10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Evaluation of a Multi-wavelength Black Carbon Sensor
AMARA HOLDER, Brannon Seay, Sue Kimbrough, Johanna Aurell, Steven Blair, Jeff Blair, U.S. EPA
Abstract Number: 206 Working Group: Low-Cost and Portable Sensors
Abstract Black carbon emitted from incomplete combustion processes is often used as a marker for diesel exhaust, a known carcinogen, and is associated with adverse health effects in exposed communities. Although multiple instruments exist to measure black carbon, very few are tailored for sensor applications where light-weight, low-power, and insensitivity to environmental conditions allow for operation in the demanding environments encountered during unmanned aerial measurements or long-term fence line monitoring as conducted by the US EPA. Understanding these challenges, Aethlabs (San Francisco, CA) designed the MA200/MA350 multi-wavelength black carbon instruments. We assessed the operation of these new sensors compared to numerous other black carbon instruments under a variety of ambient environmental conditions and black carbon concentrations. In long-term ambient measurements the new sensor compared well with heavier, multi-wavelength, rack mounted instruments and were only minimally impacted from changing ambient conditions. The sensor was also affixed to a tethered aerostat and an unmanned aerial vehicle for sampling from open biomass burning. Compared to another commercially available light-weight black carbon instrument, the new sensor was able to sample for longer times in the high concentration plume due to an automatically advancing, multi-spot filter tape. Additionally, the new sensor employed a self-correction for artifacts due to filter loading, increasing the accuracy of the black carbon measurement.
The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.