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Text Box: Physics
Department

 

Lab Tours

 

     The LACO laboratory facilities are still under development and is currently composed of 5 main components:

 

  

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1-      The Optical Calibration Facility (304B – back room):

Include a semi-clean room with continuous HEPA and hydrocarbon air filtration, containing a 20” integrating sphere with 4 discrete light levels, and a variable attenuator for continuous intermediate radiances. The facility will soon have a polarization calibrator (currently under construction in the rapid prototype lab) which will accurately generate partially polarized light. This lab also supports the development of sensitive optical instrumentation that requires special care and relatively clean environment.

 

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1-      The Rapid Prototype Lab (304B – front room)

This lab supports the development of in situ instrumentation for the measurement of aerosol and cloud particles, as well as the development of cameras and remote sensing sensors.

 

     

Text Box: Prototype Development

   

 

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2-      The Wet Chemistry and Aerosol Lab (room 006 in the basement)

Support the generation, conditioning and analysis of in situ aerosols, water and ice cloud particles. This facility is composed of several in situ aerosol generation and analysis tools, supporting the real time measurement of chemical and physical properties of aerosol particles. Here we can manipulate dry and wet aerosols and measure their properties as a function of relative humidity.

 

                                   Text Box: First NaCl Aerosol generated at the LACO Wet Lab

 

Text Box: Wet Aerosol GeneratorText Box: Powder Samples from Iquique/Chile

    

 

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3-      The Aerosol Filter Handling and Sampling Lab (room 405)

Support the handling, preparation, analysis, and storage of aerosol filters. This lab includes a 0.1ug micro-balance for aerosol gravimetric analysis and supports the deployment aerosol samplers and filters for field campaigns and permanent stations.

 

 

 

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4-      The Filter sampling Station (roof of the Physics Building)

In addition to the Improve Sampling station (by Dr. Hoff’s Group), LACO has a PM10/PM2.5 sampling system for collecting Nuclepore Filters. The inlet system was implemented as part of the Phys650 – Experimental Atmospheric Physics Course and managed by the students. The collected samples were submitted to gravimetric analysis, electron microscopy imaging, and X-ray microanalysis.