Measurements of PM10 ions and trace gases with the online system MARGA at the research station Melpitz in Germany – A five-year study

Stieger, Bastian; Spindler, Gerald; Fahlbusch, B.; Müller, Konrad; Grüner, Achim; Poulain, Laurent; Thöni, Lotti; Seitler, Eva; Wallasch, Markus; Herrmann, Hartmut

doi:10.1007/s10874-017-9361-0

Cited by 50 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 126 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Low-molecular-weight organic acids have been measured in the gas (Lee et al, 2009;Bao et al, 2012) and particle phases (Boreddy et al, 2017;Miyazaki et al, 2014;van Pinxteren et al, 2014) as well as in precipitation and cloud water (Sun et al, 2016;. Next to known primary anthropogenic (Bock et al, 2017;Kawamura and Kaplan, 1987;Legrand et al, 2007) and biogenic sources (Falkovich et al, 2005;Stavrakou et al, 2012), organic acids are formed as secondary products by atmospheric oxidation processes (Lim et al, 2005;Tilgner and Herrmann, 2010;Hoffmann et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of an online-coupled MARGA upgrade for the 2 h interval quantification of low-molecular-weight organic acids in the gas and particle phases

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. A method is presented to quantify the low-molecular-weight organic acids such as formic, acetic, propionic, butyric, pyruvic, glycolic, oxalic, malonic, succinic, malic, glutaric, and methanesulfonic acid in the atmospheric gas and particle phases, based on a combination of the Monitor for AeRosols and Gases in ambient Air (MARGA) and an additional ion chromatography (Compact IC) instrument. Therefore, every second hourly integrated MARGA gas and particle samples were collected and analyzed by the Compact IC, resulting in 12 values per day for each phase. A proper separation of the organic target acids was initially tackled by a laboratory IC optimization study, testing different separation columns, eluent compositions and eluent flow rates for both isocratic and gradient elution. Satisfactory resolution of all compounds was achieved using a gradient system with two coupled anion-exchange separation columns. Online pre-concentration with an enrichment factor of approximately 400 was achieved by solid-phase extraction consisting of a methacrylate-polymer-based sorbent with quaternary ammonium groups. The limits of detection of the method range between 0.5 ng m−3 for malonate and 17.4 ng m−3 for glutarate. Precisions are below 1.0 %, except for glycolate (2.9 %) and succinate (1.0 %). Comparisons of inorganic anions measured at the TROPOS research site in Melpitz, Germany, by the original MARGA and the additional Compact IC are in agreement with each other (R2 = 0.95–0.99). Organic acid concentrations from May 2017 as an example period are presented. Monocarboxylic acids were dominant in the gas phase with mean concentrations of 306 ng m−3 for acetic acid, followed by formic (199 ng m−3), propionic (83 ng m−3), pyruvic (76 ng m−3), butyric (34 ng m−3) and glycolic acid (32 ng m−3). Particulate glycolate, oxalate and methanesulfonate were quantified with mean concentrations of 26, 31 and 30 ng m−3, respectively. Elevated concentrations of gas-phase formic acid and particulate oxalate in the late afternoon indicate photochemical formation as a source.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of an online-coupled MARGA upgrade for the 2 h interval quantification of low-molecular-weight organic acids in the gas and particle phases

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Instrumentation selection, calibration and data ratification follow EU Air Quality Directives (2008/50/EC), and data are archived as hourly averages (UK-AIR Library 2018). Hourly measurements of NH 3 and other trace gases, together with water-soluble ions within PM 2.5 and PM 10 , are provided by the Monitor for AeRosols and Gases in Air (MARGA) instrument (EMEP 2007, Stieger et al 2018 with data quality assurance processes as described in Twigg et al (2015).…”

Section: Measurement Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing supersites: assessing the impact of the southern UK EMEP supersite relocation on measured atmospheric composition

Walker

Heal

Braban

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Commun.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In January 2016 the United Kingdom's southern European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) level-2 air pollution monitoring 'supersite' was relocated from Harwell, Oxfordshire to Chilbolton Observatory, Hampshire. As no co-location study was undertaken, this work retrospectively investigates whether the supersite relocation has led to discontinuities in the time series of concentrations of commonly studied gaseous pollutants (NO x , NH 3 , SO 2 and O 3 ) and particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10 ). Two years of measurements pre-and post-relocation (2014-15 and 2016-17 respectively) were analysed in conjunction with meteorological variables and local emission data. The deweather package was applied to the concatenated time series to minimise the influence of meteorology. Similar average concentrations of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 and O 3 were observed, but there were substantial differences in that of NO x and NH 3 (increase by factors of ∼1.6 and ∼3, respectively). The considerably higher NH 3 concentrations at Chilbolton are attributed to the close proximity of mixed farmland, in particular to a strong south-westerly source contributing to ∼50% of the annual average. NO x and PM concentrations in easterly winds arriving at Chilbolton are ∼2.7 and ∼1.5 times larger than at Harwell, from sources including the M3 motorway and Greater London. Westerly concentrations of NO x remain similar, therefore despite a higher frequency of westerly wind, annual mean concentrations are larger. Lower concentrations of PM arriving from the west result in similar annual averages. The secondary inorganic and black carbon components of PM were broadly similar between the sites. The differences in average NO x and NH 3 at Chilbolton must be taken into account when considering long-term regional trends based on the southern UK supersite data.

show abstract

“…4). The influence of sodium nitrate at Melpitz has already been discussed in Stieger et al (2017), comparing PM10 MARGA results with ACSM ones throughout the same period. Consequently, comparisons between the ACSM and PM2.5 nitrate measurements could be strongly biased by coarse mode sodium nitrate that cannot be detected by the ACMS.…”

Section: Nitratementioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Year ACSM measurements at the Central European Research Station Melpitz (Germany) Part I: Instrument Robustness, Quality Assurance, and Impact of Upper Size Cut-Off Diameter

Poulain¹,

Spindler²,

Grüner³

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) is an instrument for identifying and quantifying the influence of air quality mitigations. For this purpose, a European ACSM network has been developed within the research infrastructure project ACTRIS (European Research Infrastructure for the observation of Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases). To ensure the uniformity of the dataset, as well as instrumental performance and variability, regular intercomparisons are organized at the Aerosol Chemical Monitoring Calibration Center (ACMCC, part of the European Center for Aerosol Calibration, Paris, France). However, in-situ quality assurance remains a fundamental tracking point of the instrument’s stability. In order to check the robustness of the ACSM over the years and to characterize the seasonality effect, nitrate, sulfate, ammonium, organic, and particle mass concentrations were systematically compared with collocated measurements including daily off-line high-volume PM1 and PM2.5 filter samples. Mass closure analysis was made by comparing the total particle mass (PM) concentration obtained by adding the mass concentration of equivalent black carbon (eBC) from the Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP) to the ACSM chemical composition, to that of PM1 and PM2.5 during filter weighting, as well as to the derived mass concentration of particle number size distribution measurements (PNSD). A combination of PM1 and PM2.5 filter samples helps identify the critical importance of the upper size cut-off of the ACSM during such exercises. The ACSM-MAAP-derived mass concentrations systematically deviate from the PM1 samples when the mass concentration of the latter represents less than 60 % of PM2.5, which is linked to the transmission efficiency of the aerodynamic lenses of the ACSM. The best correlations are obtained for sulfate (slope 0.96, R2 = 0.77) and total PM (slope 1.02, R2 = 0.90). Although, sulfate does not exhibit a seasonal dependency, total PM mass concentration shows a small seasonal effect associated with an increase in non-water-soluble fractions. The nitrate suffers from a loss of ammonium nitrate during filter collection, and the contribution of organo-nitrate compounds to the ACSM nitrate signal make it difficult to directly compare the two methods. The contribution of m/z 44 (f44) to the total organic mass concentration was used to convert the ACSM organic mass to OC by using a similar approach as for the AMS. The resulting estimated OC-ACSM was compared with the measured OC-PM1 (slope 0.74, R2 = 0.77), indicating that the f44 signal was relatively free of interferences during this period. The PM2.5 filter samples use for the ACSM data quality might suffer from a systematic bias due to a size cutting effect as well as to the presence of chemical species that cannot be detected by the ACSM in coarse mode (e.g. sodium nitrate and sodium sulfate). This may lead to a systematic underestimation of the ACSM particle mass concentration and/or a positive artefact that artificially decreases the discrepancies between the two methods. Consequently, ACSM data validation using PM2.5 filters has to be interpreted with extreme care. The particle mass closure with the PNSD was satisfying (slope 0.77, R2 = 0.90 over the entire period), with a slightly overestimation of the MPSS derived mass concentration in winter. This seasonal variability was related to a change on the PNSD and a larger contribution of the super-µm particles in winter. This long-term analysis between the ACSM and other collocated instruments confirms the robustness of the ACSM and its suitability for long-term measurements. Particle mass closure with the PNSD is strongly recommended to ensure the stability of the ACSM. A near real-time mass closure procedure within the entire ACTRIS-ACSM network certainly represents an optimal way of both warranting the quality assurance of the ACSM measurements as well as identifying possible deviations in one of the two instruments.

show abstract

Measurements of PM10 ions and trace gases with the online system MARGA at the research station Melpitz in Germany – A five-year study

Abstract: An hourly quantification of inorganic water-soluble PM 10 ions and corresponding trace gases was performed using the Monitor for AeRosols and Gases in ambient Air (MARGA) at the TROPOS research site in Melpitz, Germany. The data availability amounts to over 80% for the five-

Cited by 50 publications

References 126 publications

Development of an online-coupled MARGA upgrade for the 2 h interval quantification of low-molecular-weight organic acids in the gas and particle phases

Development of an online-coupled MARGA upgrade for the 2 h interval quantification of low-molecular-weight organic acids in the gas and particle phases

Changing supersites: assessing the impact of the southern UK EMEP supersite relocation on measured atmospheric composition

Multi-Year ACSM measurements at the Central European Research Station Melpitz (Germany) Part I: Instrument Robustness, Quality Assurance, and Impact of Upper Size Cut-Off Diameter

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About