AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Mobile Sampling of Bioaerosols around Animal Feeding Operations
ELLIS SHIPLEY ROBINSON, Anne Perring, Eilerman Scott, Jeff Peischl, J. Andrew Neuman, Holloway Maxwell, Aikin Kenneth, Joshua P. Schwarz, Ru-Shan Gao, Thomas Ryerson, David Fahey, CU-CIRES - NOAA ESRL
Abstract Number: 595 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract Measurements of fluorescent biological aerosol particles (FBAP) were conducted from a mobile sampling platform using a Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor (WIBS-4A, Droplet Measurement Technologies) around animal feeding operations (AFO) in the Front Range region of central Colorado. Data were collected from the perimeters of 5 AFOs (3 dairies, 1 sheep AFO, and 1 beef AFO) on 24-hour cycles during summer, fall, winter, and spring to assess diurnal and seasonal variations of FBAP. While FBAP represent a non-negligible fraction of background aerosol loadings measured by WIBS-4A in this region (size-range 0.7 to 10 um), significant enhancements in FBAP concentration above the background were present in plumes downwind of a number of AFOs. The spectral signatures and size distributions of FBAP in these AFO plumes were largely consistent with bacterial and fungal spore attribution based on WIBS-4A profiles of biological aerosols measured in controlled laboratory settings. In our analysis we present FBAP concentrations measured down-wind of AFOs and their correlations with gas-phase tracers of agricultural activity (e.g. NH3, CH4). Examining multiple gas and particle-phase tracers of agricultural pollution allows us to quantify pollutant concentrations up- and down-wind of AFOs, but also to probe how these different pollutants may vary spatially within an AFO and/or be affected differently by meteorology. The approach we present here highlights the utility of real-time measurements coupled to a mobile sampling platform as a means to quantify bioaerosol concentrations around AFOs. This technique can be applied both to assess emissions from a number of AFOs on short timescales, and to provide spatial concentration profiles for the perimeters of AFOs.