The Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser will deploy a filter out in front of the probe to sample the aerosols during the descent and prepare the collected matter (by evaporation, pyrolysis and gas product transfer) for analysis by the Gas Chromatograph Mass Chromatograph (GCMS). Two samples will be collected: one from the top of the descent down to the tropopause (160 - 40 km) and the second sample in the cloud layer (23 - 17 km).

Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser

Scientific Objectives

To study:

• The chemical composition of the photochemical aerosols - hydrogen (H), carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and oxygen(O)
• The relative concentrations of the organic condensates inside the lower stratosphere (C₂, H₂, C₂, H, HC₃N, HCN)
• The relative concentrations of the organic condensates within the troposphere (mainly CH₄, C₂H₆)
• Non condensable constituents trapped in the collected particles (CO₂)

Instrument Characteristics and Operations

• Sampling of the particles (direct impact plus capture by filtration)
• two sampling regions: 140 - 32 km and 22 - 17 km
• target for captation outside the boundary layer of the Probe, near the Probe nose is retracted and enclosed in the oven
• heating and pyrolysis of the collected matter, in the oven, gives evaporates (250 °C) and pyrolysates (600 °C)
• transfer of the evaporates and pyrolysis products to the GCMS (via the special ACP inlet)
• analysis (direct MS and GCMS)
• designed to operate with precise timing.

	Instruments in Brief
	DISR: Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer