AAAR 31st Annual Conference
October 8-12, 2012
Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Measurement of Aerosol Number Concentrations in Houston, TX
YU JUN LEONG, Longwen Gong, Robert Griffin, Barry Lefer, Rice University
Abstract Number: 214 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract The adverse health effects of exposure to high mass concentrations of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micron (PM2.5) have led to the establishment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Recent work has shown that ultrafine particles also have a significant impact on public health due to their ability to penetrate tissues and enter the blood stream. These tiny particles contribute very little to the overall mass concentration but may account for a large fraction of total aerosol number concentration. The aim of this project is to collect a one-year, continuous, high time-resolution data set of ambient aerosol number concentration in the Houston urban area. The measurements are being conducted atop the North Moody Tower on the University of Houston main campus because the location is influenced by various pollutant sources including power plants, motor vehicles, and the industrial facilities of the Houston Ship Channel. Since February 2012, a condensation particle counter (CPC) has been deployed at Moody Tower for continuous measurement of particle number concentrations. An array of complementary data is also available at this location (meteorology, gas-phase pollutants, etc.). The continuous data set measured by the CPC will be used with these complementary data to identify factors (secondary formation, direct emission from a variety of sources) that influence aerosol number concentrations in this large urban setting.