AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
BIODETECT 2014: Ambient Observations by a Comprehensive Suite of Light-induced Fluorescence Techniques during Summer Near Paris, France
WALFRIED LASSAR, Roland Sarda-Esteve, Kyle Pierce, Martin Gallagher, Ian Crawford, John Sodeau, David O'Connor, Gavin McMeeking, Greg Kok, Ulrich Poeschl, Jean Sciare, Dominique Baisnee, Sampo Saari, J. Alex Huffman, University of Denver, CO
Abstract Number: 589 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract A comprehensive international measurement campaign (BIODETECT 2014) was performed on institute roofs at two contrasting sites near Paris, France. This work was supported by the CBRN-E R&D research program from CEA/DAM. Site one was at the CEA/LSCE SUPERSITE on the plateau of Saclay (20 km south-west of central Paris) and the second site was Le laboratoire d’hygiène de la Ville de Paris (LHVP) in the heart of urban Paris. Measurements took place during late June through early August 2014. The central goal of this campaign was to determine the degree to which existing Light-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) technologies can detect bioaerosols within a complex urban environment. The focus of this poster will be an overview of measurements by LIF instruments, primarily WIBS (Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor) and UV-APS (ultraviolet aerodynamic particle sizer), with respect to observations of diurnal patterns, changes with respect to fluctuating meteorological conditions and influence from urban Paris. Single particles analyzed by the WIBS can be categorized based on the relative fluorescence intensity present in each of the three fluorescence channels, and cluster analysis can further compartmentalize observed particles to reduce data complexity. Preliminary findings will be presented. Novel experiments with UV-APS allowed for investigation of the role the instrument detector gain plays in the determination of particle fluorescence. The gain on the photomultiplier tube (PMT) was systematically ramped, and resultant fluorescent particle numbers were compared with WIBS and other LIF instruments. This alteration of the PMT gain of the UV-APS was an attempt to answer the technical question about whether the higher gain would enhance the ability of the instrument to see weakly fluorescent particles, or simply increase noise.