Measurement of total PM_2.5mass (nonvolatile plus semivolatile) with the Filter Dynamic Measurement System tapered element oscillating microbalance monitor

Abstract

[1] Field studies have been performed in Lindon, Utah (February 2003) and Rubidoux, California (July 2003) to determine if the Rupprecht and Patashnick (R&P) Filter Dynamic Measurement System (FDMS) determines total fine particulate mass, including the semivolatile ammonium nitrate and organic material. Collocated measurements were made with the FDMS, a conventional tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) monitor with a heated filter, an R&P differential TEOM monitor, the Brigham Young University (BYU) Real-Time Total Ambient Mass Sampler (RAMS), the BYU particle concentrator-organic sampling system (PC-BOSS), a PM 2.5 Federal Reference Method (FRM), a PM 2.5 speciation sampler, an R&P continuous nitrate monitor, and two Sunset continuous carbon monitors (one to measure quartz filter-retained particulate carbon and one to measure particulate semivolatile carbonaceous material lost from the particles on a filter during sampling). The RAMS and PC-BOSS samplers have been shown to determine fine particulate material, including both the semivolatile and the nonvolatile components. Linear regression analysis at the Lindon site between the FDMS (X) and the PC-BOSS (Y), and the FDMS (X) and the RAMS (Y), resulted in zero-intercept slopes of 1.01 ± 0.06 (r 2 = 0.63) and 1.00 ± 0.01 (r 2 = 0.69), respectively. At the Rubidoux sampling site, linear regression analysis between the PC-BOSS (X) and the FDMS (Y) gave a zero-intercept slope of 0.96 ± 0.02 (r 2 = 0.90). Linear regression analysis between the FDMS (X) and the RAMS (Y) resulted in a zero-intercept slope of 0.99 ± 0.01 (r 2 = 0.80). Measurements made at the two sites indicate that the FDMS and the R&P differential TEOM monitors do measure total fine particulate mass, including the semivolatile ammonium nitrate and organic material. Both the heated TEOM monitor and PM 2.5 FRM did not measure the semivolatile material. The difference between the FDMS and a heated TEOM monitor was explained by the semivolatile ammonium nitrate and organic material measured by the various chemical composition monitors.

Exploring the relation between aerosol optical depth and PM<sub>2.5</sub> at Cabauw, the Netherlands

“…Evaporation loss is thus unambiguously measured and accounted for in the final measurement result. Comparison with reference methods shows a general good agreement (Grover et al, 2005). Hence, by using the TEOM-FDMS we obtain estimates of PM 2.5 inline with the reference method, but with a temporal resolution of half an hour.…”

Comparison between simulated and observed chemical composition of fine aerosols in Paris (France) during springtime: contribution of regional versus continental emissions

“…This instrument delivers a concentration of semi-volatile material (SVM) in PM 2.5 which is mainly made of ammonium nitrate for Paris background atmosphere (Favez et al, 2007). Real-time PM measurements provided by the TEOM FDMS have shown to compare very well with other realtime measurement obtained from other analyzers taking into account SVM (Grover et al, 2005). A very good agreement was found between our TEOM-FDMS measurements performed at LHVP (13th district) with similar measurements performed by AIRPARIF in the center of Paris (1st district, les Halles), with PM 2.5 (LHVP) = 0.97·PM 2.5 (Les Halles) + 0.19 µg m −3 ; r 2 = 0.95; N = 323.…”

Assessment of bias-adjusted PM<sub>2.5</sub> air quality forecasts over the continental United States during 2007

“…All measurements are made using TEOM instruments and concentrations are averaged over hourly intervals from the beginning of one hour to the next. It should be recognized that TEOM measurements are somewhat uncertain and are believed to be lower limits to a "true" value because of volatilization of semivolatile material (ammonium nitrate and organic carbon) in the drying stages of the measurement (Eatough et al, 2003;Grover et al, 2005). Nevertheless, the TEOM measurements are the only real-time hourly PM 2.5 observation data available for use in the purpose of this study.…”