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Ground-Based Aerosol Measurements
Citation:
Herckes, P., M. Fraser, AND P. Solomon. Ground-Based Aerosol Measurements . Chapter 0, Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry. John Wiley & Sons Inc, Malden, MA, , 1-20, (2017).
Impact/Purpose:
Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is a complex chemical mixture of liquid and solid particles suspended in air (Seinfeld and Pandis 2016). Measurements of this complex mixture form the basis of our knowledge regarding particle formation, source-receptor relationships, data to test and verify complex air quality models, and how PM impacts human health, visibility, global warming, and ecological systems (EPA 2009). Historically, PM samples have been collected on filters or other substrates with subsequent chemical analysis in the laboratory and this is still the major approach for routine networks (Chow 2005; Solomon et al. 2014) as well as in research studies. In this approach, air, at a specified flow rate and time period, is typically drawn through an inlet, usually a size selective inlet, and then drawn through filters, also at a specified flow rate (Watson and Chow 2011). Measurements of PM composition in routine networks in the US typically include sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and trace elements. These components are routinely determined in the laboratory by ion chromatography (IC; ions), thermal-optical analysis (TOA; OC and EC), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF; trace elements), respectively (Solomon et al. 2014).
Description:
Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is a complex chemical mixture of liquid and solid particles suspended in air (Seinfeld and Pandis 2016). Measurements of this complex mixture form the basis of our knowledge regarding particle formation, source-receptor relationships, data to test and verify complex air quality models, and how PM impacts human health, visibility, global warming, and ecological systems (EPA 2009).