AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Assessment of Compact, Real-time PM2.5 and Ultrafine Particle Counting Instrumentation with a Spatially-distributed Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NAOMI ZIMMERMAN, Eric Lipsky, R. Subramanian, Allen Robinson, Albert A. Presto, Carnegie Mellon University
Abstract Number: 342 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract It is well-established that exposure to elevated PM2.5 mass concentrations is associated with negative health outcomes. As such, many regulatory bodies have imposed ambient PM2.5 standards. However, recent toxicology studies suggest that ultrafine particles (UFPs, diameter < 100 nm), which are not currently regulated, have a higher toxicity compared to larger particles and these particles deposit with the greatest efficiency in the alveolar region, where they may induce oxidative stress.
Concentrations of UFPs and PM2.5 are expected to exhibit substantial spatial and temporal variability. Accurate characterization of UFP and PM2.5 gradients in an urban environment requires a network of spatially distributed, high time resolution, compact instrumentation. The Met One Instruments Neighborhood Air Monitor and Aerosol Dynamics Inc. “MAGIC” condensation particle counter (CPC) are two instruments capable of these PM2.5 and UFP measurements, respectively.
In this study, the performance of the Neighborhood Air Monitor and the “MAGIC” CPC was assessed against a range of co-located reference instruments in an urban near-road environment. The instruments were further evaluated in a spatially distributed network designed to capture urban upwind, urban high traffic, and urban outflow environments. Our preliminary findings show that the “MAGIC” CPC was well correlated with a butanol-based CPC (R2 > 0.85). For PM2.5, the Neighborhood Air Monitor was well correlated (R2 > 0.9) with other optical PM2.5 instruments and the monitor was sensitive to spatial gradients exceeding 2 micro-grams per cubic meter.