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ORGANIC COMPOUNDS MEASURED IN PM2.5 DURING NEOPS
Citation:
Edney, E O., R E. Speer, T. E. Kleindienst, E. W. Corse, AND C. D. McIver. ORGANIC COMPOUNDS MEASURED IN PM2.5 DURING NEOPS. Presented at 83rd American Meteorological Society Annual Meeeting, Long Beach, CA, February 9-13, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
1. Using laboratory and field study data generated during FY99-FY04, develop a science version of a PM chemistry model for predicting ambient concentrations of water, inorganics, and organics in PM2.5 samples. The model will include the Aerosol Inorganic Model for predicting concentrations of inorganic compounds and a computational chemistry-based method for predicting concentrations of organic compounds.
2. Identify and evaluate methods for analyzing the polar fraction of PM2.5 samples.
3. Carry out short term field studies in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina in the summer and the winter to determine the composition of the organic fraction of ambient PM2.5 samples, with special emphasis placed on identifying and determining ambient concentrations of polar compounds.
4. Conduct laboratory studies to establish the chemical composition of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and to determine source signatures for aromatic and biogenic SOA.
5. Conduct laboratory and theoretical investigations of thermodynamic properties of polar organic compounds.
6. Evaluate the science version of the PM chemistry model using laboratory and field data generated under this task as well as other available data in the literature.
7. Conduct PM chemistry-related special studies for OAQPS
Description:
Secondary formation of submicron ambient particulate matter occurs when organic and inorganic constituents having sufficiently low volatility condense onto preexisting particles in the atmosphere. The presence of the resulting submicron particles has led to three important environmental problems. First, visibility degradation leading to haze occurs due to light scattering imposed by these particles. This problem is especially pronounced in the Southeastern United States during the summertime because of high temperatures and high relative humidities (Sisler and Malm, 1994), which result in high levels of particle liquid water leading to increases in the particle diameter. Second, submicron particles are associated with changes in radiative forcing and may be expected to influence the factors leading to global climate changes (Charlson et al., 1992). Finally, epidemiological studies (Schwartz et al., 1996) have implicated fine particulate matter with increased mortality and morbidity in selected urban areas. Since the specific causal agents for observed adverse health effects are not presently known, it has become an important task to chemically characterize the specific organic components of ambient fine particulate matter as completely as possible.
This work has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under Contract 68-D00-206 to ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc. It has been subject to Agency review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.