Resumo: O sistema de semeadura direta (SSD) proporciona melhores condições físicas do solo favorecendo o armazenamento de água no solo (ARM). A hipótese do trabalho foi que o Latossolo Vermelho argiloso, em sequências de culturas de verão e inverno sob SSD afeta o ARM em decorrência da modificação nos atributos físicos do solo e que o tensiômetro de punção digital (TDig) pode ser usado para medir o potencial mátrico da água no solo. Os objetivos foram avaliar o ARM e os atributos físicos do solo em sequências de culturas de verão e de inverno sob SSD e medir o potencial mátrico da água no solo por meio do tensiômetro de mercúrio e do TDig. O delineamento foi em blocos, com três repetições, no esquema em faixas. Os tratamentos foram constituídos por três sequências de culturas de verão (rotação soja/milho e monocultura de milho e soja) e sete culturas de inverno (milho, girassol, nabo forrageiro, milheto, guandu, sorgo e crotalária). Foram instalados tensiômetros nas camadas de 0,2; 0,4 e 0,6 m. Foi determinada a densidade do solo, a distribuição de poros por tamanho nas camadas de 0-0,1 e 0,1-0,2 m e a infiltração de água na superfície do solo. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey. O TDig pode ser usado para avaliar o potencial mátrico da água no solo. O ARM não diferiu entre as sequências de culturas de verão e nas culturas de inverno houve diferença, principalmente após período de menor disponibilidade hídrica. A densidade e a porosidade do solo não foram influenciadas pelas culturas de verão e inverno. O diâmetro de poros entre 0,075 - 0,05 e 0,03 - 0,0375 mm na camada de 0,0-0,1 m diferiu entre as sequências de verão. A distribuição de poros por tamanho não foi influenciada pelas sequências de culturas de inverno. A maior infiltração de água no solo ocorreu na parcela sob monocultura de soja / Abstract: No tillage system provides soil physical properties improvements, and soil water storage. The hypothesis of this study was that a Red Latosol (Oxisol), in summer and winter crops sequences under no-tillage system, can have its soil water storage influenced by changes in soil physical properties and digital tensiometer can be used to measure soil water matric potential. This study aimed to measure the soil matric potential using both mercury and digital tensiometers and to evaluate the soil water storage and physical properties on summer and winter crops sequences under no-tillage system. A completely randomized block was designed with three replications on a strips plan. The treatments were the combination of three summer crops sequences (soybean/maize rotation, corn and soybean monocultures) and seven winter crops (maize, sunflower, oilseed radish, millet, pigeon pea, sorghum and sunn hemp). Tensiometers were installed at a depth of 0.20; 0.40; 0.60 meters. Bulk density and pores distribution curves were determined from layers 0-0.1 and 0.1-0.2 depth and water infiltration at the soil surface. The data were submitted to variance analysis and means were compared by the Tukey test. The hypothesis was confirmed, therefore digital tensiometer can be used to measure soil water matric potential. The results showed no difference regarding soil water storage in summer crops sequences, especially after a period associated with lower water availability. Soil porosity and bulk density were not influenced by summer and winter crops sequences. The results indicated that the pores with diameter between 0,075 - 0,05 e 0,03 - 0,0375 mm from layer 0-0.1 m differed on summer crops sequences. No difference was observed by pores distribution curves between summer and winter crops sequences. The largest water infiltration occurred under the soybean monocultures plot / Orientador: José Eduardo Corá / Coorientadora: Carolina Fernandes / Banca: Antonio Evaldo Klar / Banca: Vilson Antonio Klein / Banca: Maria Helena Moraes / Banca: José Renato Zanini / Doutor

<p>The aim of this thesis was to identify some functionality related characteristics of pharmaceutically relevant solid materials and to study the effect of their variation on processing behaviour and product performance. For this purpose, particles with different characteristics were prepared under a variety of conditions by crystal agglomeration, wet granulation and spray drying. The effect of particle size distribution on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during and after compression was investigated. The compression behaviour of particles with different nominal strength and degrees of agglomeration was studied and the influence of the surfactant concentration of amorphous particles on the compression behaviour was examined. The response of the powders to compression was described with the help of various techniques characterising the microstructure and tensile strength of the tablets produced. </p><p>Furthermore, a method suitable for observing drug release from single matrix granules was developed and used to study the effect of granule porosity and compaction pressure on the drug release process. </p><p>The particle size distribution did not influence the evolution of the tablet porosity or the tensile strength during compression, but it could have an effect on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during short-term storage, depending on the instability mechanism. The compression behaviour of particles prepared by crystal agglomeration and wet granulation was dependent on their degree of agglomeration and their failure strength. For particles with similar solid state properties and compression behaviour, the surface energy appears to have an effect on the bonding strength of adsorption bonds acting at interparticulate junctions. Using the method developed to observe the drug release from single matrix granules, reproducible data was obtained enabling the drug release process to be characterised. Depending on the type of matrix and the compaction pressure, the drug release rate could be enhanced or retarded. </p>

The aim of this thesis was to identify some functionality related characteristics of pharmaceutically relevant solid materials and to study the effect of their variation on processing behaviour and product performance. For this purpose, particles with different characteristics were prepared under a variety of conditions by crystal agglomeration, wet granulation and spray drying. The effect of particle size distribution on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during and after compression was investigated. The compression behaviour of particles with different nominal strength and degrees of agglomeration was studied and the influence of the surfactant concentration of amorphous particles on the compression behaviour was examined. The response of the powders to compression was described with the help of various techniques characterising the microstructure and tensile strength of the tablets produced. Furthermore, a method suitable for observing drug release from single matrix granules was developed and used to study the effect of granule porosity and compaction pressure on the drug release process. The particle size distribution did not influence the evolution of the tablet porosity or the tensile strength during compression, but it could have an effect on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during short-term storage, depending on the instability mechanism. The compression behaviour of particles prepared by crystal agglomeration and wet granulation was dependent on their degree of agglomeration and their failure strength. For particles with similar solid state properties and compression behaviour, the surface energy appears to have an effect on the bonding strength of adsorption bonds acting at interparticulate junctions. Using the method developed to observe the drug release from single matrix granules, reproducible data was obtained enabling the drug release process to be characterised. Depending on the type of matrix and the compaction pressure, the drug release rate could be enhanced or retarded.

Fosforutsläpp kan leda till övergödning i vattenrecipienten om kritiska nivåer överskrids. De enskilda avloppen står idag för en relativt stor andel av Sveriges fosforutsläpp jämfört med de kommunala avloppen. Detta kan sättas i bakgrund av att staten, alltsedan 1970-talet, har lagt ner stora resurser på att reducera utsläppen hos kommunala avlopp, medan en motsvarande satsning på de enskilda avloppen uteblivit. Merparten av dagens enskilda avlopp utgörs av markbaserade reningssystem, det vill säga avloppslösningar där avloppsvattnet får passera genom markmaterial för att renas. Fosforreningen i markbaserade reningssystem har forskningshistoriskt sett inte varit en prioriterad fråga, vilket har lett till kunskapsbrist inom området. Naturvårdsverket har i och med miljöbalkens införande skärpt sina krav på fosforreningen hos enskilda avlopp. Trots att Naturvårdsverket nu har satt upp exakta kravgränser på fosforutsläpp, exempelvis att en normal skyddsnivå motsvarar en rening på 70 %, saknas dock råd för hur gemene man, inför byggandet av ett markbaserat reningssystem, ska kunna uppskatta fosforreningsförmågan i markmaterialet. Emellertid rekommenderar Naturvårdsverket att man inför byggandet ska uppskatta markmaterialets hydrauliska konduktivitet, en uppskattning som ofta utförs genom att mäta markmaterialets kornstorleksfördelning. Det finns även forskning som tyder på att kornstorleksfördelningen skulle kunna ha samband med fosforreningen. Syftet med detta examensarbete var framförallt att utvärdera om kornstorleks- fördelningen kan användas som ett mått på fosforreningen. Som ett sidospår till detta utvärderades även om den hydrauliska konduktiviteten kan bestämmas ur kornstorleks- fördelningen. Empiriska formler har vid tidigare studier etablerats för detta, men frågan är om dylika empiriska formler gäller för de undersökta markbaserade reningssystemen. Undersökningens resultat tydde på ett samband mellan kornstorlek och hydraulisk konduktivitet medan det inte kunde påvisas något samband mellan kornstorleks- fördelning och fosforrening. Det är därmed önskvärt att finna ett annat mått på fosforreningen i markbaserade reningssystem. Kan vi inte uppskatta hur mycket de markbaserade reningssystemen bidrar till övergödningen kan vi inte heller väga denna negativa miljöpåverkan mot de markbaserade systemens fördelar, såsom relativt låg energiförbrukning och relativt små utsläpp av växthusgaser. / Release of phosphorus is one of the contributing factors of eutrophication in aquatic recipients. In Sweden, on-site wastewater treatment represents large emissions of phosphorous per person in comparison to municipal wastewater treatment. This can be put in the context of the Government’s large investments for reducing phosphorus in municipal wastewater treatment plants, while no corresponding investment has yet been made in the field of on-site wastewater treatment. In Sweden, the on-site wastewater treatment systems of today mainly consist of WSAS (Wastewater soil absorption systems), i.e. systems where wastewater is cleaned by passing though soil material. During the history of research about WSAS issues of phosphorous removal have not been first priority, which has led to a considerable lack of knowledge regarding these issues. Since 1999, when the Swedish regulations of environmental law were established, the SEPA (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) has tightened up their demands of phosphorus removal in on-site wastewater treatment systems, for instance by stating that a phosphorous removal of 70% shall be reached to accomplish a “normal level of protection”. Despite this fact, there are no recommendations of how to estimate phosphorus removal in the soil material. However, the SEPA recommends estimation of hydraulic conductivity before building WSAS. This estimation is usually made by measuring grain size distribution in the soil material. One interesting fact is that there, according to some scientists, might be a connection between grain size distribution and phosphorus removal. The aim of this thesis was mainly to investigate if measure of grain size distribution can be used in order to estimate phosphorus removal. The aim was also to evaluate if grain size distribution is a good indicator of hydraulic conductivity in the investigated WSAS. It was concluded that grain size distribution is a suitable indicator of hydraulic conductivity, but not a suitable indicator of phosphorus removal. Thus, we still need to find an easy way to estimate the phosphorus removal in WSAS. If we do not know the extent of impact on eutrophication by WSAS, we cannot weigh this negative impact against the positive aspects of relatively low energy usage and low release of green house gases compared to other on-site wastewater treatment systems.

Frequency domain photon migration (FDPM) measurements are used to study the properties of dense colloidal dispersions with hard sphere and electrostatic interactions, which are otherwise difficult to analyze due to multiple scattering effects. Hard sphere interactions were studied using a theoretical model based upon a polydisperse mixture of particles using the hard sphere Percus Yevick theory. The particle size distribution and volume fraction were recovered by solving a non linear inverse problem using genetic algorithms. The mean sizes of the particles of 144 and 223 nm diameter were recovered within an error range of 0-15.53% of the mean diameters determined from dynamic light scattering measurements. The volume fraction was recovered within an error range of 0-24% of the experimentally determined volume fractions. At ionic strengths varying between 0.5 and 4 mM, multiple wavelength (660, 685, 785 and 828 nm) FDPM measurements of isotropic scattering coefficients were made of 144 and 223 nm diameter, monodisperse dispersions varying between 15% - 22% volume fraction, as well as of bidisperse mixtures of 144 and 223 nm diameter latex particles in 1:3, 1:1 and 3:1 mixtures varying between volume fractions of 15% - 24%. Structure factor models with Yukawa potential were computed by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and numerical solution of the coupled Ornstein Zernike equations. In monodisperse dispersions of particle diameter 144 nm the isotropic scattering coefficient versus ionic strength show an increase with increasing ionic strength consistent with model predictions, whereas there was a reversal of trends and fluctuations for the particle diameter of 223 nm. In bidisperse mixtures for the case of maximum number of smaller particles, the isotropic scattering coefficient increased with increasing ionic strength and the trends were in conformity with MC simulations of binary Yukawa potential models. As the number of larger diameter particles increased in the dispersions, the isotropic scattering coefficients depicted fluctuations, and no match was found between the models and measurements for a number ratio of 1:3. The research lays the foundation for the determination of particle size distribution, volume fractions and an estimate of effective charge for high density of particles.

In the production of cement, to increase the cement/clinker ratio and decrease CO2 emission, the most important alternative is to produce mineral admixture incorporated cements (CEM II-III-IV-V) instead of portland cement (CEM I). These cements are usually produced by intergrinding the portland cement clinker and the mineral admixtures. However, the difference between grindabilities of the different components of such cements may cause significant effects on the particle size distribution and many other properties. For this reason, separate grinding of additives and clinker may be thought as an alternative. In this study, the effects of intergrinding and separate grinding on the particle size distribution and consequently on the strength of portland composite cements which contained natural pozzolan (trass), granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) and limestone besides portland cement clinker were studied.

Experimente mit neuartigen Messverfahren lieferten Daten über die Struktur von transienten Flüssig-keits-Gas-Strömungen für die Entwicklung und Validierung von mikroskopischen, d.h. geometrieunabhängigen Konstitutivbeziehungen zur Beschreibung des Impulsaustauschs zwischen Flüssig-phase und Gasblasen sowie zur Quantifizierung der Häufigkeit von Blasenkoaleszenz und -zerfall. Hierzu wurde eine vertikale Testsektion der Zweiphasentestschleife MTLoop in Rossendorf genutzt, wobei erstmals Gittersensoren mit einer Auflösung von 2-3 mm bei einer Messfrequenz von bis zu 10 kHz angewandt wurden. Dabei wurde die Evolution von Gasgehalts-, Geschwindigkeits- und Bla-sengrößenverteilungen entlang des Strömungsweges und bei schnellen Übergangsprozessen aufge-nommen und so die für die Modellbildung erforderlichen Daten bereitgestellt. Für den Test der Mo-dellbeziehungen wurde ein vereinfachtes Verfahren zur Lösung der Strömungsgleichungen entlang des Strömungswegs erstellt. Es basiert auf der Betrachtung einer größeren Anzahl von Blasengrö-ßenklassen. Die erhaltenen numerische Lösungen haben erstmals gezeigt, dass der bei Erhöhung der Gasvolumenstromdichte stattfindende Übergang von einer Blasenströmung mit Randmaximum zu einem Profil mit Zentrumsmaximum und anschließend zu einer Pfropfenströmung ausgehend von einem einheitlichen Satz physikalisch begründeter und geometrieunabhängiger Konstitutivgleichun-gen modelliert werden kann. Die Modellbeziehungen haben sich in einem abgegrenzten Gebiet der Volumenstromdichten als generalisierungsfähig erwiesen und sind für den Einbau in CFD-Modelle geeignet. Weiterhin wurden Arbeiten zur Kondensation durchgeführt, die direkten Bezug zu den Kon-densationsmodellen haben, die in Thermohydraulik-Codes enthalten sind. Die Untersuchung liefert darüber hinaus experimentelle Daten für die Modellvalidierung hinsichtlich des Verhaltens und des Einflusses nichtkondensierbarer Gase. Hierfür wurden spezielle Sonden für die Bestimmung der Konzentration und für die Lokalisierung von Pfropfen nichtkondensierbarer Gase entwickelt und bei transienten Kondensationsversuchen in einem leicht geneigten Wärmeübertragerrohr eingesetzt.

Cemented carbides are composite materials consisting of a hard carbide and a ductile binder. They are powdermetallurgically manufactured, where liquid-phase sintering is one of the main steps. The most common cemented carbide consists of WC and Co and it is widely used for cutting tools. Two of the most important factors controlling the mechanical properties are the WC grain size and the grain size distribution and thus it is of great interest to understand the grain growth behavior. In this thesis the grain growth during sintering at 1430 °C is studied both experimentally and through computer simulations. The grain growth behavior in cemented carbides cannot be explained from the classical LSW-theory. The WC grains have a faceted shape necessitating growth by 2-D nucleation of new atomic layers or surface defects. A new model based on 2-D nucleation, long-range diffusion and interface friction is formulated. Three powders having different average sizes are studied and both experiments and simulations show that a fine-grained powder may grow past a coarse-grained powder, indicating that abnormal grain growth has taken place in the fine-grained powder. Fine-grained powders with various fractions of large grains are also studied and it is seen that a faster growth is obtained with increasing fraction of large grains and that an initially slightly bimodal powder can approach the logaritmic normal distribution after long sintering times. The grain size measurements are performed on 2-D sections using image analysis on SEM images or EBSD analysis. Since the growth model is based on 3-D size distributions the 2-D size distributions have to be transformed to 3-D, and a new method, Inverse Saltykov, is proposed. The 2-D size distribution is first represented with kernel estimators and the 3-D size distribution is optimized in an iterative manner. In this way both negative values in the 3-D size distribution and modifications of the raw data are avoided. / QC 20110426

Spherical agglomerates of benzoic acid crystals have been successfully prepared by drowning-out crystallization in three solvent partial miscible mixtures. Benzoic acid is dissolved in ethanol, bridging liquid is added and this mixture is fed to the agitated crystallizer containing water as the anti-solvent. Small crystals are produced by crystallization of the substance, and the crystals are agglomerated through the action of the bridging liquid. Different solvents: chloroform, toluene, heptane, pentane, cyclohexane, ethyl acetate and diethyl ether are chosen as bridging liquids, all being low soluble in water and showing good wettability for benzoic acid crystals. The influence of process conditions such as concentration of solute, agitation rate, feeding rate, amount of bridging liquid and temperature on the properties of benzoic acid spherical agglomerates, are investigated. Different sets of experiments were accomplished to track how the properties of the particles gradually change during the normal spherical crystallization experiment. Other sets of experiments were performed to examine the influence of agitation and process time for agglomeration. The product properties such as particle size distribution, morphology and mechanical strength have been evaluated. The mechanical strength of single agglomerates has been determined by compression in a materials testing machine, using a 10 N load cell. Compression characteristics for single agglomerates are compared with the data on bed compression. The present study shows that the bridging liquid has significant influence on the product properties, using diethyl ether and ethyl acetate no agglomerates are formed. Using any of the other five solvents (chloroform, toluene, heptane, pentane, and cyclohexane) spherical agglomerates are formed, as long as a sufficient amount of the bridging liquid is used. Using cyclohexane as bridging liquid at 5°C and toluene at 20°C the particles are larger compared to particles formed at other conditions. The highest particle fracture stress is obtained by using toluene as the bridging liquid at 5 and 20°C. Particle morphology depends on the bridging liquid used and the particles are completely spherical when toluene and pentane are used as bridging liquids. Different process parameters are found to have a significant influence on the physico-mechanical properties of the product. The range of operation for spherical agglomeration is relatively narrow and only at certain conditions spherical agglomerates are produced. With increasing amount of bridging liquid the particle size and strength increase and the morphology improves. Particle size decreases and the fracture force increases with increasing feeding rate, but the morphology remains unchanged. For all the solvents, the particle size and the fracture stress increase with decreasing temperature. For four of the solvents the morphology improves with decreasing temperature. For cyclohexane the result is the opposite, in that the particles are spherical at 20°C and irregular at 5°C. Spherical agglomerates of benzoic acid, both as single particles as well as in the form of a bed, have a high compressibility and low elastic recovery, properties that are favorable for direct tabletting. As the feed solution is supplied to the crystallizer the amount of benzoic acid that can crystallize actually does crystallize fairly rapidly. Hydrodynamics are responsible for bringing particles together for the agglomeration. Experiments reveal that during the gradual addition of the feed to the agitated aqueous solution, both particle size and particle number increases. It is clear from the experiments that not only further addition of feed solution leads to larger product particles but also continued agitation. Along the course of the process the properties of the particles change gradually but substantially. By continued agitation, the particle porosity decreases, density, strength gradually increases and also the spherical shape develops gradually. / QC 20110419

To understand the contribution of aerosol particles to radiative forcing and heterogeneous chemical processes in the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere (UT/LMS), the knowledge of the particle size distribution is mandatory. Unfortunately, measurements in the UT/LMS are costly. Research aircrafts are expensive and thus their application is limited in time and space. Satellite remote sensing measurements provide a good temporal and spatial (horizontal) coverage, but only a limited vertical resolution and currently cannot resolve the particle size distribution. Therefore, within this thesis an optical particle counter (OPC) unit was modified for the application onboard a passenger long-haul aircraft within the CARIBIC project (www.caribic-atmospheric.com). The CARIBIC OPC unit provides regular and cost-efficient particle size distribution measurements of accumulation mode particles in the UT/LMS. In April 2010, the new OPC unit was installed for the first time onboard the Lufthansa Airbus A340 600 (D-AIHE) for the measurement of the volcanic ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption (April to May 2010). Since June 2010 the OPC unit measures on usually four intercontinental flights per month the UT/LMS particle size distribution in the particle size range 125 to 1300 nm particle diameter. As the data acquisition stores the scattering raw signal and all housekeeping data as well, during the post flight data analysis the temporal- and size channel resolution can be flexible set. Within this work the data were analyzed with 32 size channels and 300 seconds. As aircraft-borne measurements are always time-consuming, the development of the OPC unit and the analysis routine, as well as its characterization and certification took more than two thirds of the total working time of this thesis. Therefore, the analysis of the data is limited to the first year of regular measurements until May 2011. Nevertheless, this dataset is sufficient to demonstrate the scientific relevance of these measurements. To validate the OPC data, a comparison to particle size distributions measured from board research aircraft was carried out. The analysis of the volcanic ash flights in April and May 2010 showed strongly enhanced particle mass concentrations inside the plumes and agreed in some regions very well to the particle mass concentration predicted by a dispersion model. A further case study shows the occurrence of a surprising large (1000 km) and high concentrated pollution plume over eastern Asia close to Osaka (Japan). Inside the plume the highest particle number- and mass concentrations measured with the OPC unit in the analysis period were observed (except volcanic ash flights). A detailed analysis of the in parallel measured trace gasses as well as meteorological- and LIDAR data showed, the observed plume originate from biomass burning and industrial emissions in eastern China. A third case study gives a first attempt of a mass closure/validation between the particle masses derived by the CARIBIC OPC unit and the CARIBIC impactor particle samples. First statistical analyses to the vertical, meridional, and seasonal variation of the accumulation mode particle size distribution and therefrom derived parameter indicate a stratospheric vertical increasing gradient for the particle number- and mass concentration. In general in the mid-latitude LMS the concentration of accumulation mode particles was found to be on average 120% higher than in the mid-latitude UT. The mid-latitude LMS particle size distribution shows a seasonal variation with on average 120% higher concentrations during spring compared to fall. This results can be explained with general dynamics in the stratosphere (Brewer-Dobson Circulation) and in the tropopause region (stratosphere-troposphere-exchange, STE). An anti-correlation of gaseous mercury to the stratospheric particle surface area concentration (R²=0.97) indicates that most likely stratospheric aerosol particles do act as a sink for gaseous mercury. Finally, two comparisons of the OPC data to data from satellite remote sensing and a global aerosol model underline the OPC potential and the benefits of creating an in situ measured reference dataset. / Um die Rolle von Aerosolpartikeln beim Strahlungsantrieb und der heterogenen chemischen Prozessen in der oberen Troposphäre und untersten Stratosphäre (OT/US) verstehen zu können, ist es unabdingbar die Partikelgrößenverteilung zu kennen. Messungen der Partikelgrößenverteilung in dieser Region sind allerdings aufwendig. Der Einsatz von Forschungsflugzeugen ist teuer und deshalb zeitlich und räumlich nur begrenzt. Satellitenmessungen bieten zwar eine gute zeitliche und räumliche (horizontal) Abdeckung, aber nur eine begrenzte vertikale Auflösung. Weiterhin können bisherige Satellitenmessungen die Partikelgrößenverteilung nicht auflösen. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde deshalb ein optischer Partikelzähler (OPC) Messeinschub für den Einsatz an Bord eines Langstrecken-Passagierflugzeugs aufgebaut (CARIBIC Projekt, www.caribic-atmospheric.com). Mit diesem Messeinschub kann regelmäßig und kosteneffizient die Partikelgrößenverteilung des Akkumulationsmodes in der OT/US gemessen werden. Im April 2010 wurde der neue OPC Einschub erstmals an Bord des Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 (D-AIHE) installiert um die Vulkanasche der Eyjafjallajökull Eruption (April bis Mai 2010) zu messen. Seit Juni 2010 misst der OPC Einschub auf durchschnittlich vier Interkontinentalflügen pro Monat die Partikelgrößenverteilung der OT/US im Größenbereich zwischen 125 und 1300 nm Partikeldurchmesser. Während des Fluges speichert die Datenerfassung alle Rohsignale ab und ermöglicht dadurch eine nutzerspezifische Datenauswertung nach dem Flug (z. B. Anzahl der Größenkanäle oder Zeitauflösung). Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden die Daten mit 32 Größenkanälen und 300 Sekunden analysiert. Da fluggetragene Messungen immer sehr aufwendig sind, beanspruchte die Entwicklung des OPC Einschubs und des Analysealgorithmus, sowie die Charakterisierung und Zertifizierung mehr als zwei Drittel der Gesamtarbeitszeit dieser Arbeit. Daher ist die Analyse der Messdaten auf das erste Jahr der regulären Messungen bis Mai 2011 beschränkt. Dennoch ist dieser Datensatz geeignet um die wissenschaftliche Relevanz dieser Messungen zu demonstrieren. Um die OPC-Daten zu validieren, wurde ein Vergleich mit bisherigen OPC Messungen von Bord Forschungsflugzeugen durchgeführt. Die Analyse der Vulkanascheflüge im April und Mai 2010 zeigte in der Abluftfahne stark erhöhte Partikelmassekonzentrationen, welche in einigen Vergleichsregionen sehr gut mit der Vorhersage eines Disperionsmodells übereinstimmten. Eine weitere Fallstudie zeigt das Auftreten einer überraschend großen (1000 km) und hoch konzentrierten Abluftfahne über Ostasien nahe Osaka (Japan). In der Abluftfahne wurde die im Analysezeitraum höchste mit dem CARIBIC OPC gemessene Partikelanzahl- und Massenkonzentration beobachtet (ausgenommen Vulkanascheflüge). Eine detaillierte Analyse der parallel gemessenen Spurengase, sowie meteorologischer Daten und LIDAR Profile zeigte, dass die beobachtete Abluftfahne eine Mischung aus Biomasseverbrennungs- und Industrieabgasen aus Ost-China war. Eine dritte Fallstudie stellt einen ersten Versuch einer Massenschließung/Validierung zwischen der aus den CARIBIC OPC-Daten abgeleiteten Partikelmasse und der Partikelmasse aus CARIBIC Impaktorproben dar. Erste statistische Analysen zur vertikalen, meridionalen und saisonalen Variabilität der Partikelgrößenverteilung im Akkumulationsmode und daraus abgeleiteten Parametern zeigen einen vertikal ansteigenden Gradienten für die Partikelanzahl- und Massenkonzentration. Generell war in der US der mittleren Breiten die Konzentration von Akkumulationsmode Partikeln im Mittel um 120% höher als in der OT der mittleren Breiten. Weiterhin wurde in der US der mittleren Breiten eine jahreszeitliche Schwankung gefunden. Im Frühling war die mit dem OPC gemessene Partikelkonzentrationen im Mittel um 120% höher als im Herbst. Diese Befunde lassen sich mit der atmosphärischen Dynamik in der Stratosphäre (Brewer-Dobson Zirkulation) und in der Tropopausenregion (Stratosphäre-Troposphäre-Austauschprozesse) erklären. Eine gefundene negative Korrelation von gasförmigen Quecksilber mit der stratosphärischen Partikeloberflächenkonzentration (R²=0.97) ist ein starker Indikator dafür, dass in der US Aerosolpartikel eine Senke für gasförmiges Quecksilber darstellen. Zum Abschluss unterstreichen zwei Vergleiche der OPC-Daten mit Satellitenmessungen und Ergebnissen eines globalen Aerosolmodels das Potential und den Nutzen der CARIBIC OPC Daten als in-situ gemessenen Referenzdatensatz.