Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1612
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1612
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
02 Apr 2026
| 02 Apr 2026
Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Atmospheric Simulation Chambers in the ACTRIS Research Infrastructure
Abstract. Atmospheric simulation chambers are one of the best available tools to study atmospheric processes, as they enable experiments under conditions that are both reproducible and well-controlled. 14 unique simulation chamber facilities are part of the distributed pan-European Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS). Their research focuses on fundamental gas-phase reaction kinetics, complex reaction mechanisms, aerosol formation and cloud chemistry, as well as other aspects of atmospheric processes. They use both simplified and complex air mixtures in their research. Results of chamber experiments enable the discovery of unknown chemical mechanisms and the determination of physicochemical parameters of atmospheric constituents. Simulation chambers are ideal for testing instruments and quality assurance of their data. The variability of their research capability is reflected in differences in the size (ranging from approximately 1 to 270 m3, the wall material, and the type of instrumentation used to measure physical parameters, gas-phase species, physicochemical properties of aerosol particles as well as cloud droplets and ice crystals. Most chambers in ACTRIS are indoors and use artificial light sources to initiate photochemical reactions while some chambers are located outside so that natural sunlight can be used. During experiments, steady state conditions may be achieved, the evolution of initial conditions may be observed, or expansion and mixing techniques may induce cloud formation. In this paper, the ACTRIS simulation chambers are described along with the quality control measures for carrying out experiments and reporting data. An overview of how users from the research community and industry can gain access to the ACTRIS simulation chambers and associated data centre is presented. Recent developments in the application of ACTRIS simulation chambers for answering current and future atmospheric research questions are discussed.
How to cite. Fuchs, H., Illmann, N., Muñoz, A., Ródenas, M., Picquet-Varrault, B., Alfarra, M. R., Arsene, C., Bejan, I. G., Bell, D. M., Bilde, M., Böhmländer, A., Campos-Pineda, M., Cazaunau, M., Coll, P., Daële, V., Di Biagio, C., Flynn, M., Formenti, P., Herrmann, H., Höhler, K., Hohaus, T., Johnson, M. S., Juurola, E., Kivekäs, N., Kaiser, J., Kaltsonoudis, C., Laj, P., Massabò, D., Mazzei, F., McFiggans, G., McGillen, M. R., Mellouki, A., Mettke, P., Möhler, O., Mothes, F., Niedermeier, D., Novelli, A., Olariu, R. I., Pandis, S. N., Patroescu-Klotz, I., Petracca Altieri, R. M., Prati, P., Roman, C., Ruth, A. A., Saathoff, H., Schmalfuß, S., Stratmann, F., Vernocchi, V., Voliotis, A., Voigtländer, J., Virtanen, A., Wahner, A., Wagner, R., Wenger, J., Zorn, S., Wiesen, P., and Doussin, J.-F.: Atmospheric Simulation Chambers in the ACTRIS Research Infrastructure, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1612, 2026.
Competing interests: At least one of the (co-)authors is a member of the editorial board of Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.
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Institute of Climate and Energy Systems ICE-3: Troposphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Department of Physics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Niklas Illmann
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Research, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
Amalia Muñoz
EUPHORE Labs., Mediterranean Center for Environmental Studies (F. CEAM), Paterna, Valencia, Spain
Mila Ródenas
EUPHORE Labs., Mediterranean Center for Environmental Studies (F. CEAM), Paterna, Valencia, Spain
Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault
Univ Paris Est Creteil and Université Paris Cité, CNRS, LISA, F-94010 Créteil, France
M. Rami Alfarra
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
now at: Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar
Cecilia Arsene
Faculty of Chemistry, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Research Center with Integrated Techniques for Atmospheric Aerosol Investigation in Romania (RECENT-AIR), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Integrated Centre of Environmental Science Studies in the North Eastern Region (CERNESIM), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Iustinian G. Bejan
Faculty of Chemistry, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Integrated Centre of Environmental Science Studies in the North Eastern Region (CERNESIM), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
David M. Bell
PSI Center for Energy and Environmental Sciences, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland
Merete Bilde
Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Alexander Böhmländer
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Atmospheric Aerosol Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Mixtli Campos-Pineda
School of Physics and Sustainability Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Mathieu Cazaunau
Univ Paris Est Creteil and Université Paris Cité, CNRS, LISA, F-94010 Créteil, France
Patrice Coll
Université Paris Cité and Univ Paris Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, F-75013 Paris, France
Véronique Daële
Institut de Combustion, Aérothermique, Réactivité et Environnement (ICARE), CNRS Orléans, Orléans, France
Claudia Di Biagio
Université Paris Cité and Univ Paris Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, F-75013 Paris, France
Michael Flynn
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Paola Formenti
Université Paris Cité and Univ Paris Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, F-75013 Paris, France
Hartmut Herrmann
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research e.V. (TROPOS), Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leipzig, Germany
Kristina Höhler
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Atmospheric Aerosol Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Thorsten Hohaus
Institute of Climate and Energy Systems ICE-3: Troposphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Matthew S. Johnson
Copenhagen Center for Atmospheric Research, Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Eija Juurola
ACTRIS ERIC, Helsinki, Finland
Niku Kivekäs
ACTRIS ERIC, Helsinki, Finland
Jan Kaiser
Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
Christos Kaltsonoudis
Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, FORTH, Patras, Greece
Paolo Laj
Université Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS, IRD, IRSTEA, Grenoble-INP, IGE, Grenoble, France
Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
now at: World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Dario Massabò
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) - Sezione di Genova, Genoa, Italy
Dipartimento di Fisica - Università degli studi di Genova, Genoa, Italy
Federico Mazzei
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) - Sezione di Genova, Genoa, Italy
Dipartimento di Fisica - Università degli studi di Genova, Genoa, Italy
Gordon McFiggans
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Max R. McGillen
Institut de Combustion, Aérothermique, Réactivité et Environnement (ICARE), CNRS Orléans, Orléans, France
Abdelwahid Mellouki
Institut de Combustion, Aérothermique, Réactivité et Environnement (ICARE), CNRS Orléans, Orléans, France
now at: Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Ben Guerir, Morocco
Peter Mettke
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research e.V. (TROPOS), Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leipzig, Germany
Ottmar Möhler
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Atmospheric Aerosol Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Falk Mothes
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research e.V. (TROPOS), Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leipzig, Germany
Dennis Niedermeier
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research e.V. (TROPOS), Atmospheric Microphysics Department (AMD), Leipzig, Germany
Anna Novelli
Institute of Climate and Energy Systems ICE-3: Troposphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Romeo I. Olariu
Faculty of Chemistry, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Research Center with Integrated Techniques for Atmospheric Aerosol Investigation in Romania (RECENT-AIR), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Integrated Centre of Environmental Science Studies in the North Eastern Region (CERNESIM), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Spyros N. Pandis
Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, FORTH, Patras, Greece
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
Iulia Patroescu-Klotz
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Research, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
Rosa Maria Petracca Altieri
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Metodologie per l’Analisi Ambientale, Tito Scalo, Italy
Paolo Prati
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) - Sezione di Genova, Genoa, Italy
Dipartimento di Fisica - Università degli studi di Genova, Genoa, Italy
Claudiu Roman
Research Center with Integrated Techniques for Atmospheric Aerosol Investigation in Romania (RECENT-AIR), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Integrated Centre of Environmental Science Studies in the North Eastern Region (CERNESIM), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Albert A. Ruth
School of Physics and Sustainability Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Harald Saathoff
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Atmospheric Aerosol Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Silvio Schmalfuß
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research e.V. (TROPOS), Atmospheric Microphysics Department (AMD), Leipzig, Germany
Frank Stratmann
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research e.V. (TROPOS), Atmospheric Microphysics Department (AMD), Leipzig, Germany
Virginia Vernocchi
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) - Sezione di Genova, Genoa, Italy
Aristeidis Voliotis
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Jens Voigtländer
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research e.V. (TROPOS), Atmospheric Microphysics Department (AMD), Leipzig, Germany
Annele Virtanen
Department of Technical Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
Andreas Wahner
Institute of Climate and Energy Systems ICE-3: Troposphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Robert Wagner
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Atmospheric Aerosol Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
John Wenger
School of Chemistry and Sustainability Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Sören Zorn
Institute of Climate and Energy Systems ICE-3: Troposphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Peter Wiesen
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Research, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
Jean-Francois Doussin
Univ Paris Est Creteil and Université Paris Cité, CNRS, LISA, F-94010 Créteil, France
Short summary
Atmospheric simulation chambers enable experiments to be conducted under controlled conditions, improving our understanding of, and ability to predict, changes in the composition of the atmosphere. This is important for assessing air quality and its effects on human health, climate, the environment, and the economy. This paper describes the chambers of the European ACTRIS research infrastructure and discusses topics and directions that can be addressed in future chamber experiments.
Atmospheric simulation chambers enable experiments to be conducted under controlled conditions,...
This manuscript presents a comprehensive overview of atmospheric simulation chambers within the ACTRIS research infrastructure, including their technical characteristics, instrumentation, quality assurance procedures, and application areas. The topic is timely and highly relevant, as simulation chambers play a crucial role in advancing gas-phase chemistry, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, and multiphase processes.
The manuscript is generally well organized and compiles detailed information on a wide range of chamber facilities across Europe. However, in its current form, the manuscript is overly descriptive and still lacks sufficient cross-platform synthesis, clear identification of key scientific questions, and a comprehensive summary of its major scientific contributions.
Specific Comments:
1. In the Introduction section, the authors list a large number of previous studies to illustrate the contributions of simulation chambers to atmospheric science, including structure–activity relationships, MCM/GECKO-A, HOMs, VBS, and mineral dust optical properties. However, this part mainly presents a compilation of references without sufficient synthesis. It remains unclear how these studies collectively advance mechanistic understanding, model development, or the interpretation of atmospheric observations. Further clarification and integration are needed.
2. The manuscript describes numerous applications, but the connection between specific chamber features (e.g., size, light source, material) and their suitability for particular research topics is not clearly articulated. Please clarify how different chamber designs enable different types of studies.
3. Given the importance of simulation chamber data for atmospheric modeling, could the authors clarify how ACTRIS chamber data are currently integrated into chemical transport models or mechanism development?
4. The current manuscript provides insufficient discussion of the inherent limitations of simulation chamber studies. In particular, key issues such as wall losses of both gas-phase species and particles, the use of precursor concentrations that deviate from real atmospheric levels, discrepancies between artificial light sources and natural solar radiation, and differences in chemical timescales compared to ambient atmospheric conditions should be addressed more thoroughly.
5. The manuscript would benefit from additional figures or schematics, such as classification diagrams or conceptual workflows, to better illustrate the diversity of chamber systems.