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Evaluation of a multi-wavelength black carbon (BC) sensor
Citation:
Holder, A., A. Bradshear, T. Yelverton, J. Blair, S. Blair, AND B. Seay. Evaluation of a multi-wavelength black carbon (BC) sensor. American Geophysical Union Joint International Network in Geoscience, naC, October 16 - 20, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Black carbon emitted from incomplete combustion processes is often used as a marker for diesel exhaust, a known carcinogen, and is associated with adverse health effects in exposed communities. Although multiple instruments exist to measure black carbon, very few are tailored for sensor applications, where light-weight, low-power, and insensitivity to environmental conditions allow for operation in the demanding environments encountered during unmanned aerial measurements or long-term fence line monitoring as conducted by the US EPA. This study evaluated a new highly portable, low maintenance black carbon instrument, the microAeth (MAseries) developed by AethLabs. The new sensor compared well with other black carbon instruments over a large concentration range and for particles of varying optical properties. The sensor was also minimally impacted by environmental conditions. The new sensor fulfills many of desired measurement requirements for fenceline or mobile monitoring platforms and is ideally suited for multiple EPA research projects.
Description:
Black carbon emitted from incomplete combustion processes is often used as a marker for diesel exhaust, a known carcinogen, and is associated with adverse health effects in exposed communities. Although multiple instruments exist to measure black carbon, very few are tailored for sensor applications where light-weight, low-power, and insensitivity to environmental conditions allow for operation in the demanding environments encountered during unmanned aerial measurements or long-term fence line monitoring as conducted by the US EPA. Understanding these challenges, Aethlabs (San Francisco, CA) designed the MA200/MA350 multi-wavelength black carbon instrument. We assessed the operation of this new sensor compared to numerous other black carbon instruments under a variety of ambient environmental conditions and black carbon concentrations. In long-term ambient measurements the new sensor compared well with heavier, multi-wavelength, rack mounted instruments and were only minimally impacted from changing ambient conditions. The sensor was also affixed to a tethered aerostat and an unmanned aerial vehicle for sampling from open biomass burning. In tests with another commercially-available black carbon instrument, the new sensor was able to sample for longer times in the high concentration plume due to an automatically advancing, multi-spot filter tape and self-correction for artifacts due to filter, increasing the accuracy of the black carbon measurement.