Citation:

Whitehill, A., M. Lunden, B. LaFranchi, P. Solomon, AND S. Kaushik. Mobile monitoring of PM2.5– insights from on-road comparisons with MetOne BAM 1020 and Teledyne T640 FEMs (Presentation). American Association of Aerosol Research Annual Meeting 2022, Raleigh, NC, October 03 - 07, 2022.

Impact/Purpose:

This is an abstract for a presentation of the 2022 American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR) conference, October 3 - 7, 2022 in Raleigh, NC. This presentation will present information that will inform ongoing comparison of sensors and mid-range particulate matter instrumentation to continuous federal reference methods (FEMs). It will also look at ways to validate mid-range fine particulate matter concentration measurements in a mobile monitoring environment. This information will be valuable to tribal, state, and local air quality agencies who are trying to interpret mobile particulate matter data or other spatially resolved particulate matter data (e.g. sensor networks) by providing constraints on the spatial variability in fine particulate matter in urban areas, as well as how different FEM instruments can be used to validate particulate matter data.

Description:

Spatially and temporally resolved PM2.5 measurements can provide insight into population exposure to fine particulate matter in different communities and neighborhoods, including in environmental justice regions. Aclima, Inc. has performed ongoing mobile monitoring in the San Francisco Bay Area of California for over 3 years, including measuring size-binned particle number counts in the 0.3 μm to 2.5 μm diameter range using an optical particle counter (OPC). During this period, there have been periods of driving with or near various continuous PM2.5 federal equivalent methods (FEMs), including MetOne BAM 1020 and Teledyne T640 monitors. We demonstrate comparisons between OPC estimates of PM2.5 and continuous FEM measurements of PM2.5 in both low (background) and high (wildfire-impacted) regimes. The OPC had stronger correlations with the Teledyne T640, especially in lower concentration regimes, than with the BAM 1020. However, correlations between the OPC and BAM 1020 improved during wildfire events with higher PM2.5 loading. The high limit of detection (and higher noise) for the BAM 1020 versus the Teledyne T640 makes comparisons with the T640 easier for calibrating lower-cost sensors and mid-range PM monitors at typical ambient PM2.5 concentrations. We will conclude with a case study demonstrating preliminary results of mobile PM2.5 measurements using OPCs in the San Francisco area.

Record Details: