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COMMENTS ON "SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANONITRATES IN AMBIENT AEROSOL COLLECTED IN HOUSTON, TEXAS," AEROSOL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 36:983-992 (2002)
Citation:
Weathers, W. COMMENTS ON "SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANONITRATES IN AMBIENT AEROSOL COLLECTED IN HOUSTON, TEXAS," AEROSOL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 36:983-992 (2002). AEROSOL SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY. American Association for Aerosol Research, MT. LAUREL, NJ, 38(8):782-786, (2004).
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:
A previous article in this journal reported the results of an FTIR analysis of the ambient aerosol collected during a file study in Houston, Texas during August and September of 2000. The emphasis of that article was on the organonitrates collected during the study. In the discussion of their research, the authors noted some discrepancies between the organonitrate absorbances observed in Houston compared to those seen in a previous study conducted in Los Angeles, California. They offer several explanations for the observed differences. In these comments, an alternative explanation is offered for these differences.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded an managed the research described here. It has been subjected to the Agency's administrative review and approved for publication as an EPA document.