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Passive ammonia monitoring in the United States: Comparing three different sampling devices
Citation:
Puchalski, M. A., M. E. SATHER, J. T. WALKER, JR., C. M. Lehmann, D. A. Gay, J. Mathew, AND W. P. Robarge. Passive ammonia monitoring in the United States: Comparing three different sampling devices. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING. Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, Uk, 13(11):3156-3167, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
journal article
Description:
The need for ambient gaseous ammonia (NH3) measurements has increased in the last decade as reactive nitrogen concentrations and deposition fluxes show little change even with tightening standards on nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. Currently, there are several networks developing methods for adding NH3 measurements in the U.S. Gaseous NH3 measurements will provide scientists and policymakers data which can be used to estimate ecosystem inputs, validate air quality models including trends and regional variability, and evaluate changes to the environment based on additional emission reduction requirements and estimates of critical nitrogen load exceedances. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has collaborated with several organizations to determine the feasibility of measuring ambient NH3 using passive samplers on a regional and/or national level. The passive samplers described in this paper were deployed in duplicate or triplicate and co-located with annular denuders or continuous instruments to determine their accuracy. The samplers assessed by the EPA included the Adapted Low-Cost Passive High Absorption (ALPHA), Radiello, and Ogawa passive samplers. This article discusses the statistical results from these studies.
