Automated analysis and quality assurance of ice-nucleating particle data: the PINE INP Analysis software PIA

The presence of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) in the atmosphere plays a crucial role in shaping cloud radiative properties, influencing their lifespan, and affecting precipitation and storm dynamics. To enable continuous and high-resolution monitoring of INP concentrations, the Portable Ice Nucleation Experiment (PINE) was developed. Complementing this, the PINE INP Analysis (PIA) software was created to ensure a standardised and reproducible data processing workflow. This work presents the setup of software version 3.0.0 and the structure of the processed data. The two main components of the software – the automated quality control of the data and the algorithm to distinguish between aerosols and droplets versus ice crystals based on their optical size – are described in detail. The second part of this study provides recommendations for quality assurance of PINE measurements. It outlines procedures for conducting background checks to detect potential contamination within the chamber, evaluates the consistency between adjacent temperature sensors, and discusses how large aerosol particles can impact measurement uncertainty.