An Aerosol Spectrometer Combination for Measurement across the Sub- and Super-Micrometer Regime
JUSTIN HAMLIN, Raymond Leibensperger III, Jena Herbst, Meinrat O. Andreae, Kimberly Prather, University of California, San Diego
Abstract Number: 380
Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
Abstract
A range of aerosol spectrometers currently exists on the market and their capabilities have significantly increased since their widespread adoption in the 1970s and 1980s. The TSI Inc. Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) and Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS) are widely coupled in measurements across the sub- and super-micrometer aerosol regime. Advancements in instrumentation have yielded instruments with similar capabilities at a fraction of the cost, size, and weight with a slight trade-off in size resolution. Here, we compare the SMPS-APS with the Aerosol Dynamics Inc. Spider-MAGIC and TSI Inc. Optical Particle Sizer (OPS) combination, hereafter referred to as Spider-OPS, in the measurement of laboratory-generated and ambient aerosol. The SMPS-APS and Spider-OPS allow measurement of aerosol populations from 0.01 – 20 µm and 0.008 – 10 µm, respectively. The Spider-OPS boasts a small size (0.022 m3) and weight (7 kg) with a total cost less than $70,000 which corresponds to 25% less in size and 21% less in weight for 37% less in cost compared to the SMPS-APS. The Spider-OPS show good agreement in their overlapping accumulation mode region and compare favorably to the SMPS-APS. Further, preliminary results measuring laboratory-generated sea spray aerosol (SSA) at the Scripps Ocean-Atmosphere Research Simulator (SOARS) wind-wave channel show good agreement between spectrometer combinations for particles with diameters within the Aitken (0.02 – 0.1 µm), accumulation (0.1 – 2.5 µm), and coarse modes (> 2.5 µm). These results emphasize that the smaller, more affordable aerosol spectrometer suite, Spider-OPS, is a valid alternative to the SMPS-APS for the measurement of aerosol size-resolved number distributions.