Getting the most out of atmospheric data analysis

New-particle formation in the atmosphere provides the nucleation centres required for the formation of clouds, making it an important process for understanding climate. Efforts to investigate the complex balance of chemistry and physics that leads to new-particle formation have resulted in the acquisition of very large data sets.

A team of researchers based at a number of centers, including Kanazawa University, has developed a mutual information approach to interpreting atmospheric data collected over an 18-year period at the SMEAR II station in Hyytiala, Finland. Their findings were published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

The study, an extension of previous data mining work that was carried out on measurements acquired at the same station, uses an additional 10 years of data, which is expected to enhance the reliability of the results and accuracy of the conclusions.

In contrast to the previous studies that used data mining methods based on clustering and classification, the new approach looked at the mutual information between observed new-particle formation events and a variety of measured variables. The method was shown to be powerful and computationally light, highlighting its potential as a useful tool.

"The conclusions reached using our analysis were found to agree with previous findings; however, the analysis was achieved without supervision and did not require a deep understanding of the physics," study coauthor Adam Foster says. "Previous studies have required involved field, lab, and theory work, so being able to get to where we have through data analysis is a very positive step for future studies."

The work showed that new-particle formation was strongly correlated with water content and sulfuric acid concentration, as well as other factors such as temperature, relative humidity, condensation sink (how quickly molecules and small particles condense onto existing particles), and radiation.

"We hope that the method will provide a robust first option for analyzing atmospheric data sets," says Foster. "We aim to extend our approach to data sets from other SMEAR stations, as well as to use it to investigate different phenomena and their influences."

These findings are expected to be implemented widely in the field of atmospheric science. It is hoped that the effect of other variables such as volatile organic compounds and aerosol particles below 3 nm can be assessed using the reported approach.

Research paper

Related Links
Kanazawa University
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

NASA watches airglow, the colors of the upper atmospheric winds
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
What does our planet look like from space? Most are familiar with beloved images of the blue marble or pale blue dot - Earth from 18,000 and 3.7 billion miles away, respectively. But closer to home, at the boundary between Earth and space, you might encounter an unfamiliar sight. If you were to peer down on Earth from just 300 miles above the surface, near the orbit of the International Space Station, you could see vibrant swaths of red and green or purple and yellow light emanating from the upper atmos ... read more