRACE and A-LIFE, and participated in more than 20 international aircraft missions.

Her scientific work has been recognized with an ERC Starting Grant (2014), and several awards. Recently, she received the Weiss Award (2023) – Austria's most highly endowed privately funded research prize in the field of meteorology for studying microplastic in the atmosphere. Since 2017, she is organizer of the bi-annual international univie: Summer School "Basic Aerosol Science" in Vienna.