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ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS OF TRACE POLLUTANTS; LONG PATH FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY
Citation:
Tuazon, E., A. Winer, R. Graham, J. Pitts, AND Jr. ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS OF TRACE POLLUTANTS; LONG PATH FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/3-81/026.
Description:
Described are the results of a four-year study to measure trace pollutant concentrations in polluted atmospheres by kilometer pathlength Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) absorption spectroscopy. The study covers selected smog episodes during the years 1976 to 1979. During 1976 and 1977 the FT-IR facility was operated in Riverside, CA, and recorded spectra from smog episodes which provided valuable benchmark data. In 1978 and 1979 the FT-IR facility was operated in Claremont, CA, a location chosen to characterize episodes closer to the Pasadena Azusa area which experiences the highest smog levels. During 1978 the study focussed on extended monitoring periods and succeeded in recording a 'classic' stagnant air episode with pollutant 'carryover' and progressively increasing oxidant levels. Research in 1979 consisted of collaborative studies to validate newly developed analytical and sampling techniques for measuring HNO3, NH3, and HCHO. In these studies the km pathlength FT-IR spectroscopic technique served as the reference method. The ambient air data collected for trace pollutant concentrations over the four-year period, together with the results of several collaborative studies to validate new methods, will provide a critically needed data base for stringently testing the chemical kinetic submodels of the current generation of widely used urban airshed models.