Neutral Cluster & Air Ion Spectrometer (NAIS)

Two instruments were installed at the station:
- NAIS3, in collaboration with LAMP, from 2011 until 2018
- NAIS5, in colaboration with INAR, from 2017 onwards

The NAIS is a device for the measurement of the number concentration of both ions and not charged particles (neutral clusters) in the atmosphere according to their electrical mobility distribution. The instrument processes particles with positive and negative charges in two different columns. Controlled charging, together with electrical filtering, enables to extend measurements to the neutral aerosol particles. Parallel charging of particles by ions of both polarities enables to study the effect of the charge polarity on charging. The dependence of nucleation and particle formation on particle charge polarity can be studied by combining the charging, filtering and recharging measurements. Distribution measurements obtained are in a wide mobility range: ±3.2 to ±1.2∙10-3 cm2V-1s-1, which corresponds to 0.5 nm to 40 nm (http://airel.ee/).

Neutral cluser and air ion spectrometer NAIS-3