CORP Author |
QST Environmental, Inc., Gainesville, FL. ;ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC.;Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. National Exposure Research Lab. |
Abstract |
EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory, NERL, established PM research monitoring platforms in three metropolitan areas with differing PM size and composition characteristics: Phoenix, AZ (est. Feb. 1995), an arid, desert dust dominated western U.S. city where the PM10 mass is dominated by the coarse fraction; Baltimore, MD (est. Jan. 1997), a typical eastern city with high sulfates; and Fresno, CA (est. June 1997); characteristic of a western area with high nitrates. The primary objective of the research platforms was to collect daily, ambient air quality data to relate the chemical and/or physical properties of PM to support exposure, source apportionment, receptor modeling, and health effects studies. Daily fine and coarse particle mass and composition data, meteorology data, and data for other parameters relevant to the characterization of the size and composition of PM were collected, including: 24 hour integrated and hourly maximum mass concentrations, metals (XRF), organic and elemental carbon. |