The major objective of the Particulate matter Airborne Sampling INlet experiment (PASIN) project was to determine airborne aerosol inlet losses due to inertial and electrophoretic processes in sampling inlets. It was observed in previous studies that these losses can exceed 50% in some cases. A variety of intake systems aboard NCAR's Electra were sampled simultaneously to establish which parameters (flow Reynolds number, Stokes number, radius of curvature, surface coating, aerosol diameter, etc.) control these losses. All nights were in the boundary layer, half marine and half continental air mass.
Four approaches were used:
The ultimate goal for this experiment was the development of the most artifact-free sampling system for collecting aerosols from aircraft.